Jane Ashby, Ph.D.

 

I examine cognitive processes situated at the intersection of reading, speech, and vision. Studying the front-end of lexical access helps us understand the cognitive underpinnings of reading fluency.


My research investigates skilled word recognition processes by using online measures, such as eye movements and ERPs, in a laboratory setting. I mainly study reading as it usually occurs in daily life - while participants silently read text for meaning.

Keith Rayner was my doctoral advisor, and we continue to work together on several projects. I also collaborate with Lisa Sanders (Cognitive) and John Kingston (Linguistics). Prior to arriving at UMass, I worked as a reading disabilities tutor and conducted in-service staff development programs at public and private schools. Earlier graduate work in child development and education took place at Tufts University with Maryanne Wolf and at the Harvard Ed School with Collette Diaute, Vicki Jacobs, and John Strucker.

Working with dyslexic and struggling readers has shaped my research interests. My work mainly addresses questions about the nature of the representations skilled readers activate during silent reading, the time course of parafoveal phonological activation, and its function. Current projects explore what cognitive factors contribute to performance on rapid naming tests. I am also interested in oral vs. silent reading processes and the role of perceptual span in reading fluency.
 

Below you'll find links to some of my recent papers.*

Ashby, J., Sanders, L.D., Kingston, J. (in press). Skilled readers begin processing phonological features by 80 ms: evidence from ERPs. Biological Psychology.

Ashby, J. & Martin, A.E. (2008). Prosodic phonological representations early in visual word recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 34, 224-236.

Ashby, J., Treiman, R., Kessler, B., & Rayner, K. (2006). Vowel processing during silent reading: Evidence from eye movements. Journal of Experimental Psychology:Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 32, 416-424.

Ashby, J. (2006). Prosody in silent skilled reading: Evidence from eye movements. Journal of Research in Reading, 29, 318-333.

Ashby, J., Rayner, K., & Clifton, C., Jr. (2005). The reading patterns of highly-skilled and average readers: Evidence from eye movements. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology: Section A, 58, 1065-1086.

Ashby, J. & Clifton, C., Jr.(2005). The prosodic property of lexical stress affects eye movements during silent reading. Cognition, 96, B89-B100.

* Downloading a document is considered a request by you for a single copy.  Please do not circulate or disseminate.

updated on July 21, 2008