FERRAN PONS

Attention, Perception and Acquisition of Language (APAL)

ORCID Research Profile

FERRAN PONS

Position: Associate Professor

Contact details

 

Dr. Ferran Pons

Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology

Faculty of Psychology, Passeig Vall d’Hebron 171

08035 Barcelona (Spain)

+34933125144

ferran.pons (at) ub.edu

www.ub.edu/apal

Research Interests

 

My interests are focused on the cognitive mechanisms and factors involved in language acquisition. My research explores different aspects of speech perception from birth to the production of the first words. I am interested in exploring the role of experience as well as the perceptual reorganization observed during the first year of life. My current research examines infant’s ability to perceive the relationship between the auditory and visual speech, as well as the mechanisms involved in these processes.

Current Research Lines

 

  • Speech Perception
  • Audiovisual speech processing
  • Development of Attention
  • Language Acquisition
  • Bilingualism

Technologies / methods

 

  • Behavioural methods for the study of infant speech perception and development of attention.
  • Eye-tracking technology.

Highlighted publications

 

· Pons, F., Bosch, L., & Lewkowicz, D. J. (2015). Bilingualism Modulates Infants’ Selective Attention to the Mouth of a Talking Face. Psychological Science, 26, 490-498.

 

· Pons, F., Andreu, L., Sanz-Torrent, M., Buil-Legaz, L., & Lewkowicz, D. J. (2013). Perception of audio-visual speech synchrony in Spanish speaking children with and without specific language impairment. Journal of Child Language, 40(3), 687-700.

 

· Pons, F., Albareda-Castellot, B., & Sebastián-Gallés, N. (2012). The interplay between input and initial biases: Asymmetries in vowel perception during the first year of life. Child Development, 83(3), 965-976.

 

· Pons, F., & Toro, J. M. (2010). Structural generalizations over consonants and vowels in 11-month-old infants. Cognition, 116(3), 361-367.

 

· Pons, F., Lewkowicz, D. J., Soto-Faraco, S., & Sebastián-Gallés, N. (2009). Narrowing of intersensory speech perception in infancy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(26), 10598-10602.