Rate My Professor Karen Aicher

Dr. Karen Aicher serves as Associate Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Bridgewater State University, where she is located in Hart Hall, Room 131. She holds a BS and MS from Bloomsburg State College, as well as an MA and PhD in cognitive psychology from the University of Connecticut. Prior to pursuing her graduate degrees at the University of Connecticut, Dr. Aicher worked for many years as a clinical speech-language pathologist. In this role, she provided services to diverse populations, including patients in hospital and rehabilitation settings, students in public schools, and adults in group homes and sheltered work settings. Her transition from clinical practice to academia reflects her commitment to advancing understanding in language-related fields through research and education.

Dr. Aicher’s research focuses on the influence of prior knowledge on language behavior, with particular attention to new learning in adults. Key publications from her work include 'The Influence of Word Form on the Acquisition of Meaning: An Adult Visual Word Learning Study' (2016), 'The Time Course of Anticipatory Constraint Integration' (2011), 'Sentence comprehension affects the dynamics of bimanual coordination: Implications for embodied cognition' (2009), and 'Are CORNER and BROTHER morphologically complex? Not in the long term' (2008). These contributions have garnered over 230 citations. Previously, she served as lab manager in the Language and Brain Lab at the University of Connecticut. At Bridgewater State University, Dr. Aicher actively mentors undergraduate students on research projects, such as investigations into decibel levels and employee perceptions of noise in child care facilities, speech-language pathologists' roles in the field, and assessing speech and language disorders in multilingual children. She has also contributed to faculty grants, including assisting with a three-part Zoom series on aging, action, and social/racial justice issues. Her work bridges clinical experience, experimental psychology, and communication disorders education.