Katrina Connell, Ph.D.

Research Scientist
Tobii

"All our dreams come true, if we have the courage to pursue them" - Walt Disney


Hello! My name is Katrina. I am a curly-haired girl originally from South Jersey, USA. I am an experimental linguist, an eye-tracking researcher, and Tobii Research Scientist. I specialize in data analysis and experimental research methods & design. In my own work, I study how second language learners acquire suprasegmental features of speech that are used to recognize words in spoken language, such as lexical tones. Currently, I work for Tobii, a company that makes eye trackers for academic and business research. I train those who buy a Tobii eye tracker on how to use the tracker and the software, and I help those who have already started a study with experimental design best eye tracking practices, and data exportation & analysis. I still maintain a research profile in the field of Lingusitics, and may run into you at a conference!


Hover over the boxes below to get a quick look at who I am, or click one to see more on that topic!

Research
My primary research interest is in how a listener recognizes a spoken word. I am particularly interested in how we learn to utilize new features of speech to recognize words in a second language, such as English speakers learning to use Chinese tones to distinguish words in Chinese.

I have been using eye-tracking to study language processing for over 8 years, and consider solid experimental design and implementation a particular strength of mine.
Teaching & Training
I have had the pleasure of teaching graduate and undergraduate classes at the University of Kansas and Penn State University, including the undergraduate Introduction to the Study of Language and graduate level What R We Doing? course on R for data processing.

Outside of an official classroom, I have spent my career training professors, students, and business researchers of all levels in research, experimental methods, data analsysi, and eye tracking using written training materials and hands-on sessions on topics such as how to design and implement experiments, how to use the SR Research EyeLink or Tobii eye tracking systems, how to analyse data using R, and so much more.
Technical Skills
Throughout my career I have had the privilege of gaining a wide range of technical skills, including proficiency with R, eye-trackers, experimental design software, audio editing software, Google and Microsoft online platforms, photo/video editing software, and various coding languages (such as the HTML for this very site!) and more! I am always excited when an opportunity presents itself to add to these skills, as I thoroughly enjoy learning new skills to advance my work.
Off the Clock
When not working or learning a new coding language, I love to sew clothing and costumes. I have a love of reading, and am a huge Disney fan!








My Research

You may be thinking, "Don't you just hear the word and match it to something in memory?" While this may be true, it is not nearly the whole story.

Speech recognition is incremental in nature. This means, you don't wait to hear the end of the word before you start trying to find it in memory.

As soon as you hear a sound, your mind starts flipping though it's mental dictionary looking for something, anything, that matches that input. As you hear more and more of the word, you can narrow in on the correct word.

Learning about this process in my early career made me ask a followup question that has lead me down my path of research...

How do we learn what is relevant to narrow down that list? The process that is so effortless in our first language, suddenly becomes very difficult in a second language. This is especially true when the languages differ greatly, such as between English and Chinese. How do we learn what is relevant to narrow down that list? My research investigates how learners of a language navigate this process with the hope of improving language education.



My Training and Teaching

One of the best parts about the work that I do is sharing what I have learned with the next generation of researchers. Nothing makes me happier than showing someone the one trick they needed to make something work or the time saving method to complete a large task in record time. I love sharing skills with people and seeing them take them and run with them.
Below you will find a sample of the training materials I have created over the years, and sample syllabi for classes I have taught.



My Technical Skills

Over the course of my career, I have gained and developed a host of technical skills that allow me to be an efficient and powerful researcher.

Eye-tracking equipment:
          Tobii Pro Nano, Tobii Pro Fusion, Tobii Pro Spark, Tobii Pro Spectrum, Tobii Pro Glasses 2 & 3
          EyeLink I and II in desktop, tower, head-mounted and the Portable DUO System
Eye-tracking software:
          Tobii Pro Lab
          Experiment Builder
          Data Viewer
Experiment implementation:
          Tobii Pro Lab
          Experiment Builder
          Psychopy
          OpenSesame
Programming languages:
          Praat Scripting (extensive experience)
          HTML & CSS (intermediate experience (click for example work)
          JavaScript (learning in progress)
          Visual Basic (limited experience)
          Python (learning in progress)
Eye-tracking methodologies:
          visual world (extensive experience)
          reading (intermediate experience)
          pupilometry (limited experience)
          language production (limited experience)
Data processing & statistical analysis:
          R (extensive experience),
          Python (learning in progress)
          Growth Curve Analysis - curvilinear regression (extensive experience)
          Linear Mixed-Effects Modeling - linear regression (extensive experience)
          Generalized Additive Mixed Modeling - curvilinear regression (limited experience)
Document Preparation:
          LaTex (extensive experience)
          Word (extensive experience)
Acoustical analysis software:
          Praat (extensive experience)
          Audacity (limited experience)
Experimental & Educational Materials Creation:
          Gimp (intermediate experience)
          Adobe Premier Pro (limited-intermediate experience)
          Articulate Storyline (intermediate experience)



site designed and developed by Katrina Connell