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.

We are interested in how adults understand language, and how this changes across the lifespan. Participants will complete paper and pencil tasks, computer-based tasks, and we will monitor how they move their eyes.

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 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.

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.

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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".

The purpose of this study is to examine how various factors, such as the acoustics of the environment and background noise, affect the understanding of speech.

Researchers in the Graduate Program in Acoustics are looking for participants for a study related to speech intelligibility and room acoustics. The experiment will take approximately 1.5-2 hours of your time. The experiment will consist of listening to sentences and transcribing them under different acoustic and noise conditions. Your head movement will also be measured through a motion sensor. The compensation for your voluntary participation is a $25 Amazon gift card.

$25 Amazon gift card

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.

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.

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 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.

Hormones are molecules that deliver signals throughout the body. They influence behavior, sleep, hunger, stress, and virtually all other aspects of life. This study seeks to better understand several of these functions, specifically how hormones affect specific aspects of human behavior and psychology, as well as speech production. Following an initial lab visit, subjects will participate in the remainder of the study (~5 weeks) at home via the internet. On a daily basis, they will collect urine samples for hormone analysis, saliva samples for analysis of oral micro-organisms, and will submit voice samples for analysis of speech (e.g. measuring voice pitch and loudness). They will then complete an online survey designed to collect information about their behavior, and attitudes over the previous 24 hours. Subjects receive compensation for their participation.

- Compensation $330 at maximum- Pre-sampling lab visit to sign a consent form and receive training- A series of ~42 daily at-home sample (urine, saliva) collection & online surveys- Weekly lab visits for sample drop-off

$330

Our first, aim is to quantify the superficial traits among the Hazara, Tajik, and Pashtun populations of Afghanistan by using a computer-based 3D morphometric method. We want to quantify the facial traits, voices and pigmentation, identify genetic regions affecting these traits, and plot phylogenetic trees to explain the probable facial variation and evidence of shared genetic basis they might exhibit across population. The expected number of participants in the study will be ~ 500 individuals which will provide us a better understanding of the evolution of superficial traits among these Afghan ethnic groups. This will be the first study to focus on Afghanistan's population which will provide important insights into a diverse and understudied set of human populations. As a result, a more comprehensive examination of facial genetics could be performed. Our second aim for the study is to uncover which genetic variants affect superficial trait variation by using next-generation sequencing (NGS). To achieve this goal, human saliva samples will be collected which will undergo genetic laboratory procedures for DNA extraction, amplification, quantification, and genotyping. The finding will help us to learn more about the qualitative and quantitative facial genetic variability. We hypothesize that facial variability among Hazara, Tajik, and Pashtun is greater than expected which can lead us to other questions about ancestry, migration, and human evolution. From their geographic proximity genetic and computational analysis will allow us to answer the question of how facial pigmentation and vocal variation among these populations leads to genetic diversity. Climate, migration history, and mate choice are the major contributors to phenotypic variation in the population. Our qualitative and quantitative data will be the best source of understanding facial morphological variation across populations, and how past migration affects gene flow, which has a direct effect on these traits which evolved jointly and differently in each population. Our third aim for this project is to look for forensically important markers that can contribute to the field of forensic genetics and enhance law enforcement and forensic investigations. The discovery of novel forensically important markers that can shape phenotypic variation will make major contributions to the field of forensic anthropology. The fourth and final objective of this research is to determine how human migration affects the variation of the oral microbiome and the subsequent effects of this diversity on human well-being, diet, energetics, and microbial genus.

Our team is visiting the participant location to collect hair, voice, saliva, and 3D images. It will take 30 minutes for each participant to complete the entire activity.