Julia Strand, 
Assistant Professor of Psychology, is the recipient of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) to assess how visual information about speech affects the cognitive effort necessary to understand spoken language. The three-year grant supports undergraduate research assistants and an educational associate in each year. The results of Prof. Strand’s research team will inform the design of devices that generate visual stimuli to accompany spoken language in difficult listening situations, which may be particularly useful for the elderly or hard of hearing.