Research

Is speech a special sound for humans? The acquisition of spoken language offers a unique opportunity to study both innate and acquired facets of the human mind. What is it about language (and humans) that makes its acquisition a uniquely human accomplishment? Do we have dedicated mechanisms and neural substrates for acquiring spoken language? My research addresses these broad questions by exploring the linguistic and cognitive abilities of adults and young infants, including newborns. Current projects examine topics such as what makes speech a special sound for humans, how infants and adults use their knowledge of language and the world around them to learn the meanings of novel words, and what infants understand about the function of speech. Through these types of studies, I hope to understand the biases that constrain human language acquisition, and the learning strategies that infants adopt to refine and elaborate nascent cognitive domains.

Please visit the NYU infant cognition and communication laboratory (NICCL) for more information.

Biography

Education

PhD, University of British Columbia, 2004 (Neuroscience)
BSc, McGill University, 1997 (Hons Biology)

Employment

Assistant Professor of Psychology, New York University, 2007-present
Assistant Professor of Psychology, McGill University, 2004-2007

Selected Publications

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Vouloumanos, A. (2008). Fine-grained sensitivity to statistical information in adult word learning. Cognition, 107, 729-742. [pdf]

Weikum, W. M., Vouloumanos, A., Navarra, J., Soto-Faraco, S., Sebastian-Galles, N., & Werker, J. F. (2007). Visual language discrimination in infancy. Science, 316, 1159. [pdf]

Vouloumanos, A., & Werker, J. F. (2007). Why voice melody alone cannot explain neonates' preference for speech. Developmental Science, 10, 170-172. [pdf]

Vouloumanos, A., & Werker, J. F. (2007). Listening to language at birth: Evidence for a bias for speech in neonates. Developmental Science, 10, 159-164. [pdf]

Fernandes, K. J., Marcus, G. F., DiNubila, J. A., & Vouloumanos, A. (2006). From semantics to syntax and back again: Argument structure in the third year of life. Cognition, 100, B10-20. [pdf]

Vouloumanos, A., & Werker, J. F. (2004). Tuned to the signal: The privileged status of speech for young infants. Developmental Science, 7, 270-276. [pdf]

Marcus, G. F., Vouloumanos, A., & Sag, I. A. (2003). Does Broca's play by the rules? Nature Neuroscience, 6, 651-652. [pdf]

Vouloumanos, A., Kiehl, K. A., Werker, J. F., & Liddle, P. F. (2001). Detecting sounds in the auditory stream: Event-related fMRI evidence for differential activation to speech and non-speech. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 13, 994-1005. [pdf]

Werker, J. F., & Vouloumanos, A. (2000). Who's got rhythm? Science, 288, 280-281. [pdf]

Address

Athena Vouloumanos
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
New York University
6 Washington Place , Room 308
New York , NY 10003
ph: (212) 998-7937
fx: (212) 995-4866
athena.vouloumanos@nyu.edu

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