Research
New eye lab to analyse language processingheading
The Department of Language and Linguistics has become the
first linguistics department in Europe to acquire a unique Eyelink II
laboratory worth more than £30,000.
The Eyelink II laboratory will supplement the Department's existing
laboratory facilities for the experimental study of human language
processing.
Human language processing is an extremely rapid and accurate process.
An adult native speaker with normal speech rate produces approximately 150
words per minute and chooses from a mental lexicon of about 30,000 words.
Under pressure, a native speaker can produce one word every 200
milliseconds without causing listeners any comprehension problems.
Therefore, for psycholinguists to understand the processes involved in
language comprehension and production, they need technology capable of
studying language processing in the millisecond range.
Eyelink II, an eye-tracking laboratory, is one of the most advanced
facilities available. It uses two miniature cameras and is worn as a
lightweight visor on the head to monitor the movement of the eyes as the
user reads. When reading, our eyes stop briefly to fixate on individual
words or pairs of words. Such fixations last between 250 and 500
milliseconds.
Professor Harald Clahsen, from the Department's Psycholinguistics
Research Group, explained: 'By using the eye-tracking lab to record
fixations, we can make inferences about the kinds of processing mechanisms
and the interpretations readers pursue when they are faced with
uncertainties about the intended meaning of a word or phrase.'
He continued: 'We are hoping that by using this new technology we will
be able to answer more specific questions about language comprehension,
such as what determines whether a sentence or word is easy or difficult to
comprehend and produce, and how we process sentences or words with
multiple meanings.'
To study the processes involved in listening, Professor Clahsen and
other researchers are planning to use the so-called visual world paradigm
in which people's eye movements are monitored as they listen to speech. In
these experiments, researchers will examine the time-course with which
people interpret speech by measuring how they explore a visual scene as
they hear verbal instructions to move or to look at certain objects.
Picture caption: Professor Harald Clahsen
Biotechnology for the developing world
Two members of the Department of Biological Sciences were
invited to participate in an international forum - the first of its kind -
to promote the development of biotechnology in developing countries.
Dr Terry McGenity and Professor Ken Timmis were amongst 1500
scientists, representatives of government, inter-government agencies,
non-governmental organisations, industry and the media at the Global
Biotechnology Forum held in Chile and organised by the United Nations
Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the government of Chile.
The aim of the forum was to formulate recommendations for policy makers
to promote the development of biotechnology in developing countries and
identify topics for co-operations and strategic alliances with developed
countries to achieve this goal.
Biotechnological applications are pervasive and positively influence
many human endeavours, including medicine, environmental protection,
agriculture, food manufacture, chemical production, and materials
manufacture. Whilst many of these applications are accepted by the public,
there is still widespread scepticism, particularly concerning the use of
genetically modified crops for example.
Presentations were made by a spectrum of experts, including Nobel
laureates and world leaders. Sessions covered the main areas in which
biotechnology is applied, but also focused on issues such as biosafety,
bioethics, capacity building, trade regulation and social acceptance of
biotechnology.
Dr McGenity gave a presentation at the forum, entitled 'microbial
diversity as the unexplored treasure chest for biotechnological
co-operation between industrially developed and developing countries'. He
proposed the discovery and exploitation of microbial diversity for new
pharmaceuticals, cleaning up polluted environments and providing enzymes
for cleaner, more energy-efficient industrial processes. Dr McGenity also
emphasised the mutually beneficial strategic alliances between the
developing world, which is home to most of the world's biodiversity, and
the developed world, which has the skills and tools to exploit
biodiversity.
To find out more about the forum and its preliminary outcomes, visit
www.gbf2004.cl/index1.html.
Also in the printed May edition of Wyvern:
- A proven recipe for success
- ESDS Qualidata conference
- Bookshelf: New books by Essex academics
