Elizabeth Johnson
Assistant Professor
ofc: 905-569-4785 RM 4071 CCT
email: elizabeth.johnson[at]utoronto[dot]ca
Areas of Research
Infant Studies, Language Acquisition, Speech Perception, Developmental Psycholinguistics
Infant and Child Studies Centre
Human Communication Group Website
Publications
http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/10150.0.html
Profile
Thinking of language acquisition as a process that begins when children utter their first words overlooks an important stage of development. Long before infants are even close to attaching meanings to words or producing grammatical utterances, they must first learn to decode the speech signal. The main line of research in my lab investigates how infants between 6 and 18 months of age learn to perceive the speech signal in a language-specific adult-like manner. In addition, research in my lab investigates how early word recognition and comprehension develop in infants and toddlers.
Courses Taught
PSY316 Perceptual Development (UTM)
This course examines human perceptual development during the first 2-3 years of life. Vision and audition are emphasized. Some topics are: pattern and colour vision, depth perception, infant speech perception.
PSY384 Speech Perception and Production (UTM)
The production and perception of spoken language, from an interdisciplinary perspective. Topics include perceptual and cognitive aspects of speech perception, speech signal acoustics, articulation of speech sounds, audio-visual speech integration, speech synthesis, and contextual influences on speech communication. Practical instruction in spectrogram reading and acoustic analysis.
PSY400 Fourth Year Thesis Course (UTM)
Independent research supervised by individual faculty members. Seminars on general topics relevant to the conduct of independent research, student research proposals, and the presentation of findings. Admission by academic merit. Interested students in their fourth (or final) year must apply during the prior Winter term and should (a) obtain an application form from Room 2037B; (b) approach potential faculty supervisors and discuss the possibility of research project supervision contingent on acceptance into the course; and (c) submit the completed application form to the Thesis Coordinator by the end of the Winter term examination period. Final admission decisions will be made by the Coordinator and applicants notified after June 15.
PSY410 Special Topics in Development (UTM)
In depth examination of selected topics in developmental psychology. (Topics change periodically.)
PSY5304 Developmental Psycholinguistics (St. George)
