Does emotion influence your ability to learn new words?
As part of a larger study about emotional processing and behaviour, Melina West from The University of Queensland School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences wants to answer that question.
“This has developed from a passion for understanding autism and whether emotions underpin some of the challenges associated with having autism,” Ms West said.
“To ascertain that, we need to gauge how the processing of emotion varies in the typical adult population.
“We are looking to test as many fit adults between the ages of 18 and 40 as we can on their processing of emotion.
“One of the interesting aspects is whether emotion affects how you learn words you have never encountered before.”
A Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) graduate, Ms West previously wrote a thesis about how a person’s mood impacted on the speed at which they named an object.
She is now undertaking a PhD in communication and neurophysiology in infants at high risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Ms West’s supervisors at UQ include Professor David Copland and Dr Anthony Angwin, recipients of recent Australian Research Council and National Health and Medical Research Council funding for brain and language research.
“As adults, we have over 50,000 words stored in our mental dictionary,” Ms West said.
“We can produce 150 words per minute with an average error rate of only one word per every 1000 spoken.
“Our lexicon is responsible for representing what we think and how we feel, via multiple complex processing steps.
“Despite it being part of our everyday life, there is still very limited understanding of the mechanisms and influences behind our ability to learn and use language.”
Participation in Ms West’s current study takes approximately two hours and can be organised by emailing melina.west@uqconnect.edu.au or texting 0423 681 242.
All participants will go in the draw to win one of two $50 Westfield vouchers.
Media: Ms Melina West +61 423 681 242, melina.west@uqconnect.edu.au ; Robert Burgin at UQ Communications, +617 3346 3035, +61 448 410 364, r.burgin@uq.edu.au.
