RESEARCH INTERESTS

My research program explores the development of communication and language. Within this broad area, my current research focuses on the role of the face in the perception of speech. I use a lifespan approach to examine the development of audiovisual speech perception in typically developing children and adults. Recently, I have begun extending my basic research on typical individuals to assess individual differences in audiovisual speech perception in special populations, including children with autism spectrum disorders, poor readers and stutterers. My work makes use of multiple methodologies, including eye-tracking, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and event related potentials (ERP) to assess key factors that underlie perception of seen and heard speech and their spatial and temporal signatures.

EDUCATION

1998 - Ph.D., Child and Developmental Psychology, University of Connecticut

1990 - B.A., Psychology, State University of New York, College at Oswego

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND POSITIONS

2003-Present, Senior Research Scientist, Haskins laboratories

2001-2002 - Associate Research Scientist, Yale University Child Study Center

1998-2001 - Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Yale University Child Study Center

GRANTS AND HONORS

2006-2009 - Principal Investigator, National Institutes of Health (NIDCD) R03,

"Audiovisual speech integration in children with autism spectrum disorders".

2006-2011 - Investigator, National Institutes of Health (NICHD) P01, "Nature of

the speech code and reading", C. Fowler, PI.

2003-2008 - Investigator, National Institutes of Health (NICHD) R01, "Early

ontogeny of attunement to the language environment", C. Best, PI.

2000-2001 - Principal Investigator, "A prospective longitudinal study of early

social-emotional problems and competencies in Autism/PDD-NOS" from the Autism Society of America Foundation. Co-Investigators Alice S. Carter and Fred Volkmar.

1998-2001 - Recipient, National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) Training

Grant in Childhood Neurobiological Disorder, Yale University Child Study Center.

1996 - Recipient, University of Connecticut Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship

Award.

1993 - Recipient, University of Connecticut Child and Developmental Division

Summer Research Fellowship.

PUBLICATIONS

Irwin, J.R. (2007). Auditory and audiovisual speech perception in children with

autism spectrum disorders, Acoustics Today, 8-15. [PDF]

Mongillo, E.A., Irwin, J.R., Whalen, D. H., Klaiman, C., Carter, A.S. & Schultz,

R. T. (manuscript accepted for publication). Audiovisual Processing in Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorders, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities.

Irwin, J.R., Whalen, D.H. & Fowler, C.A. (2006). A sex difference in visual

influence on heard speech. Perception & Psychophysics, 68, 582-592

Irwin, J.R. (2003). Parent and non-parent perception of the multimodal

infant cry. Infancy, 4, 503-516.

Irwin, J.R., Carter, A.S., & Briggs-Gowan, M. (2003). Reply to Fitzgerald.

Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42, 1142.

Irwin, J.R., Carter, A.S., & Briggs-Gowan, M. (2002). The social-emotional

development of late-talking toddlers. Journal of the American Academy

of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 41(11), 1324-1332.

Briggs-Gowan, M.J., Carter, A.S., Irwin, J.R., Wachtel, K., & Cicchetti, D.

(2004). The Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment:

Screening for social-emotional problems and delays in competence. Pediatric Psychology, 29, 143-155

Horwitz, S.M., Irwin, J.R, Briggs-Gowan, M.J., Heenan, J. B., Mendoza, J. &

Carter, A.S. (2003). Language Delay in a Community Cohort of Young Children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42, 932-940

Green, J.A., Irwin, J. R. & Gustafson, G.E. (1999). Acoustic cry analysis,

neonatal status, and long -term developmental outcomes. Barr, R.G., Hopkins, B., & Green, J. (Eds.). Crying as a signal, a sign and a symptom: Developmental, emotional and clinical aspects of crying behavior in infants and toddlers. MacKeith Press.

Whalen, D.H., Best, C.T. & Irwin, J. (1997). Lexical effects in the perception

and production of American English /p/ allophones. Journal of Phonetics, Volume 25, 501- 528.

Green, J.A., Gustafson, G.E., Irwin, J.R., Kalinowski, L. L. & Wood, R.M.

(1995). Infant crying: acoustics, perception and communication. Early Development and Parenting, Vol. 4, 1-15.