The central goal of laboratory phonology is "gaining an understanding of the relationship between the cognitive and physical aspects of human speech"[1] through the use of an interdisciplinary approach that promotes scholarly exchange across disciplines, bridging linguistics with psychology, electrical engineering, computer science, and other fields.
Current research in laboratory phonology draws heavily on the theories of metrical phonology and autosegmental phonology which are sought to be tested with help of experimental procedures, in laboratory settings, or through linguistic data collection at field sites, and through evaluation with statistical methods, such as exploratory data analysis.
[5] Among the researchers associated with laboratory phonology are Janet Pierrehumbert, Mary Beckman, Patricia Keating and D. Robert Ladd, who co-authored a paper discussing the approach.
[6] Other prominent laboratory phonologists include Catherine Browman, Jennifer S. Cole, Louis Goldstein, Julia Hirschberg, Ian Maddieson and Mariapaola D'Imperio.
[2] Since then, the importance of LabPhon has increased significantly, as evidenced by the strong attendance at the biennial conferences.