Profile photo of Anqi Hu

Anqi Hu

Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Psychology, Western University
ahu233 (at) uwo.ca

Why do children have heterogeneous language outcomes?

I am currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychology at Western University. My research combines behavioral methods and neuroimaging to understand language learning in autistic and neurotypical children. I am especially interested in the question of why children show such variable language learning outcomes. I approach this question through the lens of language learning, and I research what occurs in the language learning processes that lead to language difficulties.

Current appointment

Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Psychology, Western University
January 2025 to December 2027

Education

PhD, Linguistics and Cognitive Science
University of Delaware, August 2024

MA, Linguistics and Cognitive Science
University of Delaware, May 2021

BA, Linguistics
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, May 2018, Summa Cum Laude

Journal Publications

  1. Open Mind
    The feasibility of online (virtual-world) eye-tracking with young children
    Ovans Z., Ayala A., Asmah R., Hu A., Montoute M., Van Horne A., Qi Z., Morini G., & Huang Y.T.
    Open Mind, 2025.
    Paper
  2. Dissociation Between Linguistic and Nonlinguistic Statistical Learning in Children with Autism JADD
    Dissociation Between Linguistic and Nonlinguistic Statistical Learning in Children with Autism
    Hu A., Kozloff V., Owen Van Horne A., Chugani D., & Qi Z.
    Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2023.
    Paper
  3. Measuring statistical learning across modalities and domains in school-aged children via an online platform and neuroimaging techniques JoVE
    Measuring statistical learning across modalities and domains in school-aged children via an online platform and neuroimaging techniques
    Schneider J.M., Hu A., Legault J., & Qi Z.
    Journal of Visualized Experiments, 2020.
    Paper Video protocol
  4. Neuropsychologia
    Linking the neural basis of distributional statistical learning with transitional statistical learning: The paradox of attention
    Schneider J.M., Weng Y.-L., Hu A., & Qi Z.
    Neuropsychologia, 2022.
    Paper
  5. Dev Sci
    Statistical learning and children's emergent literacy in rural Côte d'Ivoire
    Zinszer B.D., Hannon J., Hu A., Kouadio A.E., Akpé H., Tanoh F., Wang M., Qi Z., & Jasińska K.
    Developmental Science, 2024.
    Paper
  6. Lang Learning
    Does non-linguistic segmentation still predict literacy in an L2 education? Statistical learning in Ivorian primary schools
    Zinszer B.D., Hannon J., Kouadio É., Akpé H., Tanoh F., Hu A., Qi Z., & Jasińska K.
    Language Learning, 2023.
    Paper
  7. OSF
    Modality-Specific Consolidation Shapes Long-Term Retention in Statistical Learning
    Hu A., Parks K., Schulz S., Larmer S., Batterink L., & Stevenson R.A.
    Under review. Preprint available on OSF.
    Paper Under review
  8. OSF
    Plasticity of the Language Network Underpins Children's Greater Short-term Linguistic Learning Efficiency than Adults
    Hu A., Trice K., Lanka P., & Qi Z.
    Submitted. Preprint available on OSF.
    Paper Submitted

Conference Proceedings

  1. CogSci
    Novel word learning in multilingual children with and without autism spectrum disorder: roles of social cognition, multilingualism and vocabulary proficiency
    Ning J., Hu A., Qi Z., & Sheng L.
    Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2024.
  2. ICPhS
    Accommodation to vocal pitch in children with autism
    Hu A., Qi Z., & Franich K.
    Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, 2023.

Selected Talks and Posters

  1. INSAR 2026
    Vocabulary Acquisition in Noisy Social Contexts in Autistic Children
    Hu A., Fan A., Mack R., Kosich K., Qi Z., & Stevenson R.
    International Society for Autism Research (INSAR), Prague, April 22-25, 2026.
    Accepted abstract
  2. BUCLD
    The Changing Roles of the Language and Attention Systems in Statistical Learning Across Development
    Hu A., Trice K., Lanka P., & Qi Z.
    Boston University Conference on Language Development, 2024.
    Oral presentation
  3. SRCLD
    Selective Attention Facilitates Linguistic Statistical Learning in Autistic Children
    Hu A., & Qi Z.
    Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders, 2023.
    Oral presentation
  4. MoLA
    Contributions of Vocabulary and Theory of Mind to Word Learning Across Social Contexts in Autistic Children
    Hu A., & Qi Z.
    Meeting on Language in Autism, 2024.
    Poster
  5. MoLA
    Word learning and retention from overhearing as a resilience factor for vocabulary acquisition in autistic children
    Hu A., & Qi Z.
    Meeting on Language in Autism, 2023.
    Poster

Research Projects & Experience

Multisensory Pathways in Children's Language Learning

  • Social learning: Study how face visibility and auditory noise affect word learning in neurotypical and neurodivergent children.
  • Implicit learning: Test whether music entrainment enhances children's implicit statistical learning using behavioral and EEG measures.
  • Developmental pathways: Investigate cascading relationships among multisensory integration, social cognition, and language learning across development.

Implicit Learning and Language Development

Project 1: The Changing Roles of the Language and Attention Systems in Statistical Learning Across Development

  • Led five behavioral and fMRI studies on statistical learning (SL) across 300 neurotypical adults and neurodiverse children (submitted paper).
  • Identified statistical learning as a potential predictor of language development in autistic children and children with reading difficulties (published paper).
  • Demonstrated that domain-general attention can enhance SL in children with language difficulties (dissertation).

Project 2: Speech Adaptation in School-aged Autistic Children

  • Showed atypical pitch adaptation in autistic children by comparing pitch entrainment to model talkers in sentence repetition tasks (published proceeding).
  • Developed and launched open-source web-based audio recording software for at-home speech data collection (GitHub repository).

Social Learning and Vocabulary Acquisition

Project 3: Incidental Word Learning Across Social Contexts in Children

  • Uncovered overhearing as a resilience factor to word learning and retention in school-aged autistic children (poster).
  • Executed a 3-year production process for naturalistic story stimuli, encompassing script development, filming, and editing video and audio materials.

Project 4: Quality of Web-based Eye Tracking Experiments in Children

  • Partnered with 4 labs across institutes to analyze web-based eye tracking data, assessing its quality in child developmental research (published paper).
  • Engineered a Python script for eyegaze coding, enhancing efficiency by 50% (GitHub).