The Auditory, Language, Perception, Hearing and Attention Lab
Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development
Department of Psychological Sciences
Birkbeck, University of London
Contact Details
Office: Room 658, Department of Psychological Sciences
Telephone: +44 020 3926 1071
Email address: a.symons@bbk.ac.uk
Research interests
My research explores individual differences in the perception of speech and sound. In particular, I am interested in how our experience of the auditory world, such as our experience with different languages or types of musical training, shapes our auditory system. Recently, I have also begun to investigate whether and how targeted training can help to improve some of the difficulties people experience when learning languages.
Education
PhD Psychology, University of Manchester (2014-2017)
MSc Cognitive Neuroscience, University of York (2013-2014)
BA Psychology, University of California Davis (2011-2013)
Publications
Symons, A. E. & Tierney, A.T. (in press). Musical experience is linked to enhanced dimension-selective attention to pitch and increased primary weighting during suprasegmental categorization. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition.
Symons, A. E., Dick, F., & Tierney, A. T. (2021). Dimension-selective attention and dimensional salience modulate cortical tracking of acoustic dimensions. NeuroImage, 244, 118544. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118544
Stevenage, S. V., Tomlin, R., Neil, G. J., & Symons, A. E. (2021). May I Speak Freely? The Difficulty in Vocal Identity Processing Across Free and Scripted Speech. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 45(1), 149–163. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-020-00348-w
Jenkins, R. E., Tsermentseli, S., Monks, C. P., Robertson, D. J., Stevenage, S. V., Symons, A. E., & Davis, J. P. (2021). Are super-face-recognisers also super-voice-recognisers? Evidence from cross-modal identification tasks. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 35(3), 590–605. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3813
Stevenage, S. V., Symons, A. E., Fletcher, A., & Coen, C. (2020). Sorting through the impact of familiarity when processing vocal identity: Results from a voice sorting task. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 73(4), 519–536. https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021819888064
Symons, A. E., El-Deredy, W., Schwartze, M., & Kotz, S. A. (2016). The Functional Role of Neural Oscillations in Non-Verbal Emotional Communication. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00239
Conference Presentations
Symons, A. E., Dick, F., & Tierney, A. T. (2022). Dimension-selective attention to verbal and non-verbal sound streams. Presentation at Cognitive Neuroscience Society: San Francisco, United States of America (April 2022)
Symons, A. E., Dick, F., & Tierney, A. T. (2021). Attentional Modulation of the Cortical Tracking of Acoustic Dimensions. Presentation at Society for the Neurobiology of Language Annual Meeting: Online (October 2021)
Symons, A., Stevenage, S.V., Guest, R., Motoc, I., & Bleeck, S. (2019). Voice recognition in noise: A comparison of human and machine performance. Presentation at British Psychology Society Cogntive Psychology Section & Developmental Psychology Section Joint Conference: Stoke-on-Trent (September 2019)
Symons, A., El-Deredy, W., Taylor, J.R., Schwartze, M., & Kotz, S. (2018). Effects of emotion on multisensory integration: stimulus and task dependencies. Presentation at British Psychology Society Cognitive Psychology Section Annual Conference: Liverpool, United Kingdom (August 2018).
Symons, A., El-Deredy, W., Taylor, J.R., Schwartze, M., & Kotz, S. (2017). The role of temporal prediction in multisensory emotion perception. Poster presented at International Multisensory Research Forum: Nashville, Tennessee (May 2017)
Symons, A., El-Deredy, W., Taylor, J.R., Schwartze, M., & Kotz, S. (2016). Temporal prediction drives the integration of emotional facial, body, and vocal expressions. Poster presented at Organization for Human Brain Mapping: Geneva, Switzerland (June 2016)
Grants and Awards
Research Innovation Fund, Birkbeck University of London, 2022-2023
Reg & Molly Buck Award, Society for Education, Music, and Psychology Research, 2020-2021
President’s Doctoral Scholar Award, University of Manchester, 2014-2017