About
I am an interdisciplinary language researcher and educator whose background spans the fields of psycholinguistics, applied linguistics, clinical psychology, aphasiology, and auditory cognitive neuroscience. I am interested in communication, cognition, emotion, and how they interact. I seek to understand the complex mechanisms driving language processing and patterns of linguistic behavior.
Education
San Diego State University
Candidate for Master of Arts
Linguistics
Expected December 2025
GPA: 4.0
Temple University
Graduate Certificate
English Language Teaching
Awarded May 2020
GPA: 3.9
Swarthmore College
Bachelor of Arts
Linguistics and Psychology (double major)
Awarded June 2014
Cum. GPA: 3.6 / Maj. GPA: 3.8
Publications
Fitzgerald, L. P., DeDe, G., & Shen, J. (2024). Effects of linguistic context and noise type on speech comprehension. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. Full text link
Shen, J., Fitzgerald L.P., & Kulick, E. R. (2022). Interactions between perceptual challenges and cognitive processing in speech perception as measured by task-evoked pupil response. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. Full text link
Selected Presentations
Fitzgerald, L.P. & Gawron, J.M. (Jan. 2026). Psycholinguistic evidence for a class of expressive adjectives. Poster presentation, Linguistic Society of America (LSA) Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA.
Fitzgerald, L.P., Axtell, E., Antoshak, J., Galindo, L., Perez, A., Ledesma, P., Simpson, J., Hazen, G., Kuhlmeier, T., Riès, S., & Blumenfeld, H. K. (Nov. 2025). Constructing Multimodal Bilingual Input: Crosslinguistic Interactions in Text and Image Combinations. Poster presentation, Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), Washington, D.C.
Fitzgerald, L.P., Antoshak, J., Simpson, J., Hazen, G., Axtell, E., Ledesma, P., Kuhlmeier, T., Perez, A., Galindo, L., Riès, S., & Blumenfeld, H. K. (Oct. 2025). Constructing Multimodal Bilingual Input: Crosslinguistic Interactions in a Picture-Word Matching Task. Poster presentation, 63rd Annual Academy of Aphasia Meeting, San Diego, CA.
Fitzgerald, L.P., Blumenfeld, H. K., & Riès, S. (Nov. 2024). When words collide: Impact of top-down and bottom-up input during bilingual picture-word matching. Oral presentation, 7th California Meeting on Psycholinguistics, San Diego, CA.
Sacks, B.J., Fitzgerald, L.P., Ulichney, V., Helion, C., & Reilly, J. (Nov. 2023). Affective alignment in conversational dyads across the lifespan: Tools and theory. Technical platform presentation (Aging, Speech Language Section), Annual Conference of the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA), Boston, MA.
Fitzgerald, L. P., Pattullo, L., Sacks, B. J., & Reilly, J. (Oct. 2023). Cursing feedback control, attentional capture, and physiological arousal: A combined eye tracking and electrocardiography study. Poster presentation, Society for the Neurobiology of Language Annual Meeting, Marseille, France.
Fitzgerald, L. P. (May 2023). Assessing authenticity in classroom materials for building literacy. Poster presentation, PennTESOL East Spring Conference, Philadelphia, PA.
Feeney, M., Fitzgerald, L.P., DeDe, G., & Shen, J. (Mar. 2023). Effects of linguistic context and speech masker on speech comprehension. Poster presentation, 50th Annual Scientific and Technology Conference of the American Auditory Society, Scottsdale, AZ.
Recent Professional Experience
Teaching Associate
Linguistics Department
San Diego State University
Graduate Research Assistant
Bilingualism and Cognition Laboratory
San Diego State University
PI: Dr. Henrike Blumenfeld
Senior Laboratory Manager
College of Public Health, Communication Sciences and Disorders
Temple University
PIs: Dr. Jing Shen, Dr. Jamie Reillly
Graduate Research Assistant
Aphasia Rehabilitation Laboratory
Temple University
PI: Dr. Nadine Martin
Awards & Activities
Campus Engagement at SDSU:
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Recipient, Rosario J. Patti Memorial Endowed Scholarship for the Humanities
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President, Linguistics Student Association
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Selected Member, Student Research Committee
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Selected Grad Student Representative, College of Arts & Letters Diversity Committee
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Presenter and Award Winner, SDSU Student Research Symposium and Cal State University System-Wide Research Competition
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Graduate Certificate in College Teaching, earned April 2024
Skills
Technical Skills:
Non-invasive brain stimulation (tDCS & rTMS), EEG, ECG, eye tracking & pupillometry, audiometric evaluation
Programming Languages & Research Software:
Acqknowledge, Audacity, Audition, E-Prime, Experiment Builder, MATLAB, Praat, Python, SPSS, R