Carina Pals

Carina Pals is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Utah's College of Social and Behavioral Science. She holds a PhD in Auditory Perception and Cognition from the University of Groningen and an MSc in Artificial Intelligence from the same institution.

Her research focuses on auditory perception, speech understanding in challenging conditions, hearing impairment mechanisms, and cognitive aspects of listening effort. She employs behavioral experiments and psychometric assessments to investigate how listeners allocate cognitive resources during auditory tasks.

Publications demonstrate consistent focus on cochlear implant efficacy, speech processing under noise, and quantification of listening effort through response-time metrics. Her methodological contributions include validation of practical assessment tools for clinical audiology.

Awards & Grants:

• Travel Grant for Conference on Implantable Auditory Prostheses (2011)
• Travel Grant for ARO MidWinter Meeting (2014)
• Industry Support Grant from Cochlear Europe Ltd (2010-2014)

Teaching encompasses undergraduate courses in Cognitive Psychology, Sensation & Perception, and Human Factors. Supervised multiple student research projects at bachelor and master levels examining accented speech perception and masker language effects.