CV

Education and Employment

Software Engineer (2022-present)
Lookit / Children Helping Science platform for web-based developmental research
Early Childhood Cognition Lab, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Seattle, WA, USA (remote)

JavaScript Developer (2020-present)
Software developer for jsPsych, funded by Mozilla Open Source Software grant awarded to Dr Josh de Leeuw
Freelance web-based experiment developer
Seattle, WA, USA (remote)

Investigator Scientist (2017-2022)
MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit
University of Cambridge
Cambridge, UK
Advisor: Dr Matt Davis

Postdoctoral Research Associate (2015-2017)
Department of Experimental Psychology
Division of Psychology and Language Sciences
University College London
London, UK
Advisor: Professor Jenni Rodd

Ph.D. (2010-2014)
Department of Psychology
University of York
York, UK
Advisors: Dr Tom Hartley, Professor Graham Hitch

EEG Lab Technician (2010-2011)
Department of Psychology
University of York
York, UK

Psychophysiologist (2008-2010)
Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research
Department of Psychology
University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, MN, USA

B.A. (2003-2006)
Department of Psychology
University of Minnesota Morris
Morris, MN, USA

Programming and Technical Skills

  • Web development and web-based experiments: JavaScript/CSS/HTML, jsPsych, JATOS, Jest, Ember, Node, Linux/Nginx/MySQL server administration, TypeScript, SurveyJS, Qualtrics/QRTE
  • Lab-based experiments: E-Prime, Psychtoolbox, PyGame
  • Statistical: R (lme4, plyr, ggplot2, brms), JASP, Matlab, SPSS
  • EEG: EEGLAB, ERPLAB, ASA, Fieldtrip
  • Other: Git/Github, Python, Windows batch, Arduino, Unity, Audacity, Praat

Publications

Byrne, E. M., Gathercole, S. E., Holmes, J., Gilbert, R. A., & Norris, D. G. (submitted). Mechanisms of complex span training and transfer.

Byrne, E. M., Gilbert, R. A., Kievit, R., & Holmes, J. (submitted). Evidence for separate backward recall and n-back working memory factors: A large-scale latent variable analysis. [PsyArXiv] [OSF] DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/bkja7

Zoefel, B., Gilbert, R. A., & Davis, M. H. (2023). Intelligibility improves perception of timing changes in speech. PLOS ONE. [journal site] [bioRxiv]

MacGregor, L. J., Gilbert, R. A., Balewski, Z., Mitchell, D. J., Erzinclioglu, S. W., Rodd, J. M., Duncan, J., Fedorenko, E., Davis. M. H. (2022). Causal contributions of domain-general (Multiple Demand) and language-selective brain networks to perceptual and semantic challenges in speech comprehension. Neurobiology of Language, [journal site] [bioRxiv] [OSF]. DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00081

de Leeuw, J. R., Gilbert, R. A., Petrov, N., & Luchterhandt, B. (2022). Simulating Behavior to Help Researchers Build Experiments. Behavior Research Methods. [PsyArXiv] [journal site] DOI: 10.3758/s13428-022-01899-0

Gilbert, R. A., & Rodd, J. M. (2022). Dominance Norms and Data for Spoken Ambiguous Words in British English. Journal of Cognition, 5(1). [journal site] [PsyArXiv] [OSF]

Wang, Y. C., Sohoglu, E., Gilbert, R. A., Henson, R. N., & Davis, M. H. (2021). Predictive Neural Computations Support Spoken Word Recognition: Evidence from MEG and Competitor Priming. Journal of Neuroscience. [journal site] [bioRxiv]

Gilbert, R. A., Davis, M. H., Gaskell, M., & Rodd, J. M. (2021). The relationship between sentence comprehension and lexical-semantic retuning. Journal of Memory and Language. [journal site] [PsyArXiv] [OSF]

MacGregor, L. J., Rodd, J. M., Gilbert, R. A., Hauk, O., Sohoglu, E., & Davis, M. H. (2019). The neural time course of semantic ambiguity resolution in speech comprehension. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. [journal site]

Gilbert, R. A., Davis, M. H., Gaskell, M. G., & Rodd, J. M. (2018). Listeners and Readers Generalize Their Experience With Word Meanings Across Modalities. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. [journal site]

Betts, H. N., Gilbert, R. A., Cai, Z. G., Okedara, Z. B., & Rodd, J. M.  (2017). Retuning of Lexical-Semantic Representations: Repetition and Spacing Effects in Word-Meaning Priming. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. [journal site]

Cai, Z. G., Gilbert, R. A., Davis, M. H., Gaskell, M. G., Farrar, L., Adler, S., & Rodd, J. M. (2017). Accent modulates access to word meaning: Evidence for a speaker-model account of spoken word recognition. Cognitive Psychology, 98, 73-101. [journal site]

Gilbert, R. A., Hitch, G. J., & Hartley, T. (2016). Temporal Precision and the Capacity of Auditory-Verbal Short-Term Memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1-16. [journal site]

Conference Presentations

MacGregor, L. J., Peters F., Gilbert, R. A., & Davis, M. H. (2022, November). Vocabulary knowledge and non-verbal IQ predict successful comprehension of ambiguous sentences. Poster presented by L. MacGregor at Cambridge Language Sciences Annual Symposium, Cambridge [pdf].

Smith, H., Gilbert, R. A., & Davis, M. H. (2022, January). Can speech perception deficits cause phonological impairments? Evidence from short-term memory for ambiguous speech sounds. Poster presented by H. Smith at the Experimental Psychology Meeting, London/online.

Peters F., MacGregor, L. J., Gilbert, R. A., & Davis, M. H. (2022, January). Comprehension of sentences with ambiguous words is predicted by language-specific and domain-general abilities. Poster presented by F. Peters at the Experimental Psychology Meeting, London/online.

MacGregor, L. J., Gilbert, R. A., Balewski, Z., Mitchell, D. J., Erzinclioglu, S. W., Rodd, J. M., Duncan, J., Fedorenko, E., & Davis, M. H. (2021, January). The causal role of language-specific brain regions in contextual updating of ambiguous word meanings. Poster presented by L. J. MacGregor at the Society for the Neurobiology of Language (SNL) conference, virtual meeting (2020, November), and Experimental Psychology Meeting, virtual meeting.

Gilbert, R. A., Davis, M. H., Gaskell, M. G., & Rodd, J. M. (2017, September). Sentence-level learning mechanisms support lexical-semantic retuning during ambiguity resolution. Talk presented at the at the Architectures and Mechanisms of Language Processing (AMLaP) conference, Lancaster University.

Rodd, J. M., Gilbert, R. A., & Betts, H. N. (2017, July). The role of learning mechanisms in understanding spoken words. Talk presented by J. M. Rodd at the Cognitive Science Society meeting, London. [pdf]

Gilbert, R. A., Davis, M. H., Gaskell, M. G., & Rodd, J. M. (2017, July). Generalisation of recent word meaning experience across modalities: How we avoid barking up the wrong tree. Talk presented at the Experimental Psychology Society Meeting, University of Reading.

Gilbert, R. A., Betts, H. N., Jose, R., & Rodd, J. M. (2017, January). New UK-based dominance norms for ambiguous words. Poster presented at the Experimental Psychology Society Meeting, University College London. [pdf]

Gilbert, R. A., Hitch, G. J., & Hartley, T. (2016, July). Temporal precision in short-term memory for spoken word sequences. Talk presented at the Experimental Psychology Society Meeting, University of Oxford.

Rodd, J. M., Gilbert R. A., Warren, J. E., & Davis, M. H.. (2016, July). Comparing error-driven and associative accounts of word-meaning priming. Talk presented by J. M. Rodd at the Experimental Psychology Society Meeting, University of Oxford.

Gilbert, R. A., Cai, Z. G., Warren, J. E., Davis, M. H., & Rodd, J. M. (2016, May). Effects of disambiguating context positioning on ambiguous word-meaning priming. Poster presented at the International Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Granada, Spain. [pdf]

Gilbert, R. A., Hitch, G. J., & Hartley, T. (2013, September). Individual differences in auditory-verbal STM span and rehearsal timing. Talk presented at BPS Cognitive and Developmental Sections Conference, University of Reading.

Gilbert, R. A., Hitch, G. J., & Hartley, T. (2013, June). Auditory-Verbal Short-Term Memory Span and Rehearsal Timing in Adults with Dyslexia. Poster presented at the Language in Developmental and Acquired Disorders Satellite Meeting, Royal Society at Chicheley Hall, Milton Keynes. [pdf]