By Will Bower
Assistant professor Ethan Kutlu’s path was always rooted in speech. Starting as a simultaneous interpreter, he was originally supposed to work with the European Union; an early interpreting experience sparked a different interest.
“I realized how my brain had to speak in a language while listening to another one,” Kutlu said. “The cognitive demand of this process led me to investigate the experience of bilingualism.”
This curiosity led Kutlu to psycholinguistics, which is the study of how the mind acquires, processes, and produces language. After receiving his PhD in linguistics from the University of Florida, Kutlu came to the University of Iowa as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow.
“I chose Iowa because it has played an integral role in language science research for decades,” Kutlu said.
The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) is a leader in the field and has a long history of shaping the profession.
Kutlu was hired as a tenure-track assistant professor at CSD following completion of the two-year fellowship. He also serves as the principal investigator of the Speech, Signs, and Systems Lab, where a team of researchers investigates what happens in your brain when you hear someone talk or sign.
“Understanding speech isn't just about the sounds or signs; it's also about who you think is talking and whether you are familiar with this person's background,” Kutlu said. “We developed a survey that gives us a snapshot of a person's social environment, which helps us predict what type of language they are regularly exposed to.”
Kutlu’s lab uses a variety of methods for research, including electroencephalography. They place electrodes on a cap worn by the participant and monitor the electrical signals sent by the brain.
“This tool allows us to see millisecond by millisecond how the brain processes information,” Kutlu said. “We can pinpoint the exact millisecond when someone detects something wrong in a sentence.”
The Speech, Signs, and Systems Lab is just one of the many innovative research labs within CSD.
In addition to his own research, Kutlu also supports the research of others in the field of psycholinguistics.
He was recently named an Outstanding Reviewer by Cognition, one of the most prestigious journals in psycholinguistics. The award recognizes individuals who provide exceptional peer reviews. Before publication, researchers in all areas of academia receive feedback from experts in their field, which ensures thorough decision-making.
Kutlu is also part of the Reviewer Zero initiative which works to ensure equity in the reviewing process.
“I take reviewing very seriously because I know how much work goes into every study,” Kutlu said. “I try to be thorough and constructive.”
