Using eye movements to assess word learning in a second language
Haidyn Clevenger
Undergraduate Researcher
Neuroscience Major (College of Arts and Sciences)
Maria Puscama
Faculty Mentor
Maria Puscama (College of Arts & Sciences)
Project Description
This project explores how vocabulary is learned and associated in the mind of adult learners of Spanish. We will explore these associations by showing pictures of different objects to Spanish learners and recording their eye movements while they listen to a prompt or tell a story. Eye movements are a good indicator of attention allocation, prediction, and planning, but they can also indicate word associations. For example, if a person sees an image of a saxophone and a couch, while hearing the word “piano”, they are more likely to look at the saxophone, because piano and saxophone are both musical instruments, and are probably related in the person’s mind. We will use these data to examine the strength of vocabulary networks after learning with different methodologies.
Technology or Computational Component
For this project, students will learn to use an eye-tracker to record participants' eye movements. Furthermore, data visualization and analysis will be done using R.