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<h2><b>Subject: National Convention Research Participation Request:
Effects of visual experience on neurocognitive
development.</b></h2> <br><br>
The below research participant solicitation is being provided for
informational purposes only. The National Federation of the Blind has no
involvement in this research, but we believe that it may contribute to
our research mission.<br><br>
<br><br>
<h2><b>Research Title: Effects of visual experience on neurocognitive
development.</b></h2> <br><br>
Being conducted by: Johns Hopkins University<br><br>
<h2><b> <br><br>
<br>
Purpose of the Study</b></h2>We are conducting multiple research studies
at the NFB annual convention 2025. Some of our studies will examine
Braille reading and language comprehension among people who are born
blind. We have previously found that people who are born blind show
advantages during sentence comprehension, such as listening to sentences
twice faster than sighted people. We plan to test the hypothesis that
this advantage is driven from better use of prosodic cues. We also plan
to investigate if these advantages can be found in Braille reading during
a more naturalistic approach.<br><br>
Another set of studies aims to uncover the rich knowledge blind
individuals have about vision, light, and color. It is sometimes assumed
that blind individuals know little about vision and visual phenomena,
such as color and light. In our previous work, we have found instead that
blind and sighted people alike have rich visual knowledge. For example,
blind and sighted people alike know that two bananas are likely to have
the same color, whereas two cars are not. Blind and sighted people alike
know that staring is long and intense, whereas peeking is brief and
flashing is periodic, whereas glowing is continuous. Our current research
is following up on these experiments, revealing more of what blind
individuals know about so-called 'visual' phenomena.<br><br>
<br><br>
<h2><b>Role of the Participants and Anticipated Length of the Study
</b></h2>The studies involve listening to short vignettes, listening to
sentences, listening to tones, reading Braille, and answering questions.
Each study takes approximately two hours.<br><br>
<h2><b>Proposed Participant Compensation</b></h2>Yes, Participants will
be compensated with a $15 gift card for taking part in a phone screening
interview to determine whether they qualify. Participants who take part
in the actual studies will be compensated $30 per hour for their
time.<br><br>
<h2><b> <br><br>
<br>
Link or Instructions for Participants to Enter the Study </b></h2>To find
out if you qualify and to sign up for a study appointment, please contact
us by either calling (410) 870-9895 or emailing
<a href="mailto:braillebrain@jhu.edu">braillebrain@jhu.edu</a> <br><br>
Participants will be compensated with a $15 gift card for taking part in
a phone screening interview to determine whether they qualify.<br><br>
<h2><b> <br><br>
<br>
Contact the following individual with any questions </b></h2>Emily
Silvano<br><br>
4439911201<br><br>
braillebrain@jhu.edu<br><br>
<br>
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