Julie Beadle
Role: PhD Student
Bio
In 2015, Julie graduated with a First Class Honours BA in Psychology from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada. During her undergraduate degree, Julie worked as a research assistant at the St. FX Perception Lab. An interest in speech production and perception has brought Julie to the Multisensory Communication Lab at the MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University, for her PhD candidature.
PhD title
Cognitive ageing and hearing under difficult circumstances.
PhD Project
Julie is studying cognitive hearing in the elderly. Speech perception can often be challenging for elderly individuals, especially in situations with competing background noise. Natural auditory declines contribute significantly to this challenge. It is also important to consider how cognitive processing changes later in life, and how these changes impact speech perception.
Julie’s PhD project will examine how cognitive processes such as attention and memory are used when the elderly try to perceive speech in difficult listening circumstances, as well as how and when visual cues may aid understanding.
PhD Supervisor
A/Prof Jeesun Kim, The MARCS Institute