Improvements in a psychoacoustics laboratory at Lawrence University will provide, for non-science majors interested in music and languages, hands-on experience with an enhanced, real-time analysis of acoustic signals. A sound spectrograph and support instruments will allow development of a laboratory component in Psycholinguistics and Psychology of Music. The real-time sound spectrograph will provide immediate analysis and display of speech and musical stimuli. Additional instruments, microcomputers, and software will record and correlate physiological measures, such as vocal cord action and airflow, with the acoustical measures. This equipment will permit students to demonstrate and test experimentally the effect of articulatory and respiratory changes, emotional state, and acoustic information on the perception of music and speech. The goal of this improvement is to engage non-science majors in the scientific study of speech and music by the presentation of compelling, immediately accessible demonstrations and augmented interactive laboratory experiences. Students working on independent projects in the psychophysics of music and speech will also use the equipment.
