Early Stage Researcher position (11): Visual perception and signed oral language in deafness

Marie Curie Initial Training Network LanPercept invites applications for an Early Stage Researcher (ESR) available from September 1st, 2013 and up to three years duration at the Individual Differences, Language and Cognition Lab in the Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain. Applicants should hold an MSc/MA (or 4 year honors Bachelor degree – 300 ECTS) in Psychology, Linguistics, Psycholinguistics or Cognitive Psychology. Please, see general eligibility criteria and mobility rules at www.lanpercept.eu.

Content of the Project

The project will investigate the relationship between language and perception, but applied to a group of people (deaf participants) whose perception is predominantly visual, even when it applies to the oral language. The project will use paradigms based on eye movement methodology. The tasks of the ESR involve: To work with deaf people, to carry out background testing of language development and non-verbal IQ with standardized tests of deaf and hearing children, adolescents and adults, to follow recruitment through schools, support groups and deaf associations, to implement the eye-tracking methodology to determine which zone (lipreading, facialreading or hands) receives more attention while comprehending different signed messages, to design the experimental tasks, to collect data and to disseminate the results.

Requirements and Conditions

Demonstrated experience with experimental research is especially desired, as well as knowledge and skills of eye-tracking methods and/or statistical analysis methods. Previous studies related to Deaf Community and Sign Languages will be an asset. The ESR is expected to pursue a PhD in psychology. The working language will be Spanish; however, the researcher could speak English with the members of the Lab. Mobility and short stays at other universities within the LanPercept network are required.
The duration of the appointment is one year initial appointment, extensive to three years. No tuition fees. The salary will follow the EU’s regulations: basic rate ESR 38 000 €/year with country coefficient before taxes + mobility allowance.

The Individual Differences, Language and Cognition Laboratory

The Individual Differences, Language and Cognition Lab at University of Seville is a research unit specialized in the study of processes of comprehension in people with special educational needs. The equipment at the Lab includes an Eyeling eyetracker. The Lab is composed of 8 researchers, 2 of whom are PhD students affiliated with the Lab, the rest of the team are faculty members of the Developmental and Educational Psychology Department. The project is co-supervised by the Lab Director, David Saldaña.

Contact and Applications

Informal inquiries and applications concerning this specific post should be directed to the e-mail address: Assoc. Prof. Isabel R. Rodríguez: ireyes@us.es

Complete applications including: (1) a statement of research interests, (2) a full CV, (3) the names and e-mail addresses of two referees, (3) academic transcript, (4) list of publications (if any), and (5) a copy of the masters or honours thesis, or other representative sample of your work, should be e-mailed as a single PDF to before March 25th. The selection process may include an interview:
Assoc. Prof. Isabel R. Rodríguez
e-mail: ireyes@us.es
Developmental and Educational Psychology Department
School of Psycholgy
Camilo José Cela, s/n
41018-Sevilla (Spain)
tel +34955420541
fax +34954559544