Haskins Laboratories, Inc. is an independent 501(c) non-profit corporation , founded in 1935 and located in New Haven, Connecticut , since 1970. Haskins has formal affiliation agreements with both Yale University and the University of Connecticut ; it remains fully independent, administratively and financially, of both Yale and UConn. Haskins is a multidisciplinary and international community of researchers that conducts basic research on spoken and written language. A guiding perspective of their research is to view speech and language as emerging from biological processes , including those of adaptation , response to stimuli , and conspecific interaction . Haskins Laboratories has a long history of technological and theoretical innovation, from creating systems of rules for speech synthesis and development of an early working prototype of a reading machine for the blind to developing the landmark concept of phonemic awareness as the critical preparation for learning to read an alphabetic writing system .
52-559: Haskins Laboratories is equipped, in-house, with a comprehensive suite of tools and capabilities to advance its mission of research into language and literacy. As of 2014, these included: Many researchers have contributed to scientific breakthroughs at Haskins Laboratories since its founding. All of them are indebted to the pioneering work and leadership of Caryl Parker Haskins , Franklin S. Cooper , Alvin Liberman , Seymour Hutner and Luigi Provasoli . The history presented here focuses on
104-463: A dichotic listening technique (presenting different nonsense syllables simultaneously to opposite ears) to demonstrate the dissociation of phonetic (speech) and auditory (nonspeech) perception by finding that phonetic structure devoid of meaning is an integral part of language, typically processed in the left cerebral hemisphere . Liberman, Cooper, Shankweiler, and Studdert-Kennedy summarized and interpreted fifteen years of research in "Perception of
156-613: A "sound alphabet" to represent the letters in a text for use in a reading machine for the blind. Luigi Provasoli joined Haskins Laboratories to set up a research program in marine biology . The program in marine biology moved to Yale University in 1970 and disbanded with Provasoli's retirement in 1978. Franklin S. Cooper invented the pattern playback , a machine that converts pictures of the acoustic patterns of speech back into sound. With this device, Alvin Liberman, Cooper, and Pierre Delattre (and later joined by Katherine Safford Harris , Leigh Lisker , Arthur Abramson, and others), discovered
208-402: A given species. Each cerebral hemisphere has an outer layer of cerebral cortex which is of grey matter and in the interior of the cerebral hemispheres is an inner layer or core of white matter known as the centrum semiovale . The interior portion of the hemispheres of the cerebrum includes the lateral ventricles , the basal ganglia , and the white matter. There are three poles of
260-525: A new, state-of-the-art facility on the 9th floor of a commercial building at 300 George Street in New Haven. This provides about 11,000 square feet of office and lab space. In 2008, Ken Pugh of Yale University was named President and Director of Research, succeeding Carol Fowler who remains at Haskins as a Senior Advisor. In 2009, Haskins released a new Strategic Plan featuring new Birth-to-Five and Bilingualism initiatives. The Haskins Training Institute
312-404: A pattern of sinewaves that track the changing resonances of the vocal tract . This paved the way for a view of speech as a dynamic pattern of trajectories through articulatory-acoustic space. Philip Rubin and colleagues developed Paul Mermelstein's anatomically simplified vocal tract model, originally worked on at Bell Laboratories , into the first articulatory synthesizer that can be controlled in
364-478: A physically meaningful way and used for interactive experiments. Studies of different writing systems supported the controversial hypothesis that all reading necessarily activates the phonological form of a word before, or at the same time, as its meaning. Work included experiments by Georgije Lukatela, Michael Turvey , Leonard Katz, Ram Frost , Laurie Feldman, and Shlomo Bentin , in a variety of languages. Cross-language work on reading, including investigations of
416-438: A project investigating the speech production goals for fricatives . Donald Shankweiler and David Braze developed an eye movement laboratory that combines eye tracking data with brain activity measures for investigating reading processes in normal and disabled readers. Laura Koenig and Jorge C. Lucero studied the development of laryngeal and aerodynamic control in children's speech. In March 2005 Haskins Laboratories moved to
468-742: A radical revision of the articulatory synthesis model, known as CASY the configurable articulatory synthesizer. This 3-dimensional model of the vocal tract permits researchers to replicate MRI images of actual speakers. Douglas Whalen , Goldstein, Rubin and colleagues extended this work to study the relation between speech production and perception. Donald Shankweiler , Susan Brady , Anne Fowler, and others explored whether weak memory and perception in poor readers are tied specifically to phonological deficits. Evidence rejected broader cognitive deficits underlying reading difficulties and raised questions about impaired phonological representations in disabled readers. In 2000, Anne Fowler and Susan Brady launched
520-421: A team working on the reading machine for the blind. The project culminated when the addition of an optical character recognizer allowed investigators to assemble the first automatic text-to-speech reading machine. By the end of the decade this technology had advanced to the point where commercial concerns assumed the task of designing and manufacturing reading machines for the blind. In 1973, Franklin S. Cooper
572-401: A very large bundle of nerve fibers . Smaller commissures, including the anterior commissure , the posterior commissure and the fornix , also join the hemispheres and these are also present in other vertebrates. These commissures transfer information between the two hemispheres to coordinate localized functions. There are three known poles of the cerebral hemispheres: the occipital pole ,
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#1732783290334624-515: Is a slight warping of the right side, bringing it just forward of the left side. On a microscopic level, the cytoarchitecture of the cerebral cortex, shows the functions of cells, quantities of neurotransmitter levels and receptor subtypes to be markedly asymmetrical between the hemispheres. However, while some of these hemispheric distribution differences are consistent across human beings, or even across some species, many observable distribution differences vary from individual to individual within
676-420: Is formed by two cerebral hemispheres that are separated by a groove, the longitudinal fissure . The brain can thus be described as being divided into left and right cerebral hemispheres. Each of these hemispheres has an outer layer of grey matter , the cerebral cortex , that is supported by an inner layer of white matter . In eutherian (placental) mammals, the hemispheres are linked by the corpus callosum ,
728-433: Is partitioned somewhat differently , but still lateralized). Similarly, motor control signals sent out to the body also come from the hemisphere on the opposite side. Thus, hand preference (which hand someone prefers to use) is also related to hemisphere lateralization. In some aspects, the hemispheres are asymmetrical; the right side is slightly bigger. There are higher levels of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine on
780-458: The frontal pole , and the temporal pole . The central sulcus is a prominent fissure which separates the parietal lobe from the frontal lobe and the primary motor cortex from the primary somatosensory cortex . Macroscopically the hemispheres are roughly mirror images of each other, with only subtle differences, such as the Yakovlevian torque seen in the human brain , which
832-847: The American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1951 and the American Philosophical Society in 1955. In 1956, he was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences . That same year, he was appointed to the Presidency of the Carnegie Institution of Washington , a position he held until 1971. Haskins served as a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution from 1956 to 1980. He also chaired
884-506: The Pattern playback rules to write the first computer program for synthesizing continuous speech from a phonetically spelled input. A further step toward a reading machine for the blind combined Mattingly's program with an automatic look-up procedure for converting alphabetic text into strings of phonetic symbols. In 1970, Haskins Laboratories moved to New Haven, Connecticut, and entered into affiliation agreements with Yale University and
936-527: The University of Connecticut . Haskins Laboratories continues to be a leading, multidisciplinary laboratory with an international scope that does pioneering work on the science of the spoken and written word. Haskins served as President, Research Director, and Chairman of the Board of Haskins Laboratories from 1935 to 1987. During World War II , Haskins used his scientific knowledge for the war effort. He
988-758: The Committee on Research and Exploration beginning in 1972, and member of the Society's Executive Committee from 1972 to 84. He was a director of E.I. du Pont de Nemours from 1971 to 1981. He was president of the Sigma Xi scientific research honor society in 1967–68. He remained a trustee of Carnegie Institution and of Haskins Laboratories, as well as trustee emeritus of the National Geographic Society, until his death. Cerebral hemisphere The vertebrate cerebrum ( brain )
1040-580: The Early Reading Success (ERS) program, part of the Haskins Literacy Initiative which promotes the science of teaching reading. The ERS program was a demonstration project examining the efficacy of professional development in reading instruction for teachers of children in kindergarten through second grade. The Mastering Reading Instruction program, which combines professional development with Haskins-trained mentors,
1092-723: The Regents' Executive Committee from 1968 to 1972. In 1980, the Board of Regents unanimously awarded him the Henry Medal "in recognition of his manifold services to the Institution as a friend and a Regent". He was active with the National Geographic Society in many positions: Trustee from 1964 to 1984 (and then honorary trustee), member of the Finance Committee from 1972 to 1985, member of
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#17327832903341144-524: The Speech Code", still among the most cited papers in the speech literature. It set the agenda for many years of research at Haskins and elsewhere by describing speech as a code in which speakers overlap (or coarticulate) segments to form syllables. Researchers at Haskins connected their first computer to a speech synthesizer designed by Haskins Laboratories' engineers. Ignatius Mattingly , with British collaborators, John N. Holmes and J.N. Shearme, adapted
1196-623: The University of Connecticut; Haskins remains fully independent of both Yale and UConn, administratively and financially. The lab's original location in New Haven, at 270 Crown Street (from 1970 to 2005), was leased from Yale University. Isabelle Liberman , Donald Shankweiler, and Alvin Liberman teamed up with Ignatius Mattingly to study the relationship between speech perception and reading, a topic implicit in Haskins Laboratories' research program since its inception. They developed
1248-421: The acoustic cues for the perception of phonetic segments (consonants and vowels). Liberman and colleagues proposed a motor theory of speech perception to resolve the acoustic complexity: they hypothesized that we perceive speech by tapping into a biological specialization, a speech module, that contains knowledge of the acoustic consequences of articulation. Liberman, aided by Frances Ingemann and others, organized
1300-430: The acoustic signal specifies the gestures that form it. J. A. Scott Kelso and colleagues demonstrated functional synergies in speech gestures experimentally. Elliot Saltzman developed a dynamical systems theory of synergetic action and implemented the theory as a working model of speech production. Linguists Catherine Browman and Louis Goldstein developed the theory of articulatory phonology , in which gestures are
1352-403: The anterior part of middle cranial fossa in each temporal lobe. If the upper part of either hemisphere is removed, at a level about 1.25 cm above the corpus callosum , the central white matter will be exposed as an oval-shaped area, the centrum semiovale , surrounded by a narrow convoluted margin of gray substance, and studded with numerous minute red dots (puncta vasculosa), produced by
1404-768: The basic units of both phonetic action and phonological knowledge. Articulatory phonology, the task dynamic model, and the articulatory synthesis model are combined into a gestural computational model of speech production. Katherine Safford Harris, Frederica Bell-Berti and colleagues studied the phasing and cohesion of articulatory speech gestures. Kenneth Pugh was among the first scientists to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to reveal brain activity associated with reading and reading disabilities. Pugh, Donald Shankweiler , Weija Ni, Einar Mencl, and colleagues developed novel applications of neuroimaging to measure brain activity associated with understanding sentences. Philip Rubin, Louis Goldstein and Mark Tiede designed
1456-416: The brain process involved, remains a large part of Haskins Laboratories' program today. Various researchers developed compatible theoretical accounts of speech production , speech perception and phonological knowledge. Carol Fowler proposed a direct realism theory of speech perception: listeners perceive gestures not by means of a specialized decoder, as in the motor theory, but because information in
1508-406: The centrum semiovale is from the superficial middle cerebral artery . The cortical branches of this artery descend to provide blood to the centrum semiovale. The cerebral hemispheres are derived from the telencephalon . They arise five weeks after conception as bilateral invaginations of the walls. The hemispheres grow round in a C-shape and then back again, pulling all structures internal to
1560-420: The cerebrum: the occipital pole, the frontal pole, and the temporal pole. The occipital pole is the posterior end of each occipital lobe in each hemisphere. It is more pointed than the rounder frontal pole. The frontal pole is at the frontmost part of the frontal lobe in each hemisphere, and is more rounded than the occipital pole. The temporal pole is located between the frontal and occipital poles, and sits in
1612-461: The concept of phonemic awareness , the knowledge that would-be readers must be aware of the phonemic structure of their language in order to be able to read. Leonard Katz related the work to contemporary cognitive theory and provided expertise in experimental design and data analysis. Under the broad rubric of the " alphabetic principle ", this is the core of the lab's present program of reading pedagogy. Patrick Nye joined Haskins Laboratories to lead
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1664-401: The dominant hand. Function lateralization, such as semantics , intonation , accentuation , and prosody , has since been called into question and largely been found to have a neuronal basis in both hemispheres. Perceptual information is processed in both hemispheres, but is laterally partitioned: information from each side of the body is sent to the opposite hemisphere (visual information
1716-418: The escape of blood from divided blood vessels. If the remaining portions of the hemispheres be slightly drawn apart a broad band of white substance, the corpus callosum, will be observed, connecting them at the bottom of the longitudinal fissure ; the margins of the hemispheres which overlap the corpus callosum are called the labia cerebri . Each labium is part of the cingulate gyrus already described; and
1768-893: The evolution of guppies in the streams of Trinidad . He found that male guppies in stream ponds further upstream were more colorful than those downstream, presumably because of fewer predators there. He also continued his research on entomology, working with his wife, Edna Haskins (whom he married in 1940 ), and other colleagues. In the 1930s, Haskins was inspired by Alfred Lee Loomis to establish his own research facility. He founded Haskins Laboratories in 1935. Affiliated with Harvard University , MIT and Union College , Haskins conducted research in microbiology , radiation physics and other fields in Cambridge, Massachusetts , and in Schenectady, New York . In 1939, Haskins Laboratories moved its center to New York City . Seymour Hutner joined
1820-437: The groove between it and the upper surface of the corpus callosum is termed the callosal sulcus . If the hemispheres are sliced off to a level with the upper surface of the corpus callosum, the white substance of that structure will be seen connecting the two hemispheres. The large expanse of medullary matter now exposed, surrounded by the convoluted margin of gray substance, is called the centrum semiovale. The blood supply to
1872-410: The hemispheres (such as the ventricles ) with them. The intraventricular foramina (also called the foramina of Monro) allows communication with the lateral ventricles . The choroid plexus is formed from ependymal cells and vascular mesenchyme . Broad generalizations are often made in popular psychology about certain functions (e.g. logic, creativity) being lateralized , that is, located in
1924-434: The level of articulatory action in the voicing of certain contrasting consonants. They showed that many acoustic properties of voicing contrasts arise from variations in voice onset time , the relative phasing of the onset of vocal cord vibration and the end of a consonant. Their work has been widely replicated and elaborated, here and abroad, over the following decades. Donald Shankweiler and Michael Studdert-Kennedy used
1976-404: The low-level representations also tend to represent the contralateral side of the body. The best example of an established lateralization is that of Broca's and Wernicke's Areas ( language ) where both are often found exclusively on the left hemisphere. These areas frequently correspond to handedness however, meaning the localization of these areas is regularly found on the hemisphere opposite to
2028-683: The research program of the division of Haskins Laboratories that, since the 1940s, has been most well known for its work in the areas of speech, language, and reading. Caryl Haskins and Franklin S. Cooper established Haskins Laboratories in 1935. It was originally affiliated with Harvard University , MIT , and Union College in Schenectady, NY. Caryl Haskins conducted research in microbiology , radiation physics , and other fields in Cambridge, MA and Schenectady. In 1939 Haskins Laboratories moved its center to New York City. Seymour Hutner joined
2080-503: The results of the work on speech cues into a groundbreaking set of rules for speech synthesis by the Pattern Playback. Franklin S. Cooper and Katherine Safford Harris, working with Peter MacNeilage, were the first researchers in the U.S. to use electromyographic techniques, pioneered at the University of Tokyo , to study the neuromuscular organization of speech. Leigh Lisker and Arthur Abramson looked for simplification at
2132-479: The right and higher levels of dopamine on the left. The right hemisphere is more sensitive to testosterone . There is more white matter (longer axons) on the right and more grey matter (cell bodies) on the left. Linear reasoning functions of language such as grammar and word production are often lateralized to the left hemisphere of the brain. In contrast, holistic reasoning functions of language such as intonation and emphasis are often lateralized to
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2184-417: The right hemisphere of the brain. Other integrative functions such as intuitive or heuristic arithmetic, binaural sound localization, etc. seem to be more bilaterally controlled. Infarcts of the centrum ovale can occur. As a treatment for epilepsy the corpus callosum may be severed to cut the major connection between the hemispheres in a procedure known as a corpus callosotomy . A hemispherectomy
2236-419: The right or left side of the brain. These claims are often inaccurate, as most brain functions are actually distributed across both hemispheres. Most scientific evidence for asymmetry relates to low-level perceptual functions rather than the higher-level functions popularly discussed (e.g. subconscious processing of grammar, not "logical thinking" in general). In addition to this lateralization of some functions,
2288-702: The staff to set up a research program in microbiology , genetics and nutrition ; the descendant of this program is now part of Pace University in New York. In the 1940s, Luigi Provasoli joined the Laboratories to set up a research program in marine biology , which disbanded with his retirement in 1978. Since the 1950s, the main focus of the research of Haskins Laboratories has been on speech and its biological basis. The main facility of Haskins Laboratories moved to New Haven, Connecticut , in 1970 where it entered into affiliation agreements with Yale University and
2340-564: The staff to set up a research program in microbiology, genetics , and nutrition . The descendant of the division led by Hutner program eventually became a department of Pace University in New York. The two identically named organizations are no longer formally affiliated. The U. S. Office of Scientific Research and Development , under Vannevar Bush asked Haskins Laboratories to evaluate and develop technologies for assisting blinded World War II veterans. Experimental psychologist Alvin Liberman joined Haskins Laboratories to assist in developing
2392-440: Was a continuation of ERS. David Ostry and colleagues explored the neurological underpinning of motor control using a robot arm to influence jaw movement. Douglas Whalen and Khalil Iskarous pioneered the pairing of ultrasound , used here to monitor articulators that cannot be seen, and Optotrak, an opto-electronic position-tracking device, used here to monitor visible articulators. Christine Shadle joined Haskins in 2004 to head up
2444-819: Was a liaison officer with the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) and then worked with the chairman of the National Defense Research Committee . After the war, he advised the Research and Development Board of the Army and the Navy, the Secretary of Defense , and the Secretary of State ; he was also a member of the President's Science Advisory Committee . Haskins was elected to
2496-486: Was a three-day meeting of scientists and representatives from governmental and non-governmental organizations around the globe, who are working with programs in the developing world to support literacy and education in disadvantaged populations. In 2016, Richard N. Aslin joined Haskins, after leaving the University of Rochester . In 2019, David Lewkowicz joined Haskins after leaving Northeastern University. Caryl Parker Haskins Caryl Parker Haskins (1908–2001)
2548-509: Was an American scientist, author, inventor, philanthropist, governmental adviser and pioneering entomologist in the study of ant biology. Along with Franklin S. Cooper , he founded the Haskins Laboratories , a private, non-profit research laboratory, in 1935. He was professor at Union College . He was also on the boards of non-profits such as the Carnegie Institution of Washington and the Smithsonian Institution . Haskins
2600-417: Was established in 2011 to provide direct educational opportunities in Haskins Laboratories' core areas of research (language, speech perception , speech production , literacy). The Training Institute serves to communicate this knowledge to the public through accessible seminars, small conferences, and intern and training positions. In December 2015, Haskins Laboratories convened a Global Literacy Summit. This
2652-407: Was initially educated at Yale University , where he was awarded a B.S. degree in 1930. He went on to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1935. During his career, he was awarded an Sc.D. from multiple institutions. Haskins taught at Union College as a research professor from 1937 to 1955. He was also a research associate at MIT from 1935 to 1945. In the late 1940s, he began to study
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#17327832903342704-549: Was selected to form a panel of six experts charged with investigating the famous 18-minute gap in the White House office tapes of President Richard Nixon related to the Watergate scandal . Building on earlier work, Philip Rubin developed the sinewave synthesis program, which was then used by Robert Remez , Rubin, and colleagues to show that listeners can perceive continuous speech without traditional speech cues from
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