Welcome to the Human Auditory Development Lab

About Us...

The Human Auditory Development Lab (HADL) is located at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Our lab primarily focuses on understanding the development of hearing in infants and children in difficult listening situations.

Despite the fact that infants must learn speech and language in the presence of competing sounds, we have a limited understanding of the factors that influence children’s hearing ability in noise. Few studies have addressed the specific challenges faced by infants and children with hearing impairment. Research that is available has shown that infants and children have more difficulty than adults understanding speech in the presence of other talkers and this skill seems to be variable in children. Additionally, tasks involving listening in the presence of other sounds are even more difficult for children with hearing loss.  Our lab's goal is to better understand the factors that influence the development of hearing in children with hearing loss.

Currently, our studies use behavioral methods to understand the development of a child's ability to use acoustic cues when listening in the presence of other talkers as well as noise. The results of our research will provide much needed normative data about a child’s ability to listen and understand in noise. It is expected to improve the current understanding of pediatric development of auditory perception. There is also the potential that these data will lead to the development of strategies to improve how sounds are delivered to children with hearing loss.

We collaborate with faculty members and student from Speech and Hearing Sciences, Psychology, and Otolaryngology.

If you are interested in participating in our experiments, CLICK HERE and you will be provided more information.