Connor Mayer

Connor Mayer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Language Science at the University of California, Irvine, having earned his PhD from UCLA's Department of Linguistics. His academic work bridges theoretical linguistics with computational and experimental methodologies.

Dr. Mayer's research focuses on:

• Phonological and phonetic learning mechanisms
• Phonotactic learning and processing
• The phonetics and phonology of Uyghur (Turkic: China)
• Speech motor control and biomechanics

His methodological approach integrates computational modeling with empirical research through:

• Corpus analysis and formal language theory
• Neural networks and Bayesian learning
• Maximum entropy grammars and biomechanical modeling
• Acoustic analysis, ultrasound imaging, and behavioral experiments

Dr. Mayer has developed significant computational resources including the UCI Phonotactic Calculator and the maxent.ot R package. His publications appear in Behavior Research Methods, the Proceedings of the Society for Computation in Linguistics, and Phonological Data & Analysis. His collaborative work with researchers like Megha Sundara, Kie Zuraw, and Bryan Gick demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature of modern linguistic research.

His research program exemplifies the integration of theoretical frameworks with computational modeling and experimental validation, advancing our understanding of phonological knowledge representation and processing.