Research Interests

Professor Sommers focuses on speech perception and auditory processing in young, elderly, and individuals with Alzheimer's disease. In general, his research examines both cognitive and psychoacoustic processing in these three populations with the goal of establishing factors that may explain both normal and impaired spoken language abilities. He is also examining aspects of speech perception in listeners with cochlear implants and assessing the importance of auditory-visual integration during speech perception.

Selected Publications

• Sommers, M. S. & Huff, L. (2004). Phonological false memories in older adults and individuals with dementia of the Alzheimer's type. Psychology and Aging, 791- 806.
• Spehar, B.A., Sommers, M. S., & Murray, N. (2004). Time-Compressed visual speech and age: A first report. Ear and Hearing, 25, 565-572.
• Thomas, A. K. & Sommers, M. S. (2005). Attention to item-specific processing eliminates age effects in false memories. Journal of Memory and Language, 52, 71-86.
• Sommers, M. S., Spehar, B. & Tye-Murray, N. (2005). Auditory visual speech perception and visual enhancenent in normal-hearing younger and older adults. Ear and Hearing, 26, 263-275.
• Barcroft, J. and Sommers, M. S. (2005). Acoustic variability and second language vocabulary learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27, 387-414.

Departments

Courses

• Introduction to the Psychology of Aging
• Introduction to Psychology