The Auditory, Language, Perception, Hearing and Attention Lab
Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development
Department of Psychological Sciences
Birkbeck, University of London
Email address: mkachl01@student.bbk.ac.uk
Research interests
My doctoral research investigates how native language experience shapes the salience of various acoustic dimensions and our ability to use that information in learning a second language (L2). I’ll test the hypothesis of whether the weighting of different perceptual cues during speech perception reflects the direction of attention towards the most informative cues. I’ll also explore whether training participants to attend to neglected perceptual dimensions can help them learn appropriate strategies for L2 speech perception and production and whether this training has any consequences on their ability to selectively attend to acoustic dimensions and neural encoding of sound.
This project is funded by the Bloomsbury Colleges Studentship.
Supervisors
Primary: Dr Adam Tierney (Birkbeck, University of London)
Secondary: Dr Kazuya Saito (University College London)
Education
PhD Psychology; Birkbeck, University of London (2020-present)
MPhil Cognitive Science; University College London (2018-2020)
MSc Psychological Research Methods (Distinction); Birkbeck, University of London (2017-2018)
BSc Psychology (Summa Cum Laude); University of Nicosia, Cyprus (2015-2017)
Research experience
Institute of Education, University College London – Research Assistant (2020-present)
Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck University of London – Research Assistant (2018-2020)
Experimental Psychology Lab at University of Cyprus (Nicosia, Cyprus) – Research Intern (2017)
University of Social Sciences and Humanities – SWPS (Poznan, Poland) – Research Assistant (2015-2020)
Research publications
Saito, K., Petrova, K., Kachlicka, M., Suzukida, Y., Tierney, A. (2022). Training auditory processing promotes second language speech acquisition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance (in press)
Saito, K., Kachlicka, M., Suzukida, Y., Petrova, K., Lee, B. J., Tierney, A. (2022). Auditory precision hypothesis-L2: Dimension-specific relationships between auditory processing and second language segmental learning. Cognition, 229, 105236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105236
Saito, K., Hanzawa, K., Petrova, K., Kachlicka, M., Suzukida, Y., Tierney, A. (2022). Incidental and multimodal high variability phonetic training: Potential, limits, and future directions. Language Learning, May 2022, 1-43. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12503
Kachlicka, M., Laffere, A., Dick, F, Tierney, A. (2022). Slow phase-locked modulations support selective attention to sound. NeuroImage, 252, 119024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119024
Saito, K., Macmillan, K., Kachlicka, M., Kunihara, T., & Minematsu, N. (2022). Automated assessment of second language comprehensibility: Review, training, validation, and generalization studies. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263122000080
Saito, K., Macmillan, K., Kroeger, S., Magne, V., Takizawa, K., Kachlicka, M., & Tierney, A. (2022). Roles of domain-general auditory processing in spoken second language vocabulary attainment in adulthood. Applied Psycholinguistics. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716422000029
Mitchell, A., Oberman, T., Aletta, F., Kachlicka, M., Lionello, M., Erfanian, M., & Kang, J. (2021). Investigating urban soundscapes of the COVID-19 lockdown: A predictive soundscape modelling approach. The Journal of Acoustical Society of America, 150, 4474–4488. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0008928
Kachlicka, M., Laffere, A., Dick, F, Tierney, A. (2021). Slow phase-locked endogenous modulations support selective attention to sound. BioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.03.429516
Saito, K., Kachlicka, M., Sun. H., & Tierney, A. (2020). Domain-general auditory processing as an anchor of post-pubertal second language pronunciation learning: Behavioural and neurophysiological investigations of perceptual acuity, age, experience, development, and attainment. Journal of Memory and Language, 115, 104168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2020.104168
Saito, K., Sun, H., Kachlicka, M., Alayo, J., Nakata, T., & Tierney, A. (2020). Domain-general auditory processing explains multiple dimensions of L2 acquisition in adulthood. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 1-30, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263120000467
Mitchell, A., Oberman, T., Aletta, F., Erfanian, M., Kachlicka, M., Lionello, M., & Kang, J. (2020). The Soundscape Indices (SSID) Protocol: A Method for Urban Soundscape Surveys—Questionnaires with Acoustical and Contextual Information. Applied Sciences, 10(7), 2397. https://doi.org/10.3390/app10072397
Kachlicka, M., Saito, K., & Tierney, A. (2019). Successful second language learning is tied to robust domain-general auditory processing and stable neural representation of sound. Brain and Language, 192, 15-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2019.02.004
Conference papers
Mitchell, A., Oberman, T., Aletta, F., Erfanian, M., Kachlicka, M., Lionello, M., & Kang, J. (2020). Making cities smarter with new soundscape indices. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 146, 2873. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5136970
Aletta, F., Oberman, T., Mitchell, A., Erfanian, M., Lionello, M., Kachlicka, M., & Kang, J. (2019). Associations between soundscape experience and self-reported wellbeing in open public urban spaces: a field study. The Lancet, 394(S17). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32814-4
Talks
“Auditory processing in second language learning” at Brain & Language Seminar (February 2019), University of Helsinki, Finland
Teaching experience
PSYC0046 Introduction to Statistics with R at the UCL Psychology and Language Sciences Department – demonstrator and teaching assistant (2021-22 & 2022-23)
Methods for Dummies Course at Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging (UCL Institute of Neurology) – course organizer and content coordinator (2019-20 & 2020-21)
PSYC0012 Research Methods in Psychology at the UCL Psychology and Language Sciences Department – research project coordinator (2020-21)
PSYC0005 Introduction to Psychological Experimentation at the UCL Psychology and Language Sciences Department – demonstrator (2019-20 & 2020-21)
COMP0067 Design & Human-Computer Interaction at the UCL Interaction Centre, Department of Computer Sciences – teaching assistant (2019-20)
COMP0016 Systems Engineering & Human-Computer Interaction at the UCL Interaction Centre, Department of Computer Sciences – teaching assistant (2019-20)
Grants and Awards
Travel Award, Computational Cognitive Modeling for Language Summer School, University of California Irvine, 2022
Language Learning Dissertation Award, Research Grant, 2022
Bloomsbury Studentship, Birkbeck University, 2020-2023
ERC Studentship, ERC Advanced Grant to Prof Jian Kang No. 740696, 2018-2020
JUCE Diversity Scholarship, Audio Developers Conference, 2019
Student Travel Award, University of Connecticut, 2018
Kenway Legacy Scholarship, Birkbeck University, 2017-2018
Scholarship Based on Academic Performance, University of Nicosia, 2016-2017