Erik Thiessen spoke to CMU-Q about his research in the area of language acquisition, outlining how infants decipher patterns in sounds through statistical learning. Thiessen, who is an associate professor of psychology at CMU and director of the Infant Language and Learning Lab, also touched on how second language learning, particularly in adults, differs from the way that babies hear sounds, find distinctions, and identify structure in language.

Thiessen is visiting the campus with David Creswell, associate professor of psychology at CMU and director of the Health and Human Performance Laboratory.