Psychology

Dr Nicolas Dumay

Dr Nicolas Dumay

Senior Lecturer in Psychological Science

 N.Dumay@exeter.ac.uk

 4666

 +44 (0) 1392 724666

 Washington Singer 309

 

Washington Singer Laboratories, University of Exeter, Perry Road, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK

Overview

I am an experimental psychologist working at the boundary between memory and language. My research initially focused on spoken word access processes in speech perception, with a doctoral work looking at the nature of acoustical markers of word boundaries and how these modulate the access to word memories. My research interests, however, have progressively moved towards language and memory consolidation. My research effort focuses on the dynamic changes that occur in memory and how these affect how we acquire, perceive, produce or forget linguistic information. I seem to have made an influential contribution through my collaboration with Gareth Gaskell (University of York). We showed that  memory consolidation, especially during sleep, plays a major role in word acquisition. Our findings have opened up a new line of investigation, and, as a result, I find myself at a very exciting location on the research map, at a crosstalk between language and memory, sleep research and the neurobiology of learning.

I welcome student applications to work with me on these issues, at any level of the cursus, from second-year internship to PhD.

Area of expertise:

  • Memory consolidation
  • Language plasticity
  • Sleep
  • Spoken word access and segmentation processes
  • Emotion

Qualifications

Postgraduate Certificate for Higher Education (University of Kent, 2010)

Doctorate in Psychological and Educational Sciences (Universite libre de Bruxelles, 2006)

Career

I am honorary Staff Scientist at the Basque Center for Cognition, Brain and Language, Spain.

I am Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy and Fellow of the Psychonomic Society.

I am also on the editorial boards of the following journals:

- Psychological Science

- Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition

Links

Research group links

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Research

Research interests

My research effort focuses on the offline changes that occur in memory and how these affect how we acquire, perceive, produce or forget linguistic (but also other types of) information. This means that I study memory consolidation as an object of investigation, but also use it to by-pass the influence of item idiosyncrasies when testing psycholinguistic hypotheses.

Research networks

UK:

Colin Davis, University of Bristol

Celia Morgan, University of Exeter

Europe/US:

Arty Samuel, NY Stony Brook

Effie Kapnoula, BCBL

Mark Pitt, Ohio State

Blair Armstrong, University of Toronto

Stephanie Massol, Universite de Lyon
 

Research grants

  • 2018 ESRC
    Dumay, N. "Does sleep flush out the unwanted leftovers of recent cognitive activities?" £630,100 (FEC)
  • 2016 Experimental Psychology Society
    Dumay, N. Small Research Grant £2,500
  • 2012 Ministry of Education and Science (Spain)
    Dumay, N. "The impact of reconsolidation on vocabulary acquisition: a neural and behavioural investigation." 88,330 €
  • 2009 British Academy Small Grants
    Dumay, N. "Are lexical representations abstract or episodic?" £7,478
  • 2009 University of Kent
    Dumay, N. "The impact of repeated letters on visual word recognition." £1,000
  • 2008 Experimental Psychology Society
    Nicolas Dumay. EPS Small Research Grant £2,500

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Publications

Journal articles

Samuel AG, Dumay N (In Press). Auditory Selective Adaptation Moment by Moment, at Multiple Timescales. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 596-615. Abstract.
Dumay N (In Press). Look more carefully: Even your data show sleep makes memories more accessible. A reply to Schreiner and Rasch (2018). Cortex
Dumay N, Sharma D, Kellen N, Abdelrahim S (2018). Setting the alarm: Word emotional attributes require consolidation to be operational. Emotion, 18(8), 1078-1096. Abstract.
Armstrong BC, Dumay N, Kim W, Pitt MA (2017). Generalization from newly learned words reveals structural properties of the human reading system. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 146(2), 227-249. Abstract.
Carlyle M, Dumay N, Roberts K, McAndrew A, Stevens T, Lawn W, Morgan CJA (2017). Improved memory for information learnt before alcohol use in social drinkers tested in a naturalistic setting. Scientific Reports, 7(1). Abstract.
Dumay N (2016). Sleep not just protects memories against forgetting, it also makes them more accessible. Cortex, 74, 289-296. Abstract.
Dumay N, Gaskell MG (2012). Overnight lexical consolidation revealed by speech segmentation. Cognition, 123(1), 119-132. Abstract.
Dumay N, Content A (2012). Searching for syllabic coding units in speech perception. Journal of Memory and Language, 66(4), 680-694. Abstract.
Dumay N, Damian MF (2011). A word-order constraint in single-word production? Failure to replicate Janssen, Alario, and Caramazza (2008). Psychological Science, 22(4), 559-561.  Author URL.
Damian MF, Dumay N (2009). Exploring phonological encoding through repeated segments. Language and Cognitive Processes, 24(5), 685-712. Abstract.
Chéreau C, Gaskell MG, Dumay N (2007). Reading spoken words: orthographic effects in auditory priming. Cognition, 102(3), 341-360. Abstract.  Author URL.
Dumay N, Gaskell MG (2007). Sleep-associated changes in the mental representation of spoken words. Psychol Sci, 18(1), 35-39. Abstract.  Author URL.
Damian MF, Dumay N (2007). Time pressure and phonological advance planning in spoken production. Journal of Memory and Language, 57(2), 195-209. Abstract.
Dumay N, Gaskell MG (2005). Do words go to sleep? Exploring consolidation of spoken forms through direct and indirect measures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28(1), 69-70. Abstract.
Dumay N, Gaskell MG (2005). Do words go to sleep? Exploring consolidation of spoken forms through direct and indirect measures. BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES, 28(1), 69-+.  Author URL.
Gaskell MG, Dumay N (2003). Lexical competition and the acquisition of novel words. Cognition, 89(2), 105-132. Abstract.  Author URL.
Dumay N, Frauenfelder UH, Content A (2002). Erratum: the role of the syllable in lexical segmentation in French: Word-spotting data (Brain and Language (2000) 81 (144-161) PII: S0093934X01925131). Brain and Language, 83(2), 362-363.
Dumay N, Frauenfelder UH, Content A (2002). The role of the syllable in lexical segmentation in French: word-spotting data. Brain and Language, 81(1-3), 144-161. Abstract.  Author URL.
Dumay N, Benraïss A, Barriol B, Colin C, Radeau M, Besson M (2001). Behavioral and electrophysiological study of phonological priming between bisyllabic spoken words. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 13(1), 121-143. Abstract.  Author URL.

Conferences

Miller ID, Dumay N, Pitt M, Lam B, Armstrong BC (2020). Context variability promotes generalization in reading aloud: Insight from a neural network simulation. Abstract.
Gaskell MG, Davis MH, Dumay N, Macdonald M (2005). Sleep and the acquisition of spoken words: Neural and behavioral consequences.  Author URL.
Dumay N, Gaskell MG, Feng X (2004). A Day in the Life of a Spoken Word.  Author URL.
Dumay N, Radeau M (1997). Rime and syllabic effects in phonological priming between French spoken words. Abstract.

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External Engagement and Impact

Editorial responsibilities

Editorial Boards

Psychological Science (from January 2020)

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition (since September 2019)

Adhoc reviewer for the following journals:

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. Cortex. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. Current Opinion in Behavioural Sciences. PloS One. Journal of Memory and Language. Neuropsychologia. Cognition. Psychophysiology. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. Acta Psychologica. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience. Applied Psycholinguistics. Attention, Perception & Psychophysics. Journal of Cognitive Psychology. Language and Speech. L’Année Psychologique.

Adhoc reviewer for the following funding bodies:
European Research Council (ERC); National Science Foundation (USA); Economic and Social Research Council (UK); Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (UK); De Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NL); Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)


Media Coverage

Dumay, N. (2015, Cortex) was covered by 542 news articles across 54 different countries (newspapers, blogs and magazines). This was relayed by TV channels, including CNN and the Spanish and French TV. Here are a few links, if you are interested:

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/30/health/a-sleep-to-remember-memories-tied-to-a-nights-rest/

http://www.elmundo.es/salud/2015/07/30/55b507b922601d5c538b4572.html

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/science/article4509007.ece

http://www.lastampa.it/2015/07/30/scienza/benessere/esami-in-vista-meglio-dormirci-sopra-Pz7FFXEjsXaeYUDT2BqzxJ/pagina.html

http://www.bcbl.eu/2015/08/dormir-nos-ayuda-a-recuperar-recuerdos/


Research networks

Fellow of the Psychonomic Society

Full member of European Society for Cognitive Psychology

Full member of Experimental Psychology Society


Workshops organised

Conference main organiser:
International Workshop on Learning and Memory Consolidation, July 10-12, 2014, San Sebastian, Spain (www.bcbl.eu/events/learning/en/)

South West Undergraduate Psychology Conference, March 22, 2014, Exeter University, UK

International Workshop on Reading and Developmental Dyslexia, May 30-June 1, 2013, San Sebastian, Spain (www.bcbl.eu/events/IWORDD)

Scientific Committee of the 17th Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology, September 29-October 2, 2011, San Sebastian, Spain www.bcbl.eu/events/escop2011/en/comite/desde2/

Organised symposia:
Dumay, N., & Samuel, A.G. (2011). Memory consolidation: Surprisingly pervasive effects on language at multiple levels. 17th Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology, September 29-October 2, 2011, San Sebastian, Spain www.bcbl.eu/events/escop2011/en/conference/

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Teaching

I generally teach core modules in cognition, and language and memory.

In 2018 I received the University Teaching Excellence Award in Psychology.

Previous teaching also included:

Modules

2023/24


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Office Hours:

Term 1:

Thursdays 13:00-14:30

Term 2:

Thursdays 12:30-13:30

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