A carbon label displays the carbon footprint of the product (a number, e.g., 1.18 kg CO2) and helps consumers understand the impact of the product on the environment. The purpose of this study is to understand Penn State students’ preferred method of carbon labeling for a senior thesis. The study will be conducted via a survey that takes less than 5 minutes and requires no personal identifying information.

The participants will complete one survey that takes less than 5 minutes to complete. The survey can be taken on a personal device or a Penn State computer.

In today’s climate of anti-Asian hate, we believe that it is important to uncover different aspects of what “being Chinese” could look like. To this end, we are looking for individuals who self-identify as ethnically Chinese, woman, and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community to participate in a one-time 90-minute online interview to learn about what they do in their regular, everyday life to try to show or tell others about who they are. As part of the study, we will ask interviewees to share some visual images (e.g., photos, drawings, etc.) that they own as a way of elaborating on the ways that they communicate their self-identity in everyday life.

In contexts where people speak different dialects of the same language, how much overlap is there between the dialects, and what are the genuine grammatical differences? This study explores this question through a series of three experiments examining how people from three different dialects understand a variety of negative sentences (e.g., I didn't eat nothing). The results will contribute to our understanding of linguistic diversity.

Participants will sit at a computer and have their eye movements tracked by a camera as they read or listen to sentences and look at pictures on the screen.

$15 per hour

The purpose of this study is (1) to understand how the brain processes sensory information and (2) how this is affected by factors like blindness or synesthesia. In addition to behavioral testing, the study will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) which enables us to take pictures of the brain while you are doing a task, using an instrument called an MRI scanner.

Participants will perform simple behavioral tasks either stand-alone or while being scanned; they may also complete questionnaires or rating scales.

Amount varies depending on the study

The purpose of the project is to learn more about reactions to music by adults with and without autism spectrum disorders. Participants will listen to short pieces of music and answer some questions on a computer. They will also complete some formal testing and answer some interview questions.

The purpose of the proposed plan of research is to investigate the types of patterns that human adults with or without a history of language/ learning difficulties tap into as they learn.

Our study involves an initial testing session lasting between 1-2 hours, followed by up to two additional sessions for eligible participants. As part of our study, you will take part in some speaking, listening, learning, and visual processing tasks.

up to $75

This is a driving simulator behavioral study. This study aims to investigate drivers' subjective feelings and driving performance in mixed traffic shared by automated vehicles and human-driven vehicles.

This study aims to investigate the effects of drivers’ driving style and automated vehicle penetration rate on drivers’ subjective feelings and driving performance in mixed traffic shared by automated vehicles and human-driven vehicles. There will be one in-person visit for the experiment. This experiment involves driving on a driving simulator and filling out several questionnaires.

$15/hour

The current study aims to investigate the development of English as a Second Language (ESL) learners' language skills over time, focusing on the interplay between the mode of production (i.e., speech versus written mode) and linguistic features related to complexity, accuracy, and fluency. To address this question, the study will collect spoken and written data from ESL learners in the U.S. at five measurement points throughout an academic year (FA23 to SP24), analyzing their production data using various complexity, accuracy, and fluency measures. The objective is to contribute to the existing body of second language (L2) development research by examining whether the interaction among time, production mode, and proficiency, as well as the varying relationships among the measures, significantly influence the observed outcomes.

Over the course of an academic year (FA23 to SP24), participants will attend five in-person visits, spaced at 7-week intervals. During each visit, they will be asked to write an essay for 20 minutes and deliver a 5-minute spoken monologue in response to prompts similar to those found in the TOEFL speaking section.

$75 ($15 per visit)

This online study aims to examine whether factors like language history and visual information influence spoken language processes in typical listening environments.

The central purpose of this research is to understand how language users produce and comprehend speech. To do this we ask participants to record speech, make judgments on the speech they hear, and work with a partner on simple language tasks.

The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of artificial intelligence on ideation in groups (specifically the process of brainstorming). Facilitation and facilitator/participant perceptions will also be analyzed. This study collects qualitative data through surveys, interviews, and audio/video recording.

This is a user study to investigate the environmental characteristics of virtual reality (VR). This study will provide empirical evidence of the essential characteristics based on users’ feedbacks. During your visit, you will receive a brief training about using a VR headset and navigating in the virtual environment. After the training, you will explore the virtual environment, complete tasks in VR, and answer questions regarding your feelings to our VR application.

Using small focus groups, this work aims to understand the experiences, challenges, perceptions, and opportunities for the use of conversational agents (e.g Amazon Alexa and Siri) for users with visual or hearing impairments, with the goal of developing more accessible and inclusive systems.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether and how people's perceptions of the power in their romantic relationships shape the messages they use to seek support from their romantic partners.

This behavioral study will examine the influence of pictorial primes on general knowledge questions. A participant will be shown a cartoon-type picture prior to the presentation of a question. They will be asked to answer the question verbally. This study aims to determine the influence of pictorial primes on memory recall and retrieval.

This study will look for emerging patterns of Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD), an early onset dementia, in Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy (JME). JME is a type of epilepsy that usually begins in adolescence and is known to be associated with disturbances of higher-level reasoning, mood and personality. JME patients are often managed by family physicians, rather than epilepsy specialists; with little known about aging with JME. We think that JME patients will demonstrate a pattern of executive dysfunction that is consistent with consensus criteria for FTLD, characterized by declines in abstract reasoning, judgment, and verbal problem solving, as well as behavior. We also think that there will be an inverse relationship between apathy and conscientiousness. We plan to obtain this information by formal cognitive testing of non-demented JME patients over a period of 2 years, at 6-month intervals, to look for progression of symptoms. Loved ones/caregivers will complete informant questionnaires about patient's mood and personality at the beginning of the study and at 6 month intervals throughout the duration of the 24 month study. We will also include loved one/caregiver cognitive testing at the beginning of the study to obtain healthy information for comparison to patient's findings. Our objectives are to characterize the executive functioning profiles of JME in midlife, taking into account cognition, mood, personality, nutritional status and lifestyle. The information obtained may contribute to better care of JME patients prior to midlife and throughout the course of aging.

Visit 1 for both patient and healthy caregiver participants will involve administration of the JME Virtual Visit Protocol via PSH Zoom. Participants will have completed their REDCap questionnaires prior to the visit to the research coordinator, who will be conducting the assessment. Visit 2-5 for patient participants will involve administration of the JME Virtual Visit Protocol via PSH Zoom. JME participation consists of 5 virtual visits with the study’s research coordinator, lasting approximately two hours each, for completion of standardized tests of problem-solving, thinking, and concentration, as defined above. Caregiver healthy control participation consists of 1 virtual visit with the study’s research coordinator, lasting approximately two hours, for completion of standardized tests of problem-solving, thinking, and concentration, as defined above. Remaining participation involves completion of objective inventories providing a caregiver perspective of the patient participant’s mood and behavior at 6-month intervals, within the 24 month time frame of the study.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how language is organized in neurologically normal adults using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and behavioral measures. Our overarching goal is to characterize the behavioral and MRI responses associated with language production and language comprehension in older and younger adults, and to examine the relations between age, behavior, cognition, and neural factors.

Participants will complete a remote visit and two in person visits at the University park campus. Visit activities will include answering questions, completing computer-based tasks, and completing an MRI scan.

$100

Most individuals with ALS experience changes in speech and swallowing over the course of the disease. In some, these are their initial indication of ALS. Identifying these changes, which may be rapid in some individuals, is complicated by the recent acceleration of virtual care delivery. This is a longitudinal home study of ALS patients to assess speech and swallowing function through use of smartphone application. The overall hypothesis is that this monitoring protocol can be used in a way that, 1) is satisfactory to the patient, 2) performs at least as well as standard clinical measures of dysarthria and dysphagia, and 3) resolves the development of emergence of speech and swallowing pathologies in ALS. Patients enrolling in this study will participate for approximately 24 weeks, during which they will have swallowing and speech tests performed, complete surveys, and perform audio recordings of speech on their cellphone. Healthy controls will be enrolled to judge the intelligibility of speech samples provided by patients in the study.

Patients enrolling in this study will participate for approximately 24 weeks, during which they will have swallowing and speech tests performed, complete surveys, and perform audio recordings of speech on a cellphone.

340

An online survey about emojis for text feedback on a short story or design. You categorize emojis for this task, write a critique with emojis, and then answer a survey for an Amazon gift card.

In this study, we will evaluate the factors that affect how well human listeners can perceive connected speech despite variability in the speech signal. Participants in the study will be asked to judge speech segments presented to you over headphphones. For instance, we may ask you to indicate whether the sound you hear a "pa" or "ba".

This study explores how international students show and develop pragmatic strategies to effectively communicate with peers and colleagues from diverse language and cultural backgrounds at Penn State. Participants recruited from the StudyFinder are invited to complete an online survey, and will receive an Amazon gift card as a token of appreciation.

This study aims to understand peoples’ selfie-taking behavior and how, if at all, they relate to their driving behavior and gender difference. The participants will participate the study by completing an online survey.

We are studying how children and adults learn second languages in the classroom. To do this, we ask children and adults to read words or sentences in English and in Spanish while we record brainwaves using noninvasive sensors. The participant wears a cap that looks like a swimmers cap with the sensors attached to it.

In an increasingly global environment, both within the US and abroad, the ability to rapidly gain native-like linguistic competence is a critical asset. The ability to use an L2 in a way that is both expected and recognized by its native speakers is important both to the broad public, and to specific sectors, such as military personnel, that must develop native-like competence in a foreign language in a limited amount of time. The studies conducted under this IRB protocol will examine how learners/speakers of a second language acquire and process multi-word units (e.g., carry a business; run a store) in their second language, and how knowledge from the first language might influence the learning and processing of multi-word units in a second language.

Participants will complete a number of simple tasks on a computer in English and/or in Spanish (depending on language background).

$12/hour

We used a combination of ecological modeling, procedural modeling, and virtual reality to provide an embodied experience of “walking through the forests of the future”. This study will provide empirical evidence of the effectiveness of this immersive experience based on users’ feedbacks on different kinds of tools we developed.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of context on the processing of words in young adults with and without an autism spectrum disorder. The knowledge gained may lead to further understanding of the cognitive and linguistic processing of individuals with autism spectrum disorder—how they understand and see the world around them. The study is being conducted at our on-campus lab and includes the completion of some standardized paper and pencil tests and some computer-based activities. Participants receive compensation for their participation.

This study will examine how international spouses improve their English ability and form connections with the local community. Participants will be interviewed to learn about their experiences. Social events that are found to be positive will be recorded so that the interactions in that space can be analyzed to determine how they help international spouses.

The main research goal of this work is to collect drivers’ opinions on autonomous vehicles and their perceptions of time when they ride with autonomous vehicles comparing with manual-driven vehicles.

This study aims to provide original descriptions and analyses of features of the vernacular varieties of English spoken in Central Pennsylvania. Previously understudied, this project will provide new data from both spontaneous speech and controlled experiments to contribute to our understanding of language variation in Central PA, and to the larger body of knowledge on variation in American English.

This study tracks the eye movements of 30 adults to gather information on how they process sentences when presented in a context.