Spectral timbre perception in ferrets; discrimination of artificial vowels under different listening conditions

PubMed Central

Bizley, Jennifer K; Walker, Kerry MM; King, Andrew J; Schnupp, Jan WH

2013-01-01

Spectral timbre is an acoustic feature that enables human listeners to determine the identity of a spoken vowel. Despite its importance to sound perception, little is known about the neural representation of sound timbre and few psychophysical studies have investigated timbre discrimination in non-human species. In this study, ferrets were positively conditioned to discriminate artificial vowel sounds in a two-alternative-forced-choice paradigm. Animals quickly learned to discriminate the vowel sound /u/ from /ε/, and were immediately able to generalize across a range of voice pitches. They were further tested in a series of experiments designed to assess how well they could discriminate these vowel sounds under different listening conditions. First, a series of morphed vowels was created by systematically shifting the location of the first and second formant frequencies. Second, the ferrets were tested with single formant stimuli designed to assess which spectral cues they could be using to make their decisions. Finally, vowel discrimination thresholds were derived in the presence of noise maskers presented from either the same or a different spatial location. These data indicate that ferrets show robust vowel discrimination behavior across a range of listening conditions and that this ability shares many similarities with human listeners. PMID:23297909

Music Appreciation after Cochlear Implantation in Adult Patients: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Riley, Phoebe E; Ruhl, Douglas S; Camacho, Macario; Tolisano, Anthony M

2018-06-01

Objective The cochlear implant (CI) improves quality of life for people who are severely and profoundly deafened, allowing implantees to perceive speech at levels similar to those of individuals with normal hearing. However, patients with CIs generally report a reduced appreciation of music after implantation. We aimed to systematically review the English-language literature for studies evaluating music enjoyment and perception among adult patients with CIs. Data Sources A systematic review of PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. Review Methods The PRISMA statement was utilized to identify English-language studies reporting music appreciation among adults with CIs. Two independent reviewers performed searches through May 2017. Included studies investigated parameters related to music enjoyment and music perception, including (1) pitch and timbre perception, (2) noise-canceling algorithms, and (3) the presence of dissonant chords, lyrics, or visual cues. Results A total of 508 articles were screened for relevance. Forty-one full-text articles were evaluated, and 18 met final inclusion criteria. Studies used heterogeneous methods of outcome measurement for identifying music appreciation. The outcome measures suggest that rhythm and lyrics are important components of enjoyment. Patients with CIs had difficulty with pitch and timbre perception. Conclusion The heterogeneous outcome measures identified in this systematic review suggest that rhythm and lyrics are important components of enjoyment, while patients with CIs had difficulty with pitch and timbre perception. Because there is no standardized reporting metric for music appreciation among adult patients with CIs, a standardized validated outcome-measuring tool is warranted.

Improved perception of music with a harmonic based algorithm for cochlear implants.

PubMed

Li, Xing; Nie, Kaibao; Imennov, Nikita S; Rubinstein, Jay T; Atlas, Les E

2013-07-01

The lack of fine structure information in conventional cochlear implant (CI) encoding strategies presumably contributes to the generally poor music perception with CIs. To improve CI users' music perception, a harmonic-single-sideband-encoder (HSSE) strategy was developed , which explicitly tracks the harmonics of a single musical source and transforms them into modulators conveying both amplitude and temporal fine structure cues to electrodes. To investigate its effectiveness, vocoder simulations of HSSE and the conventional continuous-interleaved-sampling (CIS) strategy were implemented. Using these vocoders, five normal-hearing subjects' melody and timbre recognition performance were evaluated: a significant benefit of HSSE to both melody (p < 0.002) and timbre (p < 0.026) recognition was found. Additionally, HSSE was acutely tested in eight CI subjects. On timbre recognition, a significant advantage of HSSE over the subjects' clinical strategy was demonstrated: the largest improvement was 35% and the mean 17% (p < 0.013). On melody recognition, two subjects showed 20% improvement with HSSE; however, the mean improvement of 7% across subjects was not significant (p > 0.090). To quantify the temporal cues delivered to the auditory nerve, the neural spike patterns evoked by HSSE and CIS for one melody stimulus were simulated using an auditory nerve model. Quantitative analysis demonstrated that HSSE can convey temporal pitch cues better than CIS. The results suggest that HSSE is a promising strategy to enhance music perception with CIs.

Music, emotion, and time perception: the influence of subjective emotional valence and arousal?

PubMed Central

Droit-Volet, Sylvie; Ramos, Danilo; Bueno, José L. O.; Bigand, Emmanuel

2013-01-01

The present study used a temporal bisection task with short (<2 s) and long (>2 s) stimulus durations to investigate the effect on time estimation of several musical parameters associated with emotional changes in affective valence and arousal. In order to manipulate the positive and negative valence of music, Experiments 1 and 2 contrasted the effect of musical structure with pieces played normally and backwards, which were judged to be pleasant and unpleasant, respectively. This effect of valence was combined with a subjective arousal effect by changing the tempo of the musical pieces (fast vs. slow) (Experiment 1) or their instrumentation (orchestral vs. piano pieces). The musical pieces were indeed judged more arousing with a fast than with a slow tempo and with an orchestral than with a piano timbre. In Experiment 3, affective valence was also tested by contrasting the effect of tonal (pleasant) vs. atonal (unpleasant) versions of the same musical pieces. The results showed that the effect of tempo in music, associated with a subjective arousal effect, was the major factor that produced time distortions with time being judged longer for fast than for slow tempi. When the tempo was held constant, no significant effect of timbre on the time judgment was found although the orchestral music was judged to be more arousing than the piano music. Nevertheless, emotional valence did modulate the tempo effect on time perception, the pleasant music being judged shorter than the unpleasant music. PMID:23882233

Congenital amusia: a short-term memory deficit for non-verbal, but not verbal sounds.

PubMed

Tillmann, Barbara; Schulze, Katrin; Foxton, Jessica M

2009-12-01

Congenital amusia refers to a lifelong disorder of music processing and is linked to pitch-processing deficits. The present study investigated congenital amusics' short-term memory for tones, musical timbres and words. Sequences of five events (tones, timbres or words) were presented in pairs and participants had to indicate whether the sequences were the same or different. The performance of congenital amusics confirmed a memory deficit for tone sequences, but showed normal performance for word sequences. For timbre sequences, amusics' memory performance was impaired in comparison to matched controls. Overall timbre performance was found to be correlated with melodic contour processing (as assessed by the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia). The present findings show that amusics' deficits extend to non-verbal sound material other than pitch, in this case timbre, while not affecting memory for verbal material. This is in line with previous suggestions about the domain-specificity of congenital amusia.

The contribution of timbre attributes to musical tension.

PubMed

Farbood, Morwaread M; Price, Khen C

2017-01-01

Timbre is an auditory feature that has received relatively little attention in empirical work examining musical tension. In order to address this gap, an experiment was conducted to explore the contribution of several specific timbre attributes-inharmonicity, roughness, spectral centroid, spectral deviation, and spectral flatness-to the perception of tension. Listeners compared pairs of sounds representing low and high degrees of each attribute and indicated which sound was more tense. Although the response profiles showed that the high states corresponded with increased tension for all attributes, further analysis revealed that some attributes were strongly correlated with others. When qualitative factors, attribute correlations, and listener responses were all taken into account, there was fairly strong evidence that higher degrees of roughness, inharmonicity, and spectral flatness elicited higher tension. On the other hand, evidence that higher spectral centroid and spectral deviation corresponded to increases in tension was ambiguous.

The Effect of Timbre and Vibrato on Vocal Pitch Matching Accuracy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duvvuru, Sirisha

Research has shown that singers are better able to match pitch when the target stimulus has a timbre close to their own voice. This study seeks to answer the following questions: (1) Do classically trained female singers more accurately match pitch when the target stimulus is more similar to their own timbre? (2) Does the ability to match pitch vary with increasing pitch? (3) Does the ability to match pitch differ depending on whether the target stimulus is produced with or without vibrato? (4) Are mezzo sopranos less accurate than sopranos? Stimuli. Source signals were synthesized with a source slope of -12dB/octave using vibrato and without vibrato at each of the frequencies, C4, B4 and F5. These source signals were filtered using 5 formant patterns (A-E) of vowel /a/ constituting a total of 30 stimuli (5 formant patterns*3pitches*2 vibrato conditions). Procedure. Ten sopranos and 10 mezzo-sopranos with at least 3 years of individual voice training were recruited from the University Of Tennessee School Of Music and the Knoxville Opera Company. Each singer attempted to vocally match the pitch of all 30 stimuli presented twice in a random order. Analysis and results. Pitch matching accuracy was measured in terms of the difference in cents between the target and the experimental productions at two locations, (1) pre-phonatory set (2) mid-point of the vowel. Accuracy of pitch matching was compared across vibrato and non-vibrato conditions. Results indicated that there was no significant effect of formant pattern on pitch matching accuracy. With increasing pitch from C4 to F5, pitch matching accuracy increased in mid-point of the vowel condition but not in pre-phonatory set condition. Mezzo-sopranos moved towards being in tune from pre-phonatory to mid-point of the vowel. However, sopranos at C4, sang closer to being in tune at pre-phonatory, but lowered the pitch at the mid-point of the vowel. Presence or absence of vibrato did not affect the pitch matching accuracy. However, the interesting finding of the study was that singers attempted to match the timbre of stimuli with vibrato. Results are discussed in terms of interactions between pitch and timbre from auditory perceptual as well as physiological point of view and how current theories of pitch perception relate to this phenomenon. Neither physiological nor auditory perceptual mechanisms provide complete explanations for the results obtained in the study. From a perceptual point of view, an interaction between pitch and timbre seems to be more complex, for spectral and temporal theories are limited in explaining these interactions. Also, possible explanations for the phenomenon of timbre matching are provided.

Music Perception of Cochlear Implant Recipients with Implications for Music Instruction: A Review of the Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsiao, Feilin; Gfeller, Kate

2012-01-01

This review of the literature presents a systematic analysis of the capabilities and limitations of cochlear implant (CI) recipients with regard to music perception. Specifically, it (a) analyzes individual components of music (e.g., rhythm, timbre, and pitch) as they interface with the technical characteristics of CIs and the perceptual abilities…

Discrimination of timbre in early auditory responses of the human brain.

PubMed

Seol, Jaeho; Oh, MiAe; Kim, June Sic; Jin, Seung-Hyun; Kim, Sun Il; Chung, Chun Kee

2011-01-01

The issue of how differences in timbre are represented in the neural response still has not been well addressed, particularly with regard to the relevant brain mechanisms. Here we employ phasing and clipping of tones to produce auditory stimuli differing to describe the multidimensional nature of timbre. We investigated the auditory response and sensory gating as well, using by magnetoencephalography (MEG). Thirty-five healthy subjects without hearing deficit participated in the experiments. Two different or same tones in timbre were presented through conditioning (S1)-testing (S2) paradigm as a pair with an interval of 500 ms. As a result, the magnitudes of auditory M50 and M100 responses were different with timbre in both hemispheres. This result might support that timbre, at least by phasing and clipping, is discriminated in the auditory early processing. The second response in a pair affected by S1 in the consecutive stimuli occurred in M100 of the left hemisphere, whereas both M50 and M100 responses to S2 only in the right hemisphere reflected whether two stimuli in a pair were the same or not. Both M50 and M100 magnitudes were different with the presenting order (S1 vs. S2) for both same and different conditions in the both hemispheres. Our results demonstrate that the auditory response depends on timbre characteristics. Moreover, it was revealed that the auditory sensory gating is determined not by the stimulus that directly evokes the response, but rather by whether or not the two stimuli are identical in timbre.

Sensory-Cognitive Interaction in the Neural Encoding of Speech in Noise: A Review

PubMed Central

Anderson, Samira; Kraus, Nina

2011-01-01

Background Speech-in-noise (SIN) perception is one of the most complex tasks faced by listeners on a daily basis. Although listening in noise presents challenges for all listeners, background noise inordinately affects speech perception in older adults and in children with learning disabilities. Hearing thresholds are an important factor in SIN perception, but they are not the only factor. For successful comprehension, the listener must perceive and attend to relevant speech features, such as the pitch, timing, and timbre of the target speaker’s voice. Here, we review recent studies linking SIN and brainstem processing of speech sounds. Purpose To review recent work that has examined the ability of the auditory brainstem response to complex sounds (cABR), which reflects the nervous system’s transcription of pitch, timing, and timbre, to be used as an objective neural index for hearing-in-noise abilities. Study Sample We examined speech-evoked brainstem responses in a variety of populations, including children who are typically developing, children with language-based learning impairment, young adults, older adults, and auditory experts (i.e., musicians). Data Collection and Analysis In a number of studies, we recorded brainstem responses in quiet and babble noise conditions to the speech syllable /da/ in all age groups, as well as in a variable condition in children in which /da/ was presented in the context of seven other speech sounds. We also measured speech-in-noise perception using the Hearing-in-Noise Test (HINT) and the Quick Speech-in-Noise Test (QuickSIN). Results Children and adults with poor SIN perception have deficits in the subcortical spectrotemporal representation of speech, including low-frequency spectral magnitudes and the timing of transient response peaks. Furthermore, auditory expertise, as engendered by musical training, provides both behavioral and neural advantages for processing speech in noise. Conclusions These results have implications for future assessment and management strategies for young and old populations whose primary complaint is difficulty hearing in background noise. The cABR provides a clinically applicable metric for objective assessment of individuals with SIN deficits, for determination of the biologic nature of disorders affecting SIN perception, for evaluation of appropriate hearing aid algorithms, and for monitoring the efficacy of auditory remediation and training. PMID:21241645

Clinical evaluation of music perception, appraisal and experience in cochlear implant users.

PubMed

Drennan, Ward R; Oleson, Jacob J; Gfeller, Kate; Crosson, Jillian; Driscoll, Virginia D; Won, Jong Ho; Anderson, Elizabeth S; Rubinstein, Jay T

2015-02-01

The objectives were to evaluate the relationships among music perception, appraisal, and experience in cochlear implant users in multiple clinical settings and to examine the viability of two assessments designed for clinical use. Background questionnaires (IMBQ) were administered by audiologists in 14 clinics in the United States and Canada. The CAMP included tests of pitch-direction discrimination, and melody and timbre recognition. The IMBQ queried users on prior musical involvement, music listening habits pre and post implant, and music appraisals. One-hundred forty-five users of Advanced Bionics and Cochlear Ltd cochlear implants. Performance on pitch direction discrimination, melody recognition, and timbre recognition tests were consistent with previous studies with smaller cohorts, as well as with more extensive protocols conducted in other centers. Relationships between perceptual accuracy and music enjoyment were weak, suggesting that perception and appraisal are relatively independent for CI users. Perceptual abilities as measured by the CAMP had little to no relationship with music appraisals and little relationship with musical experience. The CAMP and IMBQ are feasible for routine clinical use, providing results consistent with previous thorough laboratory-based investigations.

Pedagogical efficiency of melodic contour mapping technology as it relates to vocal timbre in singers of classical music repertoire.

PubMed

Barnes-Burroughs, Kathryn; Anderson, Edward E; Hughes, Thomas; Lan, William Y; Dent, Karl; Arnold, Sue; Dolter, Gerald; McNeil, Kathy

2007-11-01

The purpose of this investigation was to ascertain the pedagogical viability of computer-generated melodic contour mapping systems in the classical singing studio, as perceived by their resulting effect (if any) on vocal timbre when a singer's head and neck remained in a normal singing posture. The evaluation of data gathered during the course of the study indicates that the development of consistent vocal timbre produced by the classical singing student may be enhanced through visual/kinesthetic response to melodic contour inversion mapping, as it balances the singer's perception of melodic intervals in standard musical notation. Unexpectedly, it was discovered that the system, in its natural melodic contour mode, may also be useful for teaching a student to sing a consistent legato line. The results of the study also suggest that the continued development of this new technology for the general teaching studio, designed to address standard musical notation and a singer's visual/kinesthetic response to it, may indeed be useful.

Perceptual aspects of singing.

PubMed

Sundberg, J

1994-06-01

The relations between acoustic and perceived characteristics of vowel sounds are demonstrated with respect to timbre, loudness, pitch, and expressive time patterns. The conditions for perceiving an ensemble of sine tones as one tone or several tones are reviewed. There are two aspects of timbre of voice sounds: vowel quality and voice quality. Although vowel quality depends mainly on the frequencies of the lowest two formants. In particular, the center frequency of the so-called singer's formant seems perceptually relevant. Vocal loudness, generally assumed to correspond closely to the sound pressure level, depends rather on the amplitude balance between the lower and the higher spectrum partials. The perceived pitch corresponds to the fundamental frequency, or for vibrato tones, the mean of this frequency. In rapid passages, such as coloratura singing, special patterns are used. Pitch and duration differences are categorically perceived in music. This means that small variations in tuning or duration do not affect the musical interval and the note value perceived. Categorical perception is used extensively in music performance for the purpose of musical expression because without violating the score, the singer may sharpen or flatten and lengthen or shorten the tones, thereby creating musical expression.

Interplay between singing and cortical processing of music: a longitudinal study in children with cochlear implants.

PubMed

Torppa, Ritva; Huotilainen, Minna; Leminen, Miika; Lipsanen, Jari; Tervaniemi, Mari

2014-01-01

Informal music activities such as singing may lead to augmented auditory perception and attention. In order to study the accuracy and development of music-related sound change detection in children with cochlear implants (CIs) and normal hearing (NH) aged 4-13 years, we recorded their auditory event-related potentials twice (at T1 and T2, 14-17 months apart). We compared their MMN (preattentive discrimination) and P3a (attention toward salient sounds) to changes in piano tone pitch, timbre, duration, and gaps. Of particular interest was to determine whether singing can facilitate auditory perception and attention of CI children. It was found that, compared to the NH group, the CI group had smaller and later timbre P3a and later pitch P3a, implying degraded discrimination and attention shift. Duration MMN became larger from T1 to T2 only in the NH group. The development of response patterns for duration and gap changes were not similar in the CI and NH groups. Importantly, CI singers had enhanced or rapidly developing P3a or P3a-like responses over all change types. In contrast, CI non-singers had rapidly enlarging pitch MMN without enlargement of P3a, and their timbre P3a became smaller and later over time. These novel results show interplay between MMN, P3a, brain development, cochlear implantation, and singing. They imply an augmented development of neural networks for attention and more accurate neural discrimination associated with singing. In future studies, differential development of P3a between CI and NH children should be taken into account in comparisons of these groups. Moreover, further studies are needed to assess whether singing enhances auditory perception and attention of children with CIs.

Tone, rhythm, and timbre perception in school-age children using cochlear implants and hearing aids.

PubMed

Innes-Brown, Hamish; Marozeau, Jeremy P; Storey, Christine M; Blamey, Peter J

2013-10-01

Children with hearing impairments, especially those using hearing devices such as the cochlear implant (CI) or hearing aid (HA), are sometimes not encouraged to attend music classes, as they or their parents and teachers may be unsure whether the child can perform basic musical tasks. The objective of the current study was to provide a baseline for the performance of children using CIs and HAs on standardized tests of rhythm and pitch perception as well as an instrument timbre identification task. An additional aim was to determine the effect of structured music training on these measures during the course of a school year. The Intermediate Measures of Music Audiation (IMMA) Tonal and Rhythmic subtests were administered four times, with 6 wk between tests. All children in the study were also enrolled in "Music Club" teaching sessions. Measures were compared between groups and across the four testing sessions. Twenty children from a single school in Melbourne, Australia, were recruited. Eleven (four girls) had impaired hearing, including six with a unilateral CI or CI and HA together (two girls) and five with bilateral HAs (two girls). Nine were normally hearing, selected to match the age and gender of the hearing-impaired children. Ages ranged from 9-13 yr. All children participated in a weekly Music Club--a 45 min session of musical activities based around vocal play and the integration of aural, visual, and kinesthetic modes of learning. Audiological data were collected from clinical files. IMMA scores were converted to percentile ranks using published norms. Between-group differences were tested using repeated-measures analysis of variance, and between-session differences were tested using a linear mixed model. Linear regression was used to model the effect of hearing loss on the test scores. In the first session, normally hearing children had a mean percentile rank of ∼50 in both the Tonal and Rhythmic subtests of the IMMA. Children using CIs showed trends toward lower scores in the Tonal, but not the Rhythmic, subtests. No significant improvements were found between sessions. In the timbre test, children generally made fewer errors within the set of percussive compared to nonpercussive instruments. The hearing loss level partially predicted performance in the Tonal, but not the Rhythmic, task, and predictions were more significant for nonpercussive compared to percussive instruments. The findings highlight the importance of temporal cues in the perception of music, and indicate that temporal cues may be used by children with CIs and HAs in the perception of not only rhythm, but also of some aspects of timbre. We were not able to link participation in the Music Club with increased scores on the Tonal, Rhythmic, and Timbre tests. However, anecdotal evidence from the children and their teachers suggested a wide range of benefits from participation in the Music Club that extended from increased engagement and interest in music classes into the children's social situations. American Academy of Audiology.

Cross-classification of musical and vocal emotions in the auditory cortex.

PubMed

Paquette, Sébastien; Takerkart, Sylvain; Saget, Shinji; Peretz, Isabelle; Belin, Pascal

2018-05-09

Whether emotions carried by voice and music are processed by the brain using similar mechanisms has long been investigated. Yet neuroimaging studies do not provide a clear picture, mainly due to lack of control over stimuli. Here, we report a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study using comparable stimulus material in the voice and music domains-the Montreal Affective Voices and the Musical Emotional Bursts-which include nonverbal short bursts of happiness, fear, sadness, and neutral expressions. We use a multivariate emotion-classification fMRI analysis involving cross-timbre classification as a means of comparing the neural mechanisms involved in processing emotional information in the two domains. We find, for affective stimuli in the violin, clarinet, or voice timbres, that local fMRI patterns in the bilateral auditory cortex and upper premotor regions support above-chance emotion classification when training and testing sets are performed within the same timbre category. More importantly, classifier performance generalized well across timbre in cross-classifying schemes, albeit with a slight accuracy drop when crossing the voice-music boundary, providing evidence for a shared neural code for processing musical and vocal emotions, with possibly a cost for the voice due to its evolutionary significance. © 2018 New York Academy of Sciences.

Benefits of music training in mandarin-speaking pediatric cochlear implant users.

PubMed

Fu, Qian-Jie; Galvin, John J; Wang, Xiaosong; Wu, Jiunn-Liang

2015-02-01

The aims of this study were to assess young (5- to 10-year-old) Mandarin-speaking cochlear implant (CI) users' musical pitch perception and to assess the benefits of computer-based home training on performance. Melodic contour identification (MCI) was used to assess musical pitch perception in 14 Mandarin-speaking pediatric CI users; the instrument timbre and the contour length were varied as experimental parameters. Six subjects received subsequent MCI training on their home computer in which auditory and visual feedback were provided. MCI performance was generally poor (grand mean=33.3% correct) and highly variable, with scores ranging from 9.3% to 98.1% correct; there was no significant effect of instrument timbre or contour length on performance (p>.05). After 4 weeks of training, performance sharply improved. Follow-up measures that were conducted 8 weeks after training was stopped showed no significant decline in MCI performance. For the 6 trained subjects, there was a significant effect of contour length for the training and follow-up measures. These preliminary data suggest that although baseline MCI performance initially may be poor, training may greatly improve Mandarin-speaking pediatric CI users' melodic pitch perception.

Clinical evaluation of music perception, appraisal and experience in cochlear implant users

PubMed Central

Drennan, Ward. R.; Oleson, Jacob J.; Gfeller, Kate; Crosson, Jillian; Driscoll, Virginia D.; Won, Jong Ho; Anderson, Elizabeth S.; Rubinstein, Jay T.

2014-01-01

Objectives The objectives were to evaluate the relationships among music perception, appraisal, and experience in cochlear implant users in multiple clinical settings and to examine the viability of two assessments designed for clinical use. Design Background questionnaires (IMBQ) were administered by audiologists in 14 clinics in the United States and Canada. The CAMP included tests of pitch-direction discrimination, and melody and timbre recognition. The IMBQ queried users on prior musical involvement, music listening habits pre and post implant, and music appraisals. Study sample One-hundred forty-five users of Advanced Bionics and Cochlear Ltd cochlear implants. Results Performance on pitch direction discrimination, melody recognition, and timbre recognition tests were consistent with previous studies with smaller cohorts, as well as with more extensive protocols conducted in other centers. Relationships between perceptual accuracy and music enjoyment were weak, suggesting that perception and appraisal are relatively independent for CI users. Conclusions Perceptual abilities as measured by the CAMP had little to no relationship with music appraisals and little relationship with musical experience. The CAMP and IMBQ are feasible for routine clinical use, providing results consistent with previous thorough laboratory-based investigations. PMID:25177899

Comparison of Two Music Training Approaches on Music and Speech Perception in Cochlear Implant Users

PubMed Central

Fuller, Christina D.; Galvin, John J.; Maat, Bert; Başkent, Deniz; Free, Rolien H.

2018-01-01

In normal-hearing (NH) adults, long-term music training may benefit music and speech perception, even when listening to spectro-temporally degraded signals as experienced by cochlear implant (CI) users. In this study, we compared two different music training approaches in CI users and their effects on speech and music perception, as it remains unclear which approach to music training might be best. The approaches differed in terms of music exercises and social interaction. For the pitch/timbre group, melodic contour identification (MCI) training was performed using computer software. For the music therapy group, training involved face-to-face group exercises (rhythm perception, musical speech perception, music perception, singing, vocal emotion identification, and music improvisation). For the control group, training involved group nonmusic activities (e.g., writing, cooking, and woodworking). Training consisted of weekly 2-hr sessions over a 6-week period. Speech intelligibility in quiet and noise, vocal emotion identification, MCI, and quality of life (QoL) were measured before and after training. The different training approaches appeared to offer different benefits for music and speech perception. Training effects were observed within-domain (better MCI performance for the pitch/timbre group), with little cross-domain transfer of music training (emotion identification significantly improved for the music therapy group). While training had no significant effect on QoL, the music therapy group reported better perceptual skills across training sessions. These results suggest that more extensive and intensive training approaches that combine pitch training with the social aspects of music therapy may further benefit CI users. PMID:29621947

Comparison of Two Music Training Approaches on Music and Speech Perception in Cochlear Implant Users.

PubMed

Fuller, Christina D; Galvin, John J; Maat, Bert; Başkent, Deniz; Free, Rolien H

2018-01-01

In normal-hearing (NH) adults, long-term music training may benefit music and speech perception, even when listening to spectro-temporally degraded signals as experienced by cochlear implant (CI) users. In this study, we compared two different music training approaches in CI users and their effects on speech and music perception, as it remains unclear which approach to music training might be best. The approaches differed in terms of music exercises and social interaction. For the pitch/timbre group, melodic contour identification (MCI) training was performed using computer software. For the music therapy group, training involved face-to-face group exercises (rhythm perception, musical speech perception, music perception, singing, vocal emotion identification, and music improvisation). For the control group, training involved group nonmusic activities (e.g., writing, cooking, and woodworking). Training consisted of weekly 2-hr sessions over a 6-week period. Speech intelligibility in quiet and noise, vocal emotion identification, MCI, and quality of life (QoL) were measured before and after training. The different training approaches appeared to offer different benefits for music and speech perception. Training effects were observed within-domain (better MCI performance for the pitch/timbre group), with little cross-domain transfer of music training (emotion identification significantly improved for the music therapy group). While training had no significant effect on QoL, the music therapy group reported better perceptual skills across training sessions. These results suggest that more extensive and intensive training approaches that combine pitch training with the social aspects of music therapy may further benefit CI users.

Assessing Top-Down and Bottom-Up Contributions to Auditory Stream Segregation and Integration With Polyphonic Music

PubMed Central

Disbergen, Niels R.; Valente, Giancarlo; Formisano, Elia; Zatorre, Robert J.

2018-01-01

Polyphonic music listening well exemplifies processes typically involved in daily auditory scene analysis situations, relying on an interactive interplay between bottom-up and top-down processes. Most studies investigating scene analysis have used elementary auditory scenes, however real-world scene analysis is far more complex. In particular, music, contrary to most other natural auditory scenes, can be perceived by either integrating or, under attentive control, segregating sound streams, often carried by different instruments. One of the prominent bottom-up cues contributing to multi-instrument music perception is their timbre difference. In this work, we introduce and validate a novel paradigm designed to investigate, within naturalistic musical auditory scenes, attentive modulation as well as its interaction with bottom-up processes. Two psychophysical experiments are described, employing custom-composed two-voice polyphonic music pieces within a framework implementing a behavioral performance metric to validate listener instructions requiring either integration or segregation of scene elements. In Experiment 1, the listeners' locus of attention was switched between individual instruments or the aggregate (i.e., both instruments together), via a task requiring the detection of temporal modulations (i.e., triplets) incorporated within or across instruments. Subjects responded post-stimulus whether triplets were present in the to-be-attended instrument(s). Experiment 2 introduced the bottom-up manipulation by adding a three-level morphing of instrument timbre distance to the attentional framework. The task was designed to be used within neuroimaging paradigms; Experiment 2 was additionally validated behaviorally in the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) environment. Experiment 1 subjects (N = 29, non-musicians) completed the task at high levels of accuracy, showing no group differences between any experimental conditions. Nineteen listeners also participated in Experiment 2, showing a main effect of instrument timbre distance, even though within attention-condition timbre-distance contrasts did not demonstrate any timbre effect. Correlation of overall scores with morph-distance effects, computed by subtracting the largest from the smallest timbre distance scores, showed an influence of general task difficulty on the timbre distance effect. Comparison of laboratory and fMRI data showed scanner noise had no adverse effect on task performance. These Experimental paradigms enable to study both bottom-up and top-down contributions to auditory stream segregation and integration within psychophysical and neuroimaging experiments. PMID:29563861

Northern Elephant Seals Memorize the Rhythm and Timbre of Their Rivals' Voices.

PubMed

Mathevon, Nicolas; Casey, Caroline; Reichmuth, Colleen; Charrier, Isabelle

2017-08-07

The evolutionary origin of rhythm perception, a cognitive ability essential to musicality, remains unresolved [1-5]. The ability to perceive and memorize rhythmic sounds is widely shared among humans [6] but seems rare among other mammals [7, 8]. Although the perception of temporal metrical patterns has been found in a few species, this ability has only been demonstrated through behavioral training [9] (but see [10] for an example of spontaneous tempo coordination in a bonobo), and there is no experimental evidence to indicate its biological function. Furthermore, there is no example of a non-human mammal able to remember and recognize auditory rhythmic patterns among a wide range of tempi. In the northern elephant seal Mirounga angustirostris, the calls of mature males comprise a rhythmic series of pulses, with the call of each individual characterized by its tempo and timbre; these individual vocal signatures are stable over years and across contexts [11]. Here, we report that northern elephant seal males routinely memorize and recognize the unique tempo and timbre of their rivals' voices and use this rhythmic information to individually identify competitors, which facilitates navigation within the social network of the rookery. By performing playbacks with natural and modified vocalizations, we show that males are sensitive to call rhythm disruption independently of modification of spectral features and that they use both temporal and spectral cues to identify familiar rivals. While spectral features of calls typically encode individual identity in mammalian vocalizations [12], this is the first example of this phenomenon involving sound rhythm. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Expectations in culturally unfamiliar music: influences of proximal and distal cues and timbral characteristics

PubMed Central

Stevens, Catherine J.; Tardieu, Julien; Dunbar-Hall, Peter; Best, Catherine T.; Tillmann, Barbara

2013-01-01

Listeners' musical perception is influenced by cues that can be stored in short-term memory (e.g., within the same musical piece) or long-term memory (e.g., based on one's own musical culture). The present study tested how these cues (referred to as, respectively, proximal and distal cues) influence the perception of music from an unfamiliar culture. Western listeners who were naïve to Gamelan music judged completeness and coherence for newly constructed melodies in the Balinese gamelan tradition. In these melodies, we manipulated the final tone with three possibilities: the original gong tone, an in-scale tone replacement or an out-of-scale tone replacement. We also manipulated the musical timbre employed in Gamelan pieces. We hypothesized that novice listeners are sensitive to out-of-scale changes, but not in-scale changes, and that this might be influenced by the more unfamiliar timbre created by Gamelan “sister” instruments whose harmonics beat with the harmonics of the other instrument, creating a timbrally “shimmering” sound. The results showed: (1) out-of-scale endings were judged less complete than original gong and in-scale endings; (2) for melodies played with “sister” instruments, in-scale endings were judged as less complete than original endings. Furthermore, melodies using the original scale tones were judged more coherent than melodies containing few or multiple tone replacements; melodies played on single instruments were judged more coherent than the same melodies played on sister instruments. Additionally, there is some indication of within-session statistical learning, with expectations for the initially-novel materials developing during the course of the experiment. The data suggest the influence of both distal cues (e.g., previously unfamiliar timbres) and proximal cues (within the same sequence and over the experimental session) on the perception of melodies from other cultural systems based on unfamiliar tunings and scale systems. PMID:24223562

Interplay between singing and cortical processing of music: a longitudinal study in children with cochlear implants

PubMed Central

Torppa, Ritva; Huotilainen, Minna; Leminen, Miika; Lipsanen, Jari; Tervaniemi, Mari

2014-01-01

Informal music activities such as singing may lead to augmented auditory perception and attention. In order to study the accuracy and development of music-related sound change detection in children with cochlear implants (CIs) and normal hearing (NH) aged 4–13 years, we recorded their auditory event-related potentials twice (at T1 and T2, 14–17 months apart). We compared their MMN (preattentive discrimination) and P3a (attention toward salient sounds) to changes in piano tone pitch, timbre, duration, and gaps. Of particular interest was to determine whether singing can facilitate auditory perception and attention of CI children. It was found that, compared to the NH group, the CI group had smaller and later timbre P3a and later pitch P3a, implying degraded discrimination and attention shift. Duration MMN became larger from T1 to T2 only in the NH group. The development of response patterns for duration and gap changes were not similar in the CI and NH groups. Importantly, CI singers had enhanced or rapidly developing P3a or P3a-like responses over all change types. In contrast, CI non-singers had rapidly enlarging pitch MMN without enlargement of P3a, and their timbre P3a became smaller and later over time. These novel results show interplay between MMN, P3a, brain development, cochlear implantation, and singing. They imply an augmented development of neural networks for attention and more accurate neural discrimination associated with singing. In future studies, differential development of P3a between CI and NH children should be taken into account in comparisons of these groups. Moreover, further studies are needed to assess whether singing enhances auditory perception and attention of children with CIs. PMID:25540628

Perception of pitch height in lexical and musical tones by English-speaking musicians and nonmusicians.

PubMed

Lee, Chao-Yang; Lekich, Allison; Zhang, Yu

2014-03-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the music-speech relationship by examining pitch height perception in lexical and musical tones. English-speaking musicians and nonmusicians identified multispeaker Taiwanese level tones without typical cues for speaker normalization. The musicians also identified note names of piano, viola, and pure tones without a reference pitch. In the Taiwanese task, both the musicians and nonmusicians were able to identify tone height above chance, but only for tones at the extremes of the speakers' overall vocal range. The musicians only had a slight advantage over the nonmusicians. In the music task, none of the musicians met the criterion for absolute pitch. Timbre did not affect how accurately the musical tones were identified. No correlations were found between performance in the Taiwanese task and that in the music task. It was concluded that musicians' advantage in lexical tone perception arose from the ability to track F0 contours. The ability to identify pitch height in lexical tones appears to involve calibrating acoustic input according to gender-specific, internally stored pitch templates.

What Constitutes a Phrase in Sound-Based Music? A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Perception and Acoustics.

PubMed

Olsen, Kirk N; Dean, Roger T; Leung, Yvonne

2016-01-01

Phrasing facilitates the organization of auditory information and is central to speech and music. Not surprisingly, aspects of changing intensity, rhythm, and pitch are key determinants of musical phrases and their boundaries in instrumental note-based music. Different kinds of speech (such as tone- vs. stress-languages) share these features in different proportions and form an instructive comparison. However, little is known about whether or how musical phrasing is perceived in sound-based music, where the basic musical unit from which a piece is created is commonly non-instrumental continuous sounds, rather than instrumental discontinuous notes. This issue forms the target of the present paper. Twenty participants (17 untrained in music) were presented with six stimuli derived from sound-based music, note-based music, and environmental sound. Their task was to indicate each occurrence of a perceived phrase and qualitatively describe key characteristics of the stimulus associated with each phrase response. It was hypothesized that sound-based music does elicit phrase perception, and that this is primarily associated with temporal changes in intensity and timbre, rather than rhythm and pitch. Results supported this hypothesis. Qualitative analysis of participant descriptions showed that for sound-based music, the majority of perceived phrases were associated with intensity or timbral change. For the note-based piano piece, rhythm was the main theme associated with perceived musical phrasing. We modeled the occurrence in time of perceived musical phrases with recurrent event 'hazard' analyses using time-series data representing acoustic predictors associated with intensity, spectral flatness, and rhythmic density. Acoustic intensity and timbre (represented here by spectral flatness) were strong predictors of perceived musical phrasing in sound-based music, and rhythm was only predictive for the piano piece. A further analysis including five additional spectral measures linked to timbre strengthened the models. Overall, results show that even when little of the pitch and rhythm information important for phrasing in note-based music is available, phrasing is still perceived, primarily in response to changes of intensity and timbre. Implications for electroacoustic music composition and music recommender systems are discussed.

What Constitutes a Phrase in Sound-Based Music? A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Perception and Acoustics

PubMed Central

Olsen, Kirk N.; Dean, Roger T.; Leung, Yvonne

2016-01-01

Phrasing facilitates the organization of auditory information and is central to speech and music. Not surprisingly, aspects of changing intensity, rhythm, and pitch are key determinants of musical phrases and their boundaries in instrumental note-based music. Different kinds of speech (such as tone- vs. stress-languages) share these features in different proportions and form an instructive comparison. However, little is known about whether or how musical phrasing is perceived in sound-based music, where the basic musical unit from which a piece is created is commonly non-instrumental continuous sounds, rather than instrumental discontinuous notes. This issue forms the target of the present paper. Twenty participants (17 untrained in music) were presented with six stimuli derived from sound-based music, note-based music, and environmental sound. Their task was to indicate each occurrence of a perceived phrase and qualitatively describe key characteristics of the stimulus associated with each phrase response. It was hypothesized that sound-based music does elicit phrase perception, and that this is primarily associated with temporal changes in intensity and timbre, rather than rhythm and pitch. Results supported this hypothesis. Qualitative analysis of participant descriptions showed that for sound-based music, the majority of perceived phrases were associated with intensity or timbral change. For the note-based piano piece, rhythm was the main theme associated with perceived musical phrasing. We modeled the occurrence in time of perceived musical phrases with recurrent event ‘hazard’ analyses using time-series data representing acoustic predictors associated with intensity, spectral flatness, and rhythmic density. Acoustic intensity and timbre (represented here by spectral flatness) were strong predictors of perceived musical phrasing in sound-based music, and rhythm was only predictive for the piano piece. A further analysis including five additional spectral measures linked to timbre strengthened the models. Overall, results show that even when little of the pitch and rhythm information important for phrasing in note-based music is available, phrasing is still perceived, primarily in response to changes of intensity and timbre. Implications for electroacoustic music composition and music recommender systems are discussed. PMID:27997625

There's More to Groove than Bass in Electronic Dance Music: Why Some People Won't Dance to Techno.

PubMed

Wesolowski, Brian C; Hofmann, Alex

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between audio descriptors for groove-based electronic dance music (EDM) and raters' perceived cognitive, affective, and psychomotor responses. From 198 musical excerpts (length: 15 sec.) representing 11 subgenres of EDM, 19 low-level audio feature descriptors were extracted. A principal component analysis of the feature vectors indicated that the musical excerpts could effectively be classified using five complex measures, describing the rhythmical properties of: (a) the high-frequency band, (b) the mid-frequency band, and (c) the low-frequency band, as well as overall fluctuations in (d) dynamics, and (e) timbres. Using these five complex audio measures, four meaningful clusters of the EDM excerpts emerged with distinct musical attributes comprising music with: (a) isochronous bass and static timbres, (b) isochronous bass with fluctuating dynamics and rhythmical variations in the mid-frequency range, (c) non-isochronous bass and fluctuating timbres, and (d) non-isochronous bass with rhythmical variations in the high frequencies. Raters (N = 99) were each asked to respond to four musical excerpts using a four point Likert-Type scale consisting of items representing cognitive (n = 9), affective (n = 9), and psychomotor (n = 3) domains. Musical excerpts falling under the cluster of "non-isochronous bass with rhythmical variations in the high frequencies" demonstrated the overall highest composite scores as evaluated by the raters. Musical samples falling under the cluster of "isochronous bass with static timbres" demonstrated the overall lowest composite scores as evaluated by the raters. Moreover, music preference was shown to significantly affect the systematic patterning of raters' responses for those with a musical preference for "contemporary" music, "sophisticated" music, and "intense" music.

Infants' Discrimination of Female Singing Voices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Costa-Giomi, Eugenia; Davila, Yvonne

2014-01-01

There's extensive research on infant's discrimination of speaking voices but few studies have focused on infant's discrimination of singing voices. Most investigations on infants' perception of timbre in music have been based on instrumental sounds. We completed an experiment with 7-and 13-month-olds (n = 16 and n = 17…

Trained Musical Performers' and Musically Untrained College Students' Ability to Discriminate Music Instrument Timbre as a Function of Duration.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnston, Dennis Alan

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of trained musicians and musically untrained college students to discriminate music instrument timbre as a function of duration. Specific factors investigated were the thresholds for timbre discrimination as a function of duration, musical ensemble participation as training, and the relative discrimination abilities of vocalists and instrumentalists. The subjects (N = 126) were volunteer college students from intact classes from various disciplines separated into musically untrained college students (N = 43) who had not participated in musical ensembles and trained musicians (N = 83) who had. The musicians were further divided into instrumentalists (N = 51) and vocalists (N = 32). The Method of Constant Stimuli, using a same-different response procedure with 120 randomized, counterbalanced timbre pairs comprised of trumpet, clarinet, or violin, presented in durations of 20 to 100 milliseconds in a sequence of pitches, in two blocks was used for data collection. Complete, complex musical timbres were recorded digitally and presented in a sequence of changing pitches to more closely approximate an actual music listening experience. Under the conditions of this study, it can be concluded that the threshold for timbre discrimination as a function of duration is at or below 20 ms. Even though trained musicians tended to discriminate timbre better than musically untrained college students, musicians cannot discriminate timbre significantly better then those subjects who have not participated in musical ensembles. Additionally, instrumentalists tended to discriminate timbre better than vocalists, but the discrimination is not significantly different. Recommendations for further research include suggestions for a timbre discrimination measurement tool that takes into consideration the multidimensionality of timbre and the relationship of timbre discrimination to timbre source, duration, pitch, and loudness.

From fragments to the whole: a comparison between cochlear implant users and normal-hearing listeners in music perception and enjoyment.

PubMed

Alexander, Ashlin J; Bartel, Lee; Friesen, Lendra; Shipp, David; Chen, Joseph

2011-02-01

Cochlear implants (CIs) allow many profoundly deaf individuals to regain speech understanding. However, the ability to understand speech does not necessarily guarantee music enjoyment. Enabling a CI user to recover the ability to perceive and enjoy the complexity of music remains a challenge determined by many factors. (1) To construct a novel, attention-based, diagnostic software tool (Music EAR) for the assessment of music enjoyment and perception and (2) to compare the results among three listener groups. Thirty-six subjects completed the Music EAR assessment tool: 12 normal-hearing musicians (NHMs), 12 normal-hearing nonmusicians (NHnMs), and 12 CI listeners. Subjects were required to (1) rate enjoyment of musical excerpts at three complexity levels; (2) differentiate five instrumental timbres; (3) recognize pitch pattern variation; and (4) identify target musical patterns embedded holistically in a melody. Enjoyment scores for CI users were comparable to those for NHMs and superior to those for NHnMs and revealed that implantees enjoyed classical music most. CI users performed significantly poorer in all categories of music perception compared to normal-hearing listeners. Overall CI user scores were lowest in those tasks requiring increased attention. Two high-performing subjects matched or outperformed NHnMs in pitch and timbre perception tasks. The Music EAR assessment tool provides a unique approach to the measurement of music perception and enjoyment in CI users. Together with auditory training evidence, the results provide considerable hope for further recovery of music appreciation through methodical rehabilitation.

Melodic Contour Identification and Music Perception by Cochlear Implant Users

PubMed Central

Galvin, John J.; Fu, Qian-Jie; Shannon, Robert V.

2013-01-01

Research and outcomes with cochlear implants (CIs) have revealed a dichotomy in the cues necessary for speech and music recognition. CI devices typically transmit 16–22 spectral channels, each modulated slowly in time. This coarse representation provides enough information to support speech understanding in quiet and rhythmic perception in music, but not enough to support speech understanding in noise or melody recognition. Melody recognition requires some capacity for complex pitch perception, which in turn depends strongly on access to spectral fine structure cues. Thus, temporal envelope cues are adequate for speech perception under optimal listening conditions, while spectral fine structure cues are needed for music perception. In this paper, we present recent experiments that directly measure CI users’ melodic pitch perception using a melodic contour identification (MCI) task. While normal-hearing (NH) listeners’ performance was consistently high across experiments, MCI performance was highly variable across CI users. CI users’ MCI performance was significantly affected by instrument timbre, as well as by the presence of a competing instrument. In general, CI users had great difficulty extracting melodic pitch from complex stimuli. However, musically-experienced CI users often performed as well as NH listeners, and MCI training in less experienced subjects greatly improved performance. With fixed constraints on spectral resolution, such as it occurs with hearing loss or an auditory prosthesis, training and experience can provide a considerable improvements in music perception and appreciation. PMID:19673835

Telling in-tune from out-of-tune: widespread evidence for implicit absolute intonation.

PubMed

Van Hedger, Stephen C; Heald, Shannon L M; Huang, Alex; Rutstein, Brooke; Nusbaum, Howard C

2017-04-01

Absolute pitch (AP) is the rare ability to name or produce an isolated musical note without the aid of a reference note. One skill thought to be unique to AP possessors is the ability to provide absolute intonation judgments (e.g., classifying an isolated note as "in-tune" or "out-of-tune"). Recent work has suggested that absolute intonation perception among AP possessors is not crystallized in a critical period of development, but is dynamically maintained by the listening environment, in which the vast majority of Western music is tuned to a specific cultural standard. Given that all listeners of Western music are constantly exposed to this specific cultural tuning standard, our experiments address whether absolute intonation perception extends beyond AP possessors. We demonstrate that non-AP listeners are able to accurately judge the intonation of completely isolated notes. Both musicians and nonmusicians showed evidence for absolute intonation recognition when listening to familiar timbres (piano and violin). When testing unfamiliar timbres (triangle and inverted sine waves), only musicians showed weak evidence of absolute intonation recognition (Experiment 2). Overall, these results highlight a previously unknown similarity between AP and non-AP possessors' long-term musical note representations, including evidence of sensitivity to frequency.

Effects of voice timbre and accompaniment on working memory as measured by sequential monosyllabic digit recall performance.

PubMed

Silverman, Michael J; Schwartzberg, Edward T

2014-01-01

Information is often paired with music in an attempt to facilitate recall and enhance learning. However, there is a lack of basic research investigating how music carrying information might facilitate recall and subsequent learning. The purpose of the current study was to determine the effects of voice timbre and accompaniment on working memory as measured by recall performance on a sequential digit recall task. Specific research questions were as follows: (a) How might female and male voice timbres affect serial recall? (b) How might piano, guitar, and no accompaniment affect serial recall? (c) Do music majors have enhanced recall accuracy when compared to nonmusic majors? The recall of information paired with six different melodies was tested on 60 university students. Melodies were composed and recorded using female and male voices with three levels of accompaniment: guitar, piano, and no accompaniment. Participants had more accurate recall during the male voice and piano and no accompaniment conditions and least accurate recall during the female voice and guitar accompaniment conditions. As participants had most accurate recall during the male voice and with piano or no accompaniment, clinicians are encouraged to consider using no accompaniment or piano accompaniment when initially teaching social and academic information paired with music for later recall. When possible, vocal timbre (i.e., the potential benefit of male voicing) should also be considered. Implications for clinical practice, limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research are provided. © the American Music Therapy Association 2014. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Audiovisual correspondence between musical timbre and visual shapes

PubMed Central

Adeli, Mohammad; Rouat, Jean; Molotchnikoff, Stéphane

2014-01-01

This article investigates the cross-modal correspondences between musical timbre and shapes. Previously, such features as pitch, loudness, light intensity, visual size, and color characteristics have mostly been used in studies of audio-visual correspondences. Moreover, in most studies, simple stimuli e.g., simple tones have been utilized. In this experiment, 23 musical sounds varying in fundamental frequency and timbre but fixed in loudness were used. Each sound was presented once against colored shapes and once against grayscale shapes. Subjects had to select the visual equivalent of a given sound i.e., its shape, color (or grayscale) and vertical position. This scenario permitted studying the associations between normalized timbre and visual shapes as well as some of the previous findings for more complex stimuli. One hundred and nineteen subjects (31 females and 88 males) participated in the online experiment. Subjects included 36 claimed professional musicians, 47 claimed amateur musicians, and 36 claimed non-musicians. Thirty-one subjects have also claimed to have synesthesia-like experiences. A strong association between timbre of envelope normalized sounds and visual shapes was observed. Subjects have strongly associated soft timbres with blue, green or light gray rounded shapes, harsh timbres with red, yellow or dark gray sharp angular shapes and timbres having elements of softness and harshness together with a mixture of the two previous shapes. Color or grayscale had no effect on timbre-shape associations. Fundamental frequency was not associated with height, grayscale or color. The significant correspondence between timbre and shape revealed by the present work allows designing substitution systems which might help the blind to perceive shapes through timbre. PMID:24910604

The dependency of timbre on fundamental frequency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marozeau, Jeremy; de Cheveigné, Alain; McAdams, Stephen; Winsberg, Suzanne

2003-11-01

The dependency of the timbre of musical sounds on their fundamental frequency (F0) was examined in three experiments. In experiment I subjects compared the timbres of stimuli produced by a set of 12 musical instruments with equal F0, duration, and loudness. There were three sessions, each at a different F0. In experiment II the same stimuli were rearranged in pairs, each with the same difference in F0, and subjects had to ignore the constant difference in pitch. In experiment III, instruments were paired both with and without an F0 difference within the same session, and subjects had to ignore the variable differences in pitch. Experiment I yielded dissimilarity matrices that were similar at different F0's, suggesting that instruments kept their relative positions within timbre space. Experiment II found that subjects were able to ignore the salient pitch difference while rating timbre dissimilarity. Dissimilarity matrices were symmetrical, suggesting further that the absolute displacement of the set of instruments within timbre space was small. Experiment III extended this result to the case where the pitch difference varied from trial to trial. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) of dissimilarity scores produced solutions (timbre spaces) that varied little across conditions and experiments. MDS solutions were used to test the validity of signal-based predictors of timbre, and in particular their stability as a function of F0. Taken together, the results suggest that timbre differences are perceived independently from differences of pitch, at least for F0 differences smaller than an octave. Timbre differences can be measured between stimuli with different F0's.

Auditory psychophysics and perception.

PubMed

Hirsh, I J; Watson, C S

1996-01-01

In this review of auditory psychophysics and perception, we cite some important books, research monographs, and research summaries from the past decade. Within auditory psychophysics, we have singled out some topics of current importance: Cross-Spectral Processing, Timbre and Pitch, and Methodological Developments. Complex sounds and complex listening tasks have been the subject of new studies in auditory perception. We review especially work that concerns auditory pattern perception, with emphasis on temporal aspects of the patterns and on patterns that do not depend on the cognitive structures often involved in the perception of speech and music. Finally, we comment on some aspects of individual difference that are sufficiently important to question the goal of characterizing auditory properties of the typical, average, adult listener. Among the important factors that give rise to these individual differences are those involved in selective processing and attention.

Separate cortical networks involved in music perception: preliminary functional MRI evidence for modularity of music processing.

PubMed

Schmithorst, Vincent J

2005-04-01

Music perception is a quite complex cognitive task, involving the perception and integration of various elements including melody, harmony, pitch, rhythm, and timbre. A preliminary functional MRI investigation of music perception was performed, using a simplified passive listening task. Group independent component analysis (ICA) was used to separate out various components involved in music processing, as the hemodynamic responses are not known a priori. Various components consistent with auditory processing, expressive language, syntactic processing, and visual association were found. The results are discussed in light of various hypotheses regarding modularity of music processing and its overlap with language processing. The results suggest that, while some networks overlap with ones used for language processing, music processing may involve its own domain-specific processing subsystems.

Role of timbre and fundamental frequency in voice gender adaptation.

PubMed

Skuk, Verena G; Dammann, Lea M; Schweinberger, Stefan R

2015-08-01

Prior adaptation to male (or female) voices causes androgynous voices to be perceived as more female (or male). Using a selective adaptation paradigm the authors investigate the relative impact of the vocal fold vibration rate (F0) and timbre (operationally in this paper as characteristics that differentiate two voices of the same F0 and loudness) on this basic voice gender aftereffect. TANDEM-STRAIGHT was used to morph between 10 pairs of male and female speakers uttering 2 different vowel-consonant-vowel sequences (20 continua). Adaptor stimuli had one parameter (either F0 or timbre) set at a clearly male or female level, while the other parameter was set at an androgynous level, as determined by an independent set of listeners. Compared to a control adaptation condition (in which both F0 and timbre were clearly male or female), aftereffects were clearly reduced in both F0 and timbre adaptation conditions. Critically, larger aftereffects were found after timbre adaptation (comprising androgynous F0) compared to F0 adaptation (comprising an androgynous timbre). Together these results suggest that timbre plays a larger role than F0 in voice gender adaptation. Finally, the authors found some evidence that individual differences among listeners reflect in part pre-experimental contact to male and female voices.

Syntactic processing in music and language: Effects of interrupting auditory streams with alternating timbres.

PubMed

Fiveash, Anna; Thompson, William Forde; Badcock, Nicholas A; McArthur, Genevieve

2018-07-01

Music and language both rely on the processing of spectral (pitch, timbre) and temporal (rhythm) information to create structure and meaning from incoming auditory streams. Behavioral results have shown that interrupting a melodic stream with unexpected changes in timbre leads to reduced syntactic processing. Such findings suggest that syntactic processing is conditional on successful streaming of incoming sequential information. The current study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate whether (1) the effect of alternating timbres on syntactic processing is reflected in a reduced brain response to syntactic violations, and (2) the phenomenon is similar for music and language. Participants listened to melodies and sentences with either one timbre (piano or one voice) or three timbres (piano, guitar, and vibraphone, or three different voices). Half the stimuli contained syntactic violations: an out-of-key note in the melodies, and a phrase-structure violation in the sentences. We found smaller ERPs to syntactic violations in music in the three-timbre compared to the one-timbre condition, reflected in a reduced early right anterior negativity (ERAN). A similar but non-significant pattern was observed for language stimuli in both the early left anterior negativity (ELAN) and the left anterior negativity (LAN) ERPs. The results suggest that disruptions to auditory streaming may interfere with syntactic processing, especially for melodic sequences. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Perception and Modeling of Affective Qualities of Musical Instrument Sounds across Pitch Registers.

PubMed

McAdams, Stephen; Douglas, Chelsea; Vempala, Naresh N

2017-01-01

Composers often pick specific instruments to convey a given emotional tone in their music, partly due to their expressive possibilities, but also due to their timbres in specific registers and at given dynamic markings. Of interest to both music psychology and music informatics from a computational point of view is the relation between the acoustic properties that give rise to the timbre at a given pitch and the perceived emotional quality of the tone. Musician and nonmusician listeners were presented with 137 tones produced at a fixed dynamic marking (forte) playing tones at pitch class D# across each instrument's entire pitch range and with different playing techniques for standard orchestral instruments drawn from the brass, woodwind, string, and pitched percussion families. They rated each tone on six analogical-categorical scales in terms of emotional valence (positive/negative and pleasant/unpleasant), energy arousal (awake/tired), tension arousal (excited/calm), preference (like/dislike), and familiarity. Linear mixed models revealed interactive effects of musical training, instrument family, and pitch register, with non-linear relations between pitch register and several dependent variables. Twenty-three audio descriptors from the Timbre Toolbox were computed for each sound and analyzed in two ways: linear partial least squares regression (PLSR) and nonlinear artificial neural net modeling. These two analyses converged in terms of the importance of various spectral, temporal, and spectrotemporal audio descriptors in explaining the emotion ratings, but some differences also emerged. Different combinations of audio descriptors make major contributions to the three emotion dimensions, suggesting that they are carried by distinct acoustic properties. Valence is more positive with lower spectral slopes, a greater emergence of strong partials, and an amplitude envelope with a sharper attack and earlier decay. Higher tension arousal is carried by brighter sounds, more spectral variation and more gentle attacks. Greater energy arousal is associated with brighter sounds, with higher spectral centroids and slower decrease of the spectral slope, as well as with greater spectral emergence. The divergences between linear and nonlinear approaches are discussed.

Perception and Modeling of Affective Qualities of Musical Instrument Sounds across Pitch Registers

PubMed Central

McAdams, Stephen; Douglas, Chelsea; Vempala, Naresh N.

2017-01-01

Composers often pick specific instruments to convey a given emotional tone in their music, partly due to their expressive possibilities, but also due to their timbres in specific registers and at given dynamic markings. Of interest to both music psychology and music informatics from a computational point of view is the relation between the acoustic properties that give rise to the timbre at a given pitch and the perceived emotional quality of the tone. Musician and nonmusician listeners were presented with 137 tones produced at a fixed dynamic marking (forte) playing tones at pitch class D# across each instrument's entire pitch range and with different playing techniques for standard orchestral instruments drawn from the brass, woodwind, string, and pitched percussion families. They rated each tone on six analogical-categorical scales in terms of emotional valence (positive/negative and pleasant/unpleasant), energy arousal (awake/tired), tension arousal (excited/calm), preference (like/dislike), and familiarity. Linear mixed models revealed interactive effects of musical training, instrument family, and pitch register, with non-linear relations between pitch register and several dependent variables. Twenty-three audio descriptors from the Timbre Toolbox were computed for each sound and analyzed in two ways: linear partial least squares regression (PLSR) and nonlinear artificial neural net modeling. These two analyses converged in terms of the importance of various spectral, temporal, and spectrotemporal audio descriptors in explaining the emotion ratings, but some differences also emerged. Different combinations of audio descriptors make major contributions to the three emotion dimensions, suggesting that they are carried by distinct acoustic properties. Valence is more positive with lower spectral slopes, a greater emergence of strong partials, and an amplitude envelope with a sharper attack and earlier decay. Higher tension arousal is carried by brighter sounds, more spectral variation and more gentle attacks. Greater energy arousal is associated with brighter sounds, with higher spectral centroids and slower decrease of the spectral slope, as well as with greater spectral emergence. The divergences between linear and nonlinear approaches are discussed. PMID:28228741

The effects of timbre on melody recognition are mediated by familiarity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McAuley, J. Devin; Ayala, Chris

2002-11-01

Two experiments examined the role of timbre in music recognition. In both experiments, participants rated the familiarity of a set of novel and well-known musical excerpts during a study phase and then were given a surprise old/new recognition test after a retention interval. The recognition test was comprised of the target melodies and an equal number of distractors; participants were instructed to respond yes to the targets and no to the distractors. In experiment 1, the timbre of the melodies was held constant throughout the study and then either stayed the same or switched to a different instrument sound during the test. In experiment 2, timbre varied randomly from trial to trial between the same two instruments used in experiment 1, yielding target melodies that were either mismatched or matched in their timbre. Switching timbre between study and test in experiment 1 was found to hurt the recognition of the novel melodies, but not the familiar melodies. The mediating effect of familiarity was eliminated in experiment 2 when timbre varied randomly from trial to trial rather than remaining constant. Possible reasons for the difference between studies will be discussed.

Enhanced music sensitivity in 9-month-old bilingual infants.

PubMed

Liu, Liquan; Kager, René

2017-02-01

This study explores the influence of bilingualism on the cognitive processing of language and music. Specifically, we investigate how infants learning a non-tone language perceive linguistic and musical pitch and how bilingualism affects cross-domain pitch perception. Dutch monolingual and bilingual infants of 8-9 months participated in the study. All infants had Dutch as one of the first languages. The other first languages, varying among bilingual families, were not tone or pitch accent languages. In two experiments, infants were tested on the discrimination of a lexical (N = 42) or a violin (N = 48) pitch contrast via a visual habituation paradigm. The two contrasts shared identical pitch contours but differed in timbre. Non-tone language learning infants did not discriminate the lexical contrast regardless of their ambient language environment. When perceiving the violin contrast, bilingual but not monolingual infants demonstrated robust discrimination. We attribute bilingual infants' heightened sensitivity in the musical domain to the enhanced acoustic sensitivity stemming from a bilingual environment. The distinct perceptual patterns between language and music and the influence of acoustic salience on perception suggest processing diversion and association in the first year of life. Results indicate that the perception of music may entail both shared neural network with language processing, and unique neural network that is distinct from other cognitive functions.

Multidimensional scaling of musical time estimations.

PubMed

Cocenas-Silva, Raquel; Bueno, José Lino Oliveira; Molin, Paul; Bigand, Emmanuel

2011-06-01

The aim of this study was to identify the psycho-musical factors that govern time evaluation in Western music from baroque, classic, romantic, and modern repertoires. The excerpts were previously found to represent variability in musical properties and to induce four main categories of emotions. 48 participants (musicians and nonmusicians) freely listened to 16 musical excerpts (lasting 20 sec. each) and grouped those that seemed to have the same duration. Then, participants associated each group of excerpts to one of a set of sine wave tones varying in duration from 16 to 24 sec. Multidimensional scaling analysis generated a two-dimensional solution for these time judgments. Musical excerpts with high arousal produced an overestimation of time, and affective valence had little influence on time perception. The duration was also overestimated when tempo and loudness were higher, and to a lesser extent, timbre density. In contrast, musical tension had little influence.

Enhanced Processing of Vocal Melodies in Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weiss, Michael W.; Schellenberg, E. Glenn; Trehub, Sandra E.; Dawber, Emily J.

2015-01-01

Music cognition is typically studied with instrumental stimuli. Adults remember melodies better, however, when they are presented in a biologically significant timbre (i.e., the human voice) than in various instrumental timbres (Weiss, Trehub, & Schellenberg, 2012). We examined the impact of vocal timbre on children's processing of melodies.…

Timbre influences chord discrimination in black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) but not humans (Homo sapiens).

PubMed

Hoeschele, Marisa; Cook, Robert G; Guillette, Lauren M; Hahn, Allison H; Sturdy, Christopher B

2014-11-01

Timbre is an important attribute of sound both in music and nature. Previously, using an operant conditioning paradigm, we found that black-capped chickadees and humans show similar response patterns in discriminating triadic chords of the same timbre and transferred this discrimination to a novel key center (novel absolute pitch). The current study examined how varying the timbre of the chords influenced discrimination. Using a similar operant conditioning procedure, we trained humans (Experiment 1) and chickadees (Experiments 2 and 3) to discriminate a major chord from 6 other chord types that had semitone deviations from the major chord. The pattern of errors of the 2 species replicated our previous findings. We then tested participants with novel timbres. We found that humans readily transferred their discrimination to novel timbres, suggesting they were attending to triadic pitch relations. The chickadees failed to transfer to novel timbres, suggesting they were using a different strategy to perform the original chord discrimination. We conducted an acoustic analysis examining frequency ranges that are biologically relevant to chickadees. We found that the relative intensity within each chord of the frequencies used in black-capped chickadee song significantly correlated with chickadees' percent response during probe testing. In Experiment 3, we trained a new set of chickadees by including either expanded pitch or timbre training before testing. Although chickadees showed some transfer to novel chords following this expanded training, we found that neither type of expanded training helped the chickadees when probe tested with novel stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Dance and Music in “Gangnam Style”: How Dance Observation Affects Meter Perception

PubMed Central

Lee, Kyung Myun; Barrett, Karen Chan; Kim, Yeonhwa; Lim, Yeoeun; Lee, Kyogu

2015-01-01

Dance and music often co-occur as evidenced when viewing choreographed dances or singers moving while performing. This study investigated how the viewing of dance motions shapes sound perception. Previous research has shown that dance reflects the temporal structure of its accompanying music, communicating musical meter (i.e. a hierarchical organization of beats) via coordinated movement patterns that indicate where strong and weak beats occur. Experiments here investigated the effects of dance cues on meter perception, hypothesizing that dance could embody the musical meter, thereby shaping participant reaction times (RTs) to sound targets occurring at different metrical positions.In experiment 1, participants viewed a video with dance choreography indicating 4/4 meter (dance condition) or a series of color changes repeated in sequences of four to indicate 4/4 meter (picture condition). A sound track accompanied these videos and participants reacted to timbre targets at different metrical positions. Participants had the slowest RT’s at the strongest beats in the dance condition only. In experiment 2, participants viewed the choreography of the horse-riding dance from Psy’s “Gangnam Style” in order to examine how a familiar dance might affect meter perception. Moreover, participants in this experiment were divided into a group with experience dancing this choreography and a group without experience. Results again showed slower RTs to stronger metrical positions and the group with experience demonstrated a more refined perception of metrical hierarchy. Results likely stem from the temporally selective division of attention between auditory and visual domains. This study has implications for understanding: 1) the impact of splitting attention among different sensory modalities, and 2) the impact of embodiment, on perception of musical meter. Viewing dance may interfere with sound processing, particularly at critical metrical positions, but embodied familiarity with dance choreography may facilitate meter awareness. Results shed light on the processing of multimedia environments. PMID:26308092

Animal Pitch Perception: Melodies and Harmonies

PubMed Central

Hoeschele, Marisa

2017-01-01

Pitch is a percept of sound that is based in part on fundamental frequency. Although pitch can be defined in a way that is clearly separable from other aspects of musical sounds, such as timbre, the perception of pitch is not a simple topic. Despite this, studying pitch separately from other aspects of sound has led to some interesting conclusions about how humans and other animals process acoustic signals. It turns out that pitch perception in humans is based on an assessment of pitch height, pitch chroma, relative pitch, and grouping principles. How pitch is broken down depends largely on the context. Most, if not all, of these principles appear to also be used by other species, but when and how accurately they are used varies across species and context. Studying how other animals compare to humans in their pitch abilities is partially a reevaluation of what we know about humans by considering ourselves in a biological context. PMID:28649291

Music Perception of Cochlear Implant Recipients with Implications for Music Instruction: A Review of Literature

PubMed Central

Hsiao, Feilin; Gfeller, Kate

2013-01-01

This review of literature presents a systematic analysis of the capabilities and limitations of cochlear implant recipients regarding music perception. Specifically, it a) analyzes individual components of music (e.g., rhythm, timbre, and pitch) as they interface with the technical characteristics of cochlear implants and the perceptual abilities of cochlear implant recipients; and b) describes accommodations for music instruction that support successful participation of children with cochlear implants. This article consolidates research studies from various disciplines (audiology, hearing science, speech-language pathology, cochlear implants, and music therapy) to provide practical recommendations for educators in fostering the musical growth of children with cochlear implants. PMID:23469365

Partial information can be transmitted in an auditory channel: inferences from lateralized readiness potentials.

PubMed

Gong, Diankun; Hu, Jiehui; Yao, Dezhong

2012-04-01

With the two-choice go/no-go paradigm, we investigated whether timbre attribute can be transmitted as partial information from the stimulus identification stage to the response preparation stage in auditory tone processing. We manipulated two attributes of the stimulus: timbre (piano vs. violin) and acoustic intensity (soft vs. loud) to ensure an earlier processing of timbre than intensity. We associated the timbre attribute more with go trials. Results showed that lateralized readiness potentials (LRPs) were consistently elicited in no-go trials. This showed that the timbre attribute had been transmitted to the response preparation stage before the intensity attribute was processed in the stimuli identification stage. Such a result provides evidence for the continuous model and asynchronous discrete coding (ADC) model in information processing. We suggest that partial information can be transmitted in an auditory channel. Copyright © 2011 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

The Effect of Timbre, Pitch, and Vibrato on Vocal Pitch-Matching Accuracy.

PubMed

Duvvuru, Sirisha; Erickson, Molly

2016-05-01

This study seeks to examine how target stimulus timbre, vibrato, pitch, and singer classification affect pitch-matching accuracy. This is a repeated-measures factorial design. Source signals were synthesized with a source slope of -12 dB/octave with and without vibrato at each of the pitches, C4, B4, and F5. These source signals were filtered using five formant patterns (A-E) constituting a total of 30 stimuli (5 formant patterns × 3 pitches × 2 vibrato conditions). Twelve sopranos and 11 mezzo-sopranos with at least 3 years of individual voice training were recruited from the University Of Tennessee, Knoxville, School of Music and the Knoxville Opera Company. Each singer attempted to match the pitch of all 30 stimuli presented twice in a random order. Results indicated that there was no significant effect of formant pattern on pitch-matching accuracy. With increasing pitch from C4 to F5, pitch-matching accuracy increased in midpoint of the vowel condition but not in prephonatory set condition. Mezzo-sopranos moved toward being in tune from prephonatory to midpoint of the vowel. However, sopranos at C4 sang closer to being in tune at prephonatory but lowered the pitch at the midpoint of the vowel. Presence or absence of vibrato did not affect the pitch-matching accuracy. However, the interesting finding of the study was that singers attempted to match the timbre of stimuli with vibrato. The results of this study show that pitch matching is a complex process affected by many parameters. Copyright © 2016 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

There’s More to Groove than Bass in Electronic Dance Music: Why Some People Won’t Dance to Techno

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between audio descriptors for groove-based electronic dance music (EDM) and raters’ perceived cognitive, affective, and psychomotor responses. From 198 musical excerpts (length: 15 sec.) representing 11 subgenres of EDM, 19 low-level audio feature descriptors were extracted. A principal component analysis of the feature vectors indicated that the musical excerpts could effectively be classified using five complex measures, describing the rhythmical properties of: (a) the high-frequency band, (b) the mid-frequency band, and (c) the low-frequency band, as well as overall fluctuations in (d) dynamics, and (e) timbres. Using these five complex audio measures, four meaningful clusters of the EDM excerpts emerged with distinct musical attributes comprising music with: (a) isochronous bass and static timbres, (b) isochronous bass with fluctuating dynamics and rhythmical variations in the mid-frequency range, (c) non-isochronous bass and fluctuating timbres, and (d) non-isochronous bass with rhythmical variations in the high frequencies. Raters (N = 99) were each asked to respond to four musical excerpts using a four point Likert-Type scale consisting of items representing cognitive (n = 9), affective (n = 9), and psychomotor (n = 3) domains. Musical excerpts falling under the cluster of “non-isochronous bass with rhythmical variations in the high frequencies” demonstrated the overall highest composite scores as evaluated by the raters. Musical samples falling under the cluster of “isochronous bass with static timbres” demonstrated the overall lowest composite scores as evaluated by the raters. Moreover, music preference was shown to significantly affect the systematic patterning of raters’ responses for those with a musical preference for “contemporary” music, “sophisticated” music, and “intense” music. PMID:27798645

Effects of Stimulus Octave and Timbre on the Tuning Accuracy of Advanced College Instrumentalists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byo, James L.; Schlegel, Amanda L.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of octave and timbre on advanced college musicians' (N = 63) ability to tune their instruments. We asked: "Are there differences in tuning accuracy due to octave (B-flat 2, B-flat 4) and stimulus timbre (oboe, clarinet, electronic tuner, tuba)?" and "To what extent do participants'…

Evaluation of a Test Battery to Assess Perception of Music in Children With Cochlear Implants.

PubMed

Roy, Alexis T; Scattergood-Keepper, Lindsay; Carver, Courtney; Jiradejvong, Patpong; Butler, Caty; Limb, Charles J

2014-06-01

A number of studies have investigated music perception in adult cochlear implant (CI) users. However, little is known about how pediatric CI users perceive and process music, in part because suitable methods for assessing music perception in this population are lacking. Therefore, we developed the Music in Children With Cochlear Implants (MCCI) battery to assess music perception in pediatric CI users younger than 9 years. To pilot test the MCCI on a group of pediatric CI users to determine its feasibility for measuring music perception and to compare performance of CI users with that of normal-hearing (NH) control participants. The pilot test was conducted in an academic tertiary care center. The MCCI evaluated rhythm, pitch, melody, harmony, and timbre perception. For each section, 10 pediatric CI users and 10 NH controls were presented with a pair of stimuli that possibly varied along a single musical element (eg, rhythm). Participants were required to indicate whether the stimuli in the pair were the same or different. Administration of the MCCI. Percentage correct on each section of the MCCI and the aggregate score of all sections by group. The MCCI provided a basic characterization of musical perceptual abilities. In the aggregate, NH controls significantly outperformed CI users in music perception (mean [SD] accuracy for CI users vs NH controls: rhythm, 73% [20%] vs 78% [20%]; pitch, 84% [12%] vs 91% [13%]; melody, 65% [16%] vs 75% [18%]; harmony, 74% [13%] vs 75% [14%]; and timbre, 80% [17%] vs 90% [12%]; repeated-measures analysis of variance, F1,17 = 9.3; P < .01). Despite obtaining lower accuracies than NH controls, however, the CI users achieved above-chance accuracy in all sections of the MCCI (1-sample t test, P < .01), including pitch-based sections that are traditionally difficult for CI users. These results suggest that CI users can make use of temporal and spectral cues to discriminate between musical stimuli, although not to the extent of their NH peers. The MCCI provided an efficient and user-friendly assessment of music perception in pediatric CI users. This test battery may serve as a valuable tool to evaluate music perceptual abilities of pediatric CI users and measure the effects of interventions.

Perception of Sung Speech in Bimodal Cochlear Implant Users.

PubMed

Crew, Joseph D; Galvin, John J; Fu, Qian-Jie

2016-11-11

Combined use of a hearing aid (HA) and cochlear implant (CI) has been shown to improve CI users' speech and music performance. However, different hearing devices, test stimuli, and listening tasks may interact and obscure bimodal benefits. In this study, speech and music perception were measured in bimodal listeners for CI-only, HA-only, and CI + HA conditions, using the Sung Speech Corpus, a database of monosyllabic words produced at different fundamental frequencies. Sentence recognition was measured using sung speech in which pitch was held constant or varied across words, as well as for spoken speech. Melodic contour identification (MCI) was measured using sung speech in which the words were held constant or varied across notes. Results showed that sentence recognition was poorer with sung speech relative to spoken, with little difference between sung speech with a constant or variable pitch; mean performance was better with CI-only relative to HA-only, and best with CI + HA. MCI performance was better with constant words versus variable words; mean performance was better with HA-only than with CI-only and was best with CI + HA. Relative to CI-only, a strong bimodal benefit was observed for speech and music perception. Relative to the better ear, bimodal benefits remained strong for sentence recognition but were marginal for MCI. While variations in pitch and timbre may negatively affect CI users' speech and music perception, bimodal listening may partially compensate for these deficits. © The Author(s) 2016.

Neuromimetic Sound Representation for Percept Detection and Manipulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zotkin, Dmitry N.; Chi, Taishih; Shamma, Shihab A.; Duraiswami, Ramani

2005-12-01

The acoustic wave received at the ears is processed by the human auditory system to separate different sounds along the intensity, pitch, and timbre dimensions. Conventional Fourier-based signal processing, while endowed with fast algorithms, is unable to easily represent a signal along these attributes. In this paper, we discuss the creation of maximally separable sounds in auditory user interfaces and use a recently proposed cortical sound representation, which performs a biomimetic decomposition of an acoustic signal, to represent and manipulate sound for this purpose. We briefly overview algorithms for obtaining, manipulating, and inverting a cortical representation of a sound and describe algorithms for manipulating signal pitch and timbre separately. The algorithms are also used to create sound of an instrument between a "guitar" and a "trumpet." Excellent sound quality can be achieved if processing time is not a concern, and intelligible signals can be reconstructed in reasonable processing time (about ten seconds of computational time for a one-second signal sampled at [InlineEquation not available: see fulltext.]). Work on bringing the algorithms into the real-time processing domain is ongoing.

Songbirds use spectral shape, not pitch, for sound pattern recognition

PubMed Central

Bregman, Micah R.; Patel, Aniruddh D.; Gentner, Timothy Q.

2016-01-01

Humans easily recognize “transposed” musical melodies shifted up or down in log frequency. Surprisingly, songbirds seem to lack this capacity, although they can learn to recognize human melodies and use complex acoustic sequences for communication. Decades of research have led to the widespread belief that songbirds, unlike humans, are strongly biased to use absolute pitch (AP) in melody recognition. This work relies almost exclusively on acoustically simple stimuli that may belie sensitivities to more complex spectral features. Here, we investigate melody recognition in a species of songbird, the European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), using tone sequences that vary in both pitch and timbre. We find that small manipulations altering either pitch or timbre independently can drive melody recognition to chance, suggesting that both percepts are poor descriptors of the perceptual cues used by birds for this task. Instead we show that melody recognition can generalize even in the absence of pitch, as long as the spectral shapes of the constituent tones are preserved. These results challenge conventional views regarding the use of pitch cues in nonhuman auditory sequence recognition. PMID:26811447

Psychoacoustics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, Brian C. J.

Psychoacoustics psychological is concerned with the relationships between the physical characteristics of sounds and their perceptual attributes. This chapter describes: the absolute sensitivity of the auditory system for detecting weak sounds and how that sensitivity varies with frequency; the frequency selectivity of the auditory system (the ability to resolve or hear out the sinusoidal components in a complex sound) and its characterization in terms of an array of auditory filters; the processes that influence the masking of one sound by another; the range of sound levels that can be processed by the auditory system; the perception and modeling of loudness; level discrimination; the temporal resolution of the auditory system (the ability to detect changes over time); the perception and modeling of pitch for pure and complex tones; the perception of timbre for steady and time-varying sounds; the perception of space and sound localization; and the mechanisms underlying auditory scene analysis that allow the construction of percepts corresponding to individual sounds sources when listening to complex mixtures of sounds.

Assessing Musical Abilities Objectively: Construction and Validation of the Profile of Music Perception Skills

PubMed Central

Law, Lily N. C.; Zentner, Marcel

2012-01-01

A common approach for determining musical competence is to rely on information about individuals’ extent of musical training, but relying on musicianship status fails to identify musically untrained individuals with musical skill, as well as those who, despite extensive musical training, may not be as skilled. To counteract this limitation, we developed a new test battery (Profile of Music Perception Skills; PROMS) that measures perceptual musical skills across multiple domains: tonal (melody, pitch), qualitative (timbre, tuning), temporal (rhythm, rhythm-to-melody, accent, tempo), and dynamic (loudness). The PROMS has satisfactory psychometric properties for the composite score (internal consistency and test-retest r>.85) and fair to good coefficients for the individual subtests (.56 to.85). Convergent validity was established with the relevant dimensions of Gordon’s Advanced Measures of Music Audiation and Musical Aptitude Profile (melody, rhythm, tempo), the Musical Ear Test (rhythm), and sample instrumental sounds (timbre). Criterion validity was evidenced by consistently sizeable and significant relationships between test performance and external musical proficiency indicators in all three studies (.38 to.62, p<.05 to p<.01). An absence of correlations between test scores and a nonmusical auditory discrimination task supports the battery’s discriminant validity (−.05, ns). The interrelationships among the various subtests could be accounted for by two higher order factors, sequential and sensory music processing. A brief version of the full PROMS is introduced as a time-efficient approximation of the full version of the battery. PMID:23285071

Ups and Downs in Auditory Development: Preschoolers' Sensitivity to Pitch Contour and Timbre.

PubMed

Creel, Sarah C

2016-03-01

Much research has explored developing sound representations in language, but less work addresses developing representations of other sound patterns. This study examined preschool children's musical representations using two different tasks: discrimination and sound-picture association. Melodic contour--a musically relevant property--and instrumental timbre, which is (arguably) less musically relevant, were tested. In Experiment 1, children failed to associate cartoon characters to melodies with maximally different pitch contours, with no advantage for melody preexposure. Experiment 2 also used different-contour melodies and found good discrimination, whereas association was at chance. Experiment 3 replicated Experiment 2, but with a large timbre change instead of a contour change. Here, discrimination and association were both excellent. Preschool-aged children may have stronger or more durable representations of timbre than contour, particularly in more difficult tasks. Reasons for weaker association of contour than timbre information are discussed, along with implications for auditory development. Copyright © 2015 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Effects of timbre and tempo change on memory for music.

PubMed

Halpern, Andrea R; Müllensiefen, Daniel

2008-09-01

We investigated the effects of different encoding tasks and of manipulations of two supposedly surface parameters of music on implicit and explicit memory for tunes. In two experiments, participants were first asked to either categorize instrument or judge familiarity of 40 unfamiliar short tunes. Subsequently, participants were asked to give explicit and implicit memory ratings for a list of 80 tunes, which included 40 previously heard. Half of the 40 previously heard tunes differed in timbre (Experiment 1) or tempo (Experiment 2) in comparison with the first exposure. A third experiment compared similarity ratings of the tunes that varied in timbre or tempo. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results suggest first that the encoding task made no difference for either memory mode. Secondly, timbre and tempo change both impaired explicit memory, whereas tempo change additionally made implicit tune recognition worse. Results are discussed in the context of implicit memory for nonsemantic materials and the possible differences in timbre and tempo in musical representations.

A Vowel-Based Method for Vocal Tract Control in Clarinet Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

González, Darleny; Payri, Blas

2017-01-01

Our review of scientific literature shows that the activity inside the clarinetist's vocal tract (VT) affects pitch and timbre, while also facilitating technical exercises. Clarinetists adapt their VT intuitively and, in some cases, may compensate an inadequate VT configuration through unnecessary pressure, resulting in technical blockage,…

Auditory Memory for Timbre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKeown, Denis; Wellsted, David

2009-01-01

Psychophysical studies are reported examining how the context of recent auditory stimulation may modulate the processing of new sounds. The question posed is how recent tone stimulation may affect ongoing performance in a discrimination task. In the task, two complex sounds occurred in successive intervals. A single target component of one complex…

Psychophysiological responses to auditory change.

PubMed

Chuen, Lorraine; Sears, David; McAdams, Stephen

2016-06-01

A comprehensive characterization of autonomic and somatic responding within the auditory domain is currently lacking. We studied whether simple types of auditory change that occur frequently during music listening could elicit measurable changes in heart rate, skin conductance, respiration rate, and facial motor activity. Participants heard a rhythmically isochronous sequence consisting of a repeated standard tone, followed by a repeated target tone that changed in pitch, timbre, duration, intensity, or tempo, or that deviated momentarily from rhythmic isochrony. Changes in all parameters produced increases in heart rate. Skin conductance response magnitude was affected by changes in timbre, intensity, and tempo. Respiratory rate was sensitive to deviations from isochrony. Our findings suggest that music researchers interpreting physiological responses as emotional indices should consider acoustic factors that may influence physiology in the absence of induced emotions. © 2016 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

The singing power ratio as an objective measure of singing voice quality in untrained talented and nontalented singers.

PubMed

Watts, Christopher; Barnes-Burroughs, Kathryn; Estis, Julie; Blanton, Debra

2006-03-01

A growing body of contemporary research has investigated differences between trained and untrained singing voices. However, few studies have separated untrained singers into those who do and do not express abilities related to singing talent, including accurate pitch control and production of a pleasant timbre (voice quality). This investigation studied measures of the singing power ratio (SPR), which is a quantitative measure of the resonant quality of the singing voice. SPR reflects the amplification or suppression in the vocal tract of the harmonics produced by the sound source. This measure was acquired from the voices of untrained talented and nontalented singers as a means to objectively investigate voice quality differences. Measures of SPR were acquired from vocal samples with fast Fourier transform (FFT) power spectra to analyze the amplitude level of the partials in the acoustic spectrum. Long-term average spectra (LTAS) were also analyzed. Results indicated significant differences in SPR between groups, which suggest that vocal tract resonance, and its effect on perceived vocal timbre or quality, may be an important variable related to the perception of singing talent. LTAS confirmed group differences in the tuning of vocal tract harmonics.

The perception of microsound and its musical implications.

PubMed

Roads, Curtis

2003-11-01

Sound particles or microsounds last only a few milliseconds, near the threshold of auditory perception. We can easily analyze the physical properties of sound particles either individually or in masses. However, correlating these properties with human perception remains complicated. One cannot speak of a single time frame, or a "time constant" for the auditory system. The hearing mechanism involves many different agents, each of which operates on its own timescale. The signals being sent by diverse hearing agents are integrated by the brain into a coherent auditory picture. The pioneer of "sound quanta," Dennis Gabor (1900-1979), suggested that at least two mechanisms are at work in microevent detection: one that isolates events, and another that ascertains their pitch. Human hearing imposes a certain minimum duration in order to establish a firm sense of pitch, amplitude, and timbre. This paper traces disparate strands of literature on the topic and summarizes their meaning. Specifically, we examine the perception of intensity and pitch of microsounds, the phenomena of tone fusion and fission, temporal auditory acuity, and preattentive perception. The final section examines the musical implications of microsonic analysis, synthesis, and transformation.

Timbre Analysis of the Sonicguide

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Welch, James

1977-01-01

The timbre of various Sonicguide (an ultar-sonic binaural device mounted in a spectacle frame) signals was measured and analyzed by a "Sona-Graph" (sound spectral analyzer) to aid/mobility training of blind Ss. (Author/MH)

Interdependent encoding of pitch, timbre and spatial location in auditory cortex

PubMed Central

Bizley, Jennifer K.; Walker, Kerry M. M.; Silverman, Bernard W.; King, Andrew J.; Schnupp, Jan W. H.

2009-01-01

Because we can perceive the pitch, timbre and spatial location of a sound source independently, it seems natural to suppose that cortical processing of sounds might separate out spatial from non-spatial attributes. Indeed, recent studies support the existence of anatomically segregated ‘what’ and ‘where’ cortical processing streams. However, few attempts have been made to measure the responses of individual neurons in different cortical fields to sounds that vary simultaneously across spatial and non-spatial dimensions. We recorded responses to artificial vowels presented in virtual acoustic space to investigate the representations of pitch, timbre and sound source azimuth in both core and belt areas of ferret auditory cortex. A variance decomposition technique was used to quantify the way in which altering each parameter changed neural responses. Most units were sensitive to two or more of these stimulus attributes. Whilst indicating that neural encoding of pitch, location and timbre cues is distributed across auditory cortex, significant differences in average neuronal sensitivity were observed across cortical areas and depths, which could form the basis for the segregation of spatial and non-spatial cues at higher cortical levels. Some units exhibited significant non-linear interactions between particular combinations of pitch, timbre and azimuth. These interactions were most pronounced for pitch and timbre and were less commonly observed between spatial and non-spatial attributes. Such non-linearities were most prevalent in primary auditory cortex, although they tended to be small compared with stimulus main effects. PMID:19228960

Amplitude, frequency, and timbre with the French horn

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konz, Nicholas; Ruiz, Michael J.

2018-07-01

The French horn is used to introduce the three basic properties of periodic waves: amplitude, frequency, and waveform. These features relate to the perceptual characteristics of loudness, pitch, and timbre encountered in everyday language. Visualizations are provided in the form of oscilloscope screenshots, spectrograms, and Fourier spectra to illustrate the physics. Introductory students will find the musical relevance interesting as they experience a real-world application of physics. Demonstrations playing the French horn are provided in an accompanying video (Ruiz 2018 Video: Amplitude, frequency, and timbre with the French horn http://mjtruiz.com/ped/horn/).

Influences of Rhythm- and Timbre-Related Musical Features on Characteristics of Music-Induced Movement

PubMed Central

Burger, Birgitta; Thompson, Marc R.; Luck, Geoff; Saarikallio, Suvi; Toiviainen, Petri

2013-01-01

Music makes us move. Several factors can affect the characteristics of such movements, including individual factors or musical features. For this study, we investigated the effect of rhythm- and timbre-related musical features as well as tempo on movement characteristics. Sixty participants were presented with 30 musical stimuli representing different styles of popular music, and instructed to move along with the music. Optical motion capture was used to record participants’ movements. Subsequently, eight movement features and four rhythm- and timbre-related musical features were computationally extracted from the data, while the tempo was assessed in a perceptual experiment. A subsequent correlational analysis revealed that, for instance, clear pulses seemed to be embodied with the whole body, i.e., by using various movement types of different body parts, whereas spectral flux and percussiveness were found to be more distinctly related to certain body parts, such as head and hand movement. A series of ANOVAs with the stimuli being divided into three groups of five stimuli each based on the tempo revealed no significant differences between the groups, suggesting that the tempo of our stimuli set failed to have an effect on the movement features. In general, the results can be linked to the framework of embodied music cognition, as they show that body movements are used to reflect, imitate, and predict musical characteristics. PMID:23641220

Influences of rhythm- and timbre-related musical features on characteristics of music-induced movement.

PubMed

Burger, Birgitta; Thompson, Marc R; Luck, Geoff; Saarikallio, Suvi; Toiviainen, Petri

2013-01-01

Music makes us move. Several factors can affect the characteristics of such movements, including individual factors or musical features. For this study, we investigated the effect of rhythm- and timbre-related musical features as well as tempo on movement characteristics. Sixty participants were presented with 30 musical stimuli representing different styles of popular music, and instructed to move along with the music. Optical motion capture was used to record participants' movements. Subsequently, eight movement features and four rhythm- and timbre-related musical features were computationally extracted from the data, while the tempo was assessed in a perceptual experiment. A subsequent correlational analysis revealed that, for instance, clear pulses seemed to be embodied with the whole body, i.e., by using various movement types of different body parts, whereas spectral flux and percussiveness were found to be more distinctly related to certain body parts, such as head and hand movement. A series of ANOVAs with the stimuli being divided into three groups of five stimuli each based on the tempo revealed no significant differences between the groups, suggesting that the tempo of our stimuli set failed to have an effect on the movement features. In general, the results can be linked to the framework of embodied music cognition, as they show that body movements are used to reflect, imitate, and predict musical characteristics.

An interdisciplinary study of the timbre of the classical guitar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Traube, Caroline

This dissertation proposes an interdisciplinary approach for the study of the timbre of the classical guitar. We start by identifying the static; control parameters of timbre, relating to the structural components of the guitar and the dynamic control parameters of timbre, relating to the gestures applied by the performer on the instrument. From the plucked string physical model (obtained from the transverse wave equation), we derive a digital signal interpretation of the plucking effect which is a comb filtering. Then we investigate how subjective characteristics of sound, like timbre, are related to gesture parameters. The starting point for exploration is an inventory of verbal descriptors commonly used by professional musicians to describe the brightness, the colour, the shape and the texture of the sounds they produce on their instruments. An explanation for the voice-like nature of guitar tones is proposed based on the observation that the maxima of the comb-filter-shaped magnitude spectrum of guitar tones are located at frequencies similar to the formant frequencies of a subset of identifiable vowels. These analogies at the spectral level might account for the origin of some timbre descriptors such as open, oval, round, thin, closed, nasal and hollow, that seem to refer to phonetic gestures. In a experiment conducted to confirm these analogies, participants were asked to associate a consonant to the attack and a vowel to the decay of guitar tones. The results of this study support the idea that some perceptual dimensions of the guitar timbre space can be borrowed from phonetics. Finally, we address the problem of the indirect acquisition of instrumental gesture parameters. Pursuing previous research on the estimation of the plucking position from a recording, we propose a new estimation method based on an iterative weighted least-square algorithm, starting from a first approximation derived from a variant of the autocorrelation function of the signal.

The Effect of Intensity and Age on the Perception of Accent in Isochronous Sequences of a Snare Drum Timbre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walls, Kimberly Kyle Curley

1992-01-01

Musical expression is largely dependent upon accentuation, yet there have been few attempts to study the perception of dynamic accent in music or to relate the results of psychoacoustical research in intensity to realistic musical situations. The purpose of the experiment was to estimate the relationships among (a) the intensity increment in dB(A) required to meet an 80% correct criterion in the perception of one accented tone embedded within a seven -tone isochronous series of identical 87 dB(A) snare drum timbre stimuli of 333 ms onsets (accent level, or AL), (b) the different limen (DL) for intensity increase to meet a 75% correct criterion in a 2AFC task for pairs for the stimuli, and (c) the age of the subjects, all of whom have normal audiograms. The 51 subjects (N = 51) were female nonmusicians ranging in age from 9 to 33 years (M = 17.98, SD = 5.21). The response tasks involved saying whether the second tone of each pair was louder or softer and circling the accented note in notated quarter notes. The stimuli production, the headphone calibration process, and their rationales were detailed. The global regression model was significant (F(2, 48) = 5.505, p =.007, R^2 =.187), and the relationship between AL and DL was not significant (F(1, 48) = 5.505, p =.197, R^2 change =.029), the relationship between AL and age was significant (F(1, 48) = 5.732, p =.021, R ^2 change =.098) at an alpha level of.05 and power calculated at.66 for a medium ES. It was concluded that accented sounds are easier to perceive in tone pairs than they are in a musical setting and that subject maturation improves performance of intensity judgement tasks. Suggestions for further research include shortening the length of the experimental session for younger subjects and increasing the number of intensity increments as well as using smaller increments to accommodate individual differences in perception.

Vibrotactile Discrimination of Musical Timbre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russo, Frank A.; Ammirante, Paolo; Fels, Deborah I.

2012-01-01

Five experiments investigated the ability to discriminate between musical timbres based on vibrotactile stimulation alone. Participants made same/different judgments on pairs of complex waveforms presented sequentially to the back through voice coils embedded in a conforming chair. Discrimination between cello, piano, and trombone tones matched…

[Music and neurology].

PubMed

Arias Gómez, M

2007-01-01

Music perception and output are special functions of the human brain. Investigation in this field is growing with the support of modern neuroimaging techniques (functional magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography). Interest in the music phenomenon and the disorders regarding its processing has been limited. Music is not just an artistic activity but a language to communicate, evoke and reinforce several emotions. Although the subject is still under debate, processing of music is independent of common language and each one uses independent circuits. One may be seriously affected and the other practically unharmed. On the other hand, there may be separate channels within the processing of music for the temporary elements (rhythm), melodic elements (pitch, timbre, and melody), memory and emotional response. The study of subjects with absolute pitch, congenital and acquired amusias, musicogenic epilepsy and musical hallucinations has greatly contributed to the knowledge of how the brain processes music. Music training involves some changes in morphology and physiology of professional musicians' brains. Stress, chronic pain and professional dystonias constitute a special field of musicians' disturbances that concerns neurological practice. Listening to and playing music may have some educational and therapeutic benefits.

Nonverbal auditory working memory: Can music indicate the capacity?

PubMed

Jeong, Eunju; Ryu, Hokyoung

2016-06-01

Different working memory (WM) mechanisms that underlie words, tones, and timbres have been proposed in previous studies. In this regard, the present study developed a WM test with nonverbal sounds and compared it to the conventional verbal WM test. A total of twenty-five, non-music major, right-handed college students were presented with four different types of sounds (words, syllables, pitches, timbres) that varied from two to eight digits in length. Both accuracy and oxygenated hemoglobin (oxyHb) were measured. The results showed significant effects of number of targets on accuracy and sound type on oxyHb. A further analysis showed prefrontal asymmetry with pitch being processed by the right hemisphere (RH) and timbre by the left hemisphere (LH). These findings suggest a potential for employing musical sounds (i.e., pitch and timbre) as a complementary stimuli for conventional nonverbal WM tests, which can additionally examine its asymmetrical roles in the prefrontal regions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The role of long-term familiarity and attentional maintenance in short-term memory for timbre.

PubMed

Siedenburg, Kai; McAdams, Stephen

2017-04-01

We study short-term recognition of timbre using familiar recorded tones from acoustic instruments and unfamiliar transformed tones that do not readily evoke sound-source categories. Participants indicated whether the timbre of a probe sound matched with one of three previously presented sounds (item recognition). In Exp. 1, musicians better recognised familiar acoustic compared to unfamiliar synthetic sounds, and this advantage was particularly large in the medial serial position. There was a strong correlation between correct rejection rate and the mean perceptual dissimilarity of the probe to the tones from the sequence. Exp. 2 compared musicians' and non-musicians' performance with concurrent articulatory suppression, visual interference, and with a silent control condition. Both suppression tasks disrupted performance by a similar margin, regardless of musical training of participants or type of sounds. Our results suggest that familiarity with sound source categories and attention play important roles in short-term memory for timbre, which rules out accounts solely based on sensory persistence.

Amplitude, Frequency, and Timbre with the French Horn

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Konz, Nicholas; Ruiz, Michael J.

2018-01-01

The French horn is used to introduce the three basic properties of periodic waves: amplitude, frequency, and waveform. These features relate to the perceptual characteristics of loudness, pitch, and timbre encountered in everyday language. Visualizations are provided in the form of oscilloscope screenshots, spectrograms, and Fourier spectra to…

Short-Term Forgetting without Interference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKeown, Denis; Mercer, Tom

2012-01-01

In the 1st reported experiment, we demonstrate that auditory memory is robust over extended retention intervals (RIs) when listeners compare the timbre of complex tones, even when active or verbal rehearsal is difficult or impossible. Thus, our tones have an abstract timbre that resists verbal labeling, they differ across trials so that no…

Auditory memory for timbre.

PubMed

McKeown, Denis; Wellsted, David

2009-06-01

Psychophysical studies are reported examining how the context of recent auditory stimulation may modulate the processing of new sounds. The question posed is how recent tone stimulation may affect ongoing performance in a discrimination task. In the task, two complex sounds occurred in successive intervals. A single target component of one complex was decreased (Experiments 1 and 2) or increased (Experiments 3, 4, and 5) in intensity on half of trials: The task was simply to identify those trials. Prior to each trial, a pure tone inducer was introduced either at the same frequency as the target component or at the frequency of a different component of the complex. Consistent with a frequency-specific form of disruption, discrimination performance was impaired when the inducing tone matched the frequency of the following decrement or increment. A timbre memory model (TMM) is proposed incorporating channel-specific interference allied to inhibition of attending in the coding of sounds in the context of memory traces of recent sounds. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

Perceptual Grouping Affects Pitch Judgments Across Time and Frequency

PubMed Central

Borchert, Elizabeth M. O.; Micheyl, Christophe; Oxenham, Andrew J.

2010-01-01

Pitch, the perceptual correlate of fundamental frequency (F0), plays an important role in speech, music and animal vocalizations. Changes in F0 over time help define musical melodies and speech prosody, while comparisons of simultaneous F0 are important for musical harmony, and for segregating competing sound sources. This study compared listeners’ ability to detect differences in F0 between pairs of sequential or simultaneous tones that were filtered into separate, non-overlapping spectral regions. The timbre differences induced by filtering led to poor F0 discrimination in the sequential, but not the simultaneous, conditions. Temporal overlap of the two tones was not sufficient to produce good performance; instead performance appeared to depend on the two tones being integrated into the same perceptual object. The results confirm the difficulty of comparing the pitches of sequential sounds with different timbres and suggest that, for simultaneous sounds, pitch differences may be detected through a decrease in perceptual fusion rather than an explicit coding and comparison of the underlying F0s. PMID:21077719

Assessing musical skills in autistic children who are not savants.

PubMed

Heaton, Pamela

2009-05-27

Descriptions of autistic musical savants suggest that they possess extraordinary skills within the domain. However, until recently little was known about the musical skills and potential of individuals with autism who are not savants. The results from these more recent studies investigating music perception, cognition and learning in musically untrained children with autism have revealed a pattern of abilities that are either enhanced or spared. For example, increased sensitivity to musical pitch and timbre is frequently observed, and studies investigating perception of musical structure and emotions have consistently failed to reveal deficits in autism. While the phenomenon of the savant syndrome is of considerable theoretical interest, it may have led to an under-consideration of the potential talents and skills of that vast majority of autistic individuals, who do not meet savant criteria. Data from empirical studies show that many autistic children possess musical potential that can and should be developed.

Assessing musical skills in autistic children who are not savants

PubMed Central

Heaton, Pamela

2009-01-01

Descriptions of autistic musical savants suggest that they possess extraordinary skills within the domain. However, until recently little was known about the musical skills and potential of individuals with autism who are not savants. The results from these more recent studies investigating music perception, cognition and learning in musically untrained children with autism have revealed a pattern of abilities that are either enhanced or spared. For example, increased sensitivity to musical pitch and timbre is frequently observed, and studies investigating perception of musical structure and emotions have consistently failed to reveal deficits in autism. While the phenomenon of the savant syndrome is of considerable theoretical interest, it may have led to an under-consideration of the potential talents and skills of that vast majority of autistic individuals, who do not meet savant criteria. Data from empirical studies show that many autistic children possess musical potential that can and should be developed. PMID:19528029

Hearing the music in the spectrum of hydrogen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LoPresto, Michael C.

2016-03-01

Throughout a general education course on sound and light aimed at music and art students, analogies between subjective perceptions of objective properties of sound and light waves are a recurring theme. Demonstrating that the pitch and loudness of musical sounds are related to the frequency and intensity of a sound wave is simple and students are easily able to draw the analogies with the color and brightness of light. When considering an entire spectrum, the presence of multiple frequencies and wavelengths of different intensities is perceived by the ear as sound quality, or musical timbre, while the perception of the eye is the tone or hue of a color. What follows is a description of a demonstration that draws the analogy between musical sound quality and the tone or hue of light in which the emission spectrum of hydrogen is considered and actually played as a musical chord.

Mothers Consistently Alter Their Unique Vocal Fingerprints When Communicating with Infants.

PubMed

Piazza, Elise A; Iordan, Marius Cătălin; Lew-Williams, Casey

2017-10-23

The voice is the most direct link we have to others' minds, allowing us to communicate using a rich variety of speech cues [1, 2]. This link is particularly critical early in life as parents draw infants into the structure of their environment using infant-directed speech (IDS), a communicative code with unique pitch and rhythmic characteristics relative to adult-directed speech (ADS) [3, 4]. To begin breaking into language, infants must discern subtle statistical differences about people and voices in order to direct their attention toward the most relevant signals. Here, we uncover a new defining feature of IDS: mothers significantly alter statistical properties of vocal timbre when speaking to their infants. Timbre, the tone color or unique quality of a sound, is a spectral fingerprint that helps us instantly identify and classify sound sources, such as individual people and musical instruments [5-7]. We recorded 24 mothers' naturalistic speech while they interacted with their infants and with adult experimenters in their native language. Half of the participants were English speakers, and half were not. Using a support vector machine classifier, we found that mothers consistently shifted their timbre between ADS and IDS. Importantly, this shift was similar across languages, suggesting that such alterations of timbre may be universal. These findings have theoretical implications for understanding how infants tune in to their local communicative environments. Moreover, our classification algorithm for identifying infant-directed timbre has direct translational implications for speech recognition technology. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Conductor As Visual Guide: Gesture and Perception of Musical Content

PubMed Central

Kumar, Anita B.; Morrison, Steven J.

2016-01-01

Ensemble conductors are often described as embodying the music. Researchers have determined that expressive gestures affect viewers’ perceptions of conducted ensemble performances. This effect may be due, in part, to conductor gesture delineating and amplifying specific expressive aspects of music performances. The purpose of the present study was to determine if conductor gesture affected observers’ focus of attention to contrasting aspects of ensemble performances. Audio recordings of two different music excerpts featuring two-part counterpoint (an ostinato paired with a lyric melody, and long chord tones paired with rhythmic interjections) were paired with video of two conductors. Each conductor used gesture appropriate to one or the other musical element (e.g., connected and flowing or detached and crisp) for a total of sixteen videos. Musician participants evaluated 8 of the excerpts for Articulation, Rhythm, Style, and Phrasing using four 10-point differential scales anchored by descriptive terms (e.g., disconnected to connected, and angular to flowing.) Results indicated a relationship between gesture and listeners’ evaluations of musical content. Listeners appear to be sensitive to the manner in which a conductor’s gesture delineates musical lines, particularly as an indication of overall articulation and style. This effect was observed for the lyric melody and ostinato excerpt, but not for the chords and interjections excerpt. Therefore, this effect appears to be mitigated by the congruence of gesture to preconceptions of the importance of melodic over rhythmic material, of certain instrument timbres over others, and of length between onsets of active material. These results add to a body of literature that supports the importance of the visual component in the multimodal experience of music performance. PMID:27458425

Mild Dissonance Preferred Over Consonance in Single Chord Perception

PubMed Central

Eerola, Tuomas

2016-01-01

Previous research on harmony perception has mainly been concerned with horizontal aspects of harmony, turning less attention to how listeners perceive psychoacoustic qualities and emotions in single isolated chords. A recent study found mild dissonances to be more preferred than consonances in single chord perception, although the authors did not systematically vary register and consonance in their study; these omissions were explored here. An online empirical experiment was conducted where participants (N = 410) evaluated chords on the dimensions of Valence, Tension, Energy, Consonance, and Preference; 15 different chords were played with piano timbre across two octaves. The results suggest significant differences on all dimensions across chord types, and a strong correlation between perceived dissonance and tension. The register and inversions contributed to the evaluations significantly, nonmusicians distinguishing between triadic inversions similarly to musicians. The mildly dissonant minor ninth, major ninth, and minor seventh chords were rated highest for preference, regardless of musical sophistication. The role of theoretical explanations such as aggregate dyadic consonance, the inverted-U hypothesis, and psychoacoustic roughness, harmonicity, and sharpness will be discussed to account for the preference of mild dissonance over consonance in single chord perception. PMID:27433333

Congenital Amusia: A Short-Term Memory Deficit for Non-Verbal, but Not Verbal Sounds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tillmann, Barbara; Schulze, Katrin; Foxton, Jessica M.

2009-01-01

Congenital amusia refers to a lifelong disorder of music processing and is linked to pitch-processing deficits. The present study investigated congenital amusics' short-term memory for tones, musical timbres and words. Sequences of five events (tones, timbres or words) were presented in pairs and participants had to indicate whether the sequences…

Long-Term Memory for Music: Infants Remember Tempo and Timbre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trainor, Laurel J.; Wu, Luann; Tsang, Christine D.

2004-01-01

We show that infants' long-term memory representations for melodies are not just reduced to the structural features of relative pitches and durations, but contain surface or performance tempo- and timbre-specific information. Using a head turn preference procedure, we found that after a one week exposure to an old English folk song, infants…

The psychoacoustics of musical articulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spiegelberg, Scott Charles

This dissertation develops psychoacoustical definitions of notated articulations, the necessary first step in articulation research. This research can be useful to theorists interested in timbre analysis, the psychology of performance, analysis and performance, the psychology of style differentiation, and performance pedagogy. An explanation of wavelet transforms precedes the development of new techniques for analyzing transient sounds. A history of timbre perception research reveals the inadequacies of current sound segmentation models, resulting in the creation of a new model, the Pitch/Amplitude/Centroid Trajectory (PACT) model of sound segmentation. The new analysis techniques and PACT model are used to analyze recordings of performers playing a melodic fragment in a series of notated articulations. Statistical tests showed that the performers generally agreed on the interpretation of five different articulation groups. A cognitive test of articulation similarity, using musicians and non-musicians as participants, revealed a close correlation between similarity judgments and physical attributes, though additional unknown factors are clearly present. A second psychological test explored the perceptual salience of articulation notation, by asking musically-trained participants to match stimuli to the same notations the performers used. The participants also marked verbal descriptors for each articulation, such as short/long, sharp/dull, loud/soft, harsh/gentle, and normal/extreme. These results were matched against the results of Chapters Five and Six, providing an overall interpretation of the psychoacoustics of articulation.

Auditory evoked potentials to abrupt pitch and timbre change of complex tones: electrophysiological evidence of 'streaming'?

PubMed

Jones, S J; Longe, O; Vaz Pato, M

1998-03-01

Examination of the cortical auditory evoked potentials to complex tones changing in pitch and timbre suggests a useful new method for investigating higher auditory processes, in particular those concerned with 'streaming' and auditory object formation. The main conclusions were: (i) the N1 evoked by a sudden change in pitch or timbre was more posteriorly distributed than the N1 at the onset of the tone, indicating at least partial segregation of the neuronal populations responsive to sound onset and spectral change; (ii) the T-complex was consistently larger over the right hemisphere, consistent with clinical and PET evidence for particular involvement of the right temporal lobe in the processing of timbral and musical material; (iii) responses to timbral change were relatively unaffected by increasing the rate of interspersed changes in pitch, suggesting a mechanism for detecting the onset of a new voice in a constantly modulated sound stream; (iv) responses to onset, offset and pitch change of complex tones were relatively unaffected by interfering tones when the latter were of a different timbre, suggesting these responses must be generated subsequent to auditory stream segregation.

Towards automatic musical instrument timbre recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Tae Hong

This dissertation is comprised of two parts---focus on issues concerning research and development of an artificial system for automatic musical instrument timbre recognition and musical compositions. The technical part of the essay includes a detailed record of developed and implemented algorithms for feature extraction and pattern recognition. A review of existing literature introducing historical aspects surrounding timbre research, problems associated with a number of timbre definitions, and highlights of selected research activities that have had significant impact in this field are also included. The developed timbre recognition system follows a bottom-up, data-driven model that includes a pre-processing module, feature extraction module, and a RBF/EBF (Radial/Elliptical Basis Function) neural network-based pattern recognition module. 829 monophonic samples from 12 instruments have been chosen from the Peter Siedlaczek library (Best Service) and other samples from the Internet and personal collections. Significant emphasis has been put on feature extraction development and testing to achieve robust and consistent feature vectors that are eventually passed to the neural network module. In order to avoid a garbage-in-garbage-out (GIGO) trap and improve generality, extra care was taken in designing and testing the developed algorithms using various dynamics, different playing techniques, and a variety of pitches for each instrument with inclusion of attack and steady-state portions of a signal. Most of the research and development was conducted in Matlab. The compositional part of the essay includes brief introductions to "A d'Ess Are ," "Aboji," "48 13 N, 16 20 O," and "pH-SQ." A general outline pertaining to the ideas and concepts behind the architectural designs of the pieces including formal structures, time structures, orchestration methods, and pitch structures are also presented.

Investigating pianists' individuality in the performance of five timbral nuances through patterns of articulation, touch, dynamics, and pedaling

PubMed Central

Bernays, Michel; Traube, Caroline

2014-01-01

Timbre is an essential expressive feature in piano performance. Concert pianists use a vast palette of timbral nuances to color their performances at the microstructural level. Although timbre is generally envisioned in the pianistic community as an abstract concept carried through an imaged vocabulary, performers may share some common strategies of timbral expression in piano performance. Yet there may remain further leeway for idiosyncratic processes in the production of piano timbre nuances. In this study, we examined the patterns of timbral expression in performances by four expert pianists. Each pianist performed four short pieces, each with five different timbral intentions (bright, dark, dry, round, and velvety). The performances were recorded with the high-accuracy Bösendorfer CEUS system. Fine-grained performance features of dynamics, touch, articulation and pedaling were extracted. Reduced PCA performance spaces and descriptive performance portraits confirmed that pianists exhibited unique, specific profiles for different timbral intentions, derived from underlying traits of general individuality, while sharing some broad commonalities of dynamics and articulation for each timbral intention. These results confirm that pianists' abstract notions of timbre correspond to reliable patterns of performance technique. Furthermore, these effects suggest that pianists can express individual styles while complying with specific timbral intentions. PMID:24624099

Enhanced processing of vocal melodies in childhood.

PubMed

Weiss, Michael W; Schellenberg, E Glenn; Trehub, Sandra E; Dawber, Emily J

2015-03-01

Music cognition is typically studied with instrumental stimuli. Adults remember melodies better, however, when they are presented in a biologically significant timbre (i.e., the human voice) than in various instrumental timbres (Weiss, Trehub, & Schellenberg, 2012). We examined the impact of vocal timbre on children's processing of melodies. In Study 1, 9- to 11-year-olds listened to 16 unfamiliar folk melodies (4 each of voice, piano, banjo, or marimba). They subsequently listened to the same melodies and 16 timbre-matched foils, and judged whether each melody was old or new. Vocal melodies were recognized better than instrumental melodies, which did not differ from one another, and the vocal advantage was consistent across age. In Study 2, 5- to 6-year-olds and 7- to 8-year-olds were tested with a simplified design that included only vocal and piano melodies. Both age groups successfully differentiated old from new melodies, but memory was more accurate for the older group. The older children recognized vocal melodies better than piano melodies, whereas the younger children tended to label vocal melodies as old whether they were old or new. The results provide the first evidence of differential processing of vocal and instrumental melodies in childhood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Wavelets in music analysis and synthesis: timbre analysis and perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alves Faria, Regis R.; Ruschioni, Ruggero A.; Zuffo, Joao A.

1996-10-01

Music is a vital element in the process of comprehending the world where we live and interact with. Frequency it exerts a subtle but expressive influence over a society's evolution line. Analysis and synthesis of music and musical instruments has always been associated with forefront technologies available at each period of human history, and there is no surprise in witnessing now the use of digital technologies and sophisticated mathematical tools supporting its development. Fourier techniques have been employed for years as a tool to analyze timbres' spectral characteristics, and re-synthesize them from these extracted parameters. Recently many modern implementations, based on spectral modeling techniques, have been leading to the development of new generations of music synthesizers, capable of reproducing natural sounds with high fidelity, and producing novel timbres as well. Wavelets are a promising tool on the development of new generations of music synthesizers, counting on its advantages over the Fourier techniques in representing non-periodic and transient signals, with complex fine textures, as found in music. In this paper we propose and introduce the use of wavelets addressing its perspectives towards musical applications. The central idea is to investigate the capacities of wavelets in analyzing, extracting features and altering fine timbre components in a multiresolution time- scale, so as to produce high quality synthesized musical sounds.

Cortical encoding of pitch: Recent results and open questions

PubMed Central

Walker, Kerry M.M.; Bizley, Jennifer K.; King, Andrew J.; Schnupp, Jan W.H.

2011-01-01

It is widely appreciated that the key predictor of the pitch of a sound is its periodicity. Neural structures which support pitch perception must therefore be able to reflect the repetition rate of a sound, but this alone is not sufficient. Since pitch is a psychoacoustic property, a putative cortical code for pitch must also be able to account for the relationship between the amount to which a sound is periodic (i.e. its temporal regularity) and the perceived pitch salience, as well as limits in our ability to detect pitch changes or to discriminate rising from falling pitch. Pitch codes must also be robust in the presence of nuisance variables such as loudness or timbre. Here, we review a large body of work on the cortical basis of pitch perception, which illustrates that the distribution of cortical processes that give rise to pitch perception is likely to depend on both the acoustical features and functional relevance of a sound. While previous studies have greatly advanced our understanding, we highlight several open questions regarding the neural basis of pitch perception. These questions can begin to be addressed through a cooperation of investigative efforts across species and experimental techniques, and, critically, by examining the responses of single neurons in behaving animals. PMID:20457240

Musicians Show General Enhancement of Complex Sound Encoding and Better Inhibition of Irrelevant Auditory Change in Music: An ERP Study

PubMed Central

Kaganovich, Natalya; Kim, Jihyun; Herring, Caryn; Schumaker, Jennifer; MacPherson, Megan; Weber-Fox, Christine

2012-01-01

Using electrophysiology, we have examined two questions in relation to musical training – namely, whether it enhances sensory encoding of the human voice and whether it improves the ability to ignore irrelevant auditory change. Participants performed an auditory distraction task, in which they identified each sound as either short (350 ms) or long (550 ms) and ignored a change in sounds’ timbre. Sounds consisted of a male and a female voice saying a neutral sound [a], and of a cello and a French Horn playing an F3 note. In some blocks, musical sounds occurred on 80% of trials, while voice sounds on 20% of trials. In other blocks, the reverse was true. Participants heard naturally recorded sounds in half of experimental blocks and their spectrally-rotated versions in the other half. Regarding voice perception, we found that musicians had a larger N1 ERP component not only to vocal sounds but also to their never before heard spectrally-rotated versions. We, therefore, conclude that musical training is associated with a general improvement in the early neural encoding of complex sounds. Regarding the ability to ignore irrelevant auditory change, musicians’ accuracy tended to suffer less from the change in sounds’ timbre, especially when deviants were musical notes. This behavioral finding was accompanied by a marginally larger re-orienting negativity in musicians, suggesting that their advantage may lie in a more efficient disengagement of attention from the distracting auditory dimension. PMID:23301775

Electrophysiological correlates of the retention of tones differing in timbre in auditory short-term memory.

PubMed

Nolden, Sophie; Bermudez, Patrick; Alunni-Menichini, Kristelle; Lefebvre, Christine; Grimault, Stephan; Jolicoeur, Pierre

2013-11-01

We examined the electrophysiological correlates of retention in auditory short-term memory (ASTM) for sequences of one, two, or three tones differing in timbre but having the same pitch. We focused on event-related potentials (ERPs) during the retention interval and revealed a sustained fronto-central ERP component (most likely a sustained anterior negativity; SAN) that became more negative as memory load increased. Our results are consistent with recent ERP studies on the retention of pitch and suggest that the SAN reflects brain activity mediating the low-level retention of basic acoustic features in ASTM. The present work shows that the retention of timbre shares common features with the retention of pitch, hence supporting the notion that the retention of basic sensory features is an active process that recruits modality-specific brain areas. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perception of touch quality in piano tones.

PubMed

Goebl, Werner; Bresin, Roberto; Fujinaga, Ichiro

2014-11-01

Both timbre and dynamics of isolated piano tones are determined exclusively by the speed with which the hammer hits the strings. This physical view has been challenged by pianists who emphasize the importance of the way the keyboard is touched. This article presents empirical evidence from two perception experiments showing that touch-dependent sound components make sounds with identical hammer velocities but produced with different touch forms clearly distinguishable. The first experiment focused on finger-key sounds: musicians could identify pressed and struck touches. When the finger-key sounds were removed from the sounds, the effect vanished, suggesting that these sounds were the primary identification cue. The second experiment looked at key-keyframe sounds that occur when the key reaches key-bottom. Key-bottom impact was identified from key motion measured by a computer-controlled piano. Musicians were able to discriminate between piano tones that contain a key-bottom sound from those that do not. However, this effect might be attributable to sounds associated with the mechanical components of the piano action. In addition to the demonstrated acoustical effects of different touch forms, visual and tactile modalities may play important roles during piano performance that influence the production and perception of musical expression on the piano.

Assessing Music Perception in Young Children: Evidence for and Psychometric Features of the M-Factor.

PubMed

Barros, Caio G; Swardfager, Walter; Moreno, Sylvain; Bortz, Graziela; Ilari, Beatriz; Jackowski, Andrea P; Ploubidis, George; Little, Todd D; Lamont, Alexandra; Cogo-Moreira, Hugo

2017-01-01

Given the relationship between language acquisition and music processing, musical perception (MP) skills have been proposed as a tool for early diagnosis of speech and language difficulties; therefore, a psychometric instrument is needed to assess music perception in children under 10 years of age, a crucial period in neurodevelopment. We created a set of 80 musical stimuli encompassing seven domains of music perception to inform perception of tonal, atonal, and modal stimuli, in a random sample of 1006 children, 6-13 years of age, equally distributed from first to fifth grades, from 14 schools (38% private schools) in So Paulo State. The underlying model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. A model encompassing seven orthogonal specific domains (contour, loudness, scale, timbre, duration, pitch, and meter) and one general music perception factor, the "m-factor," showed excellent fit indices. The m-factor, previously hypothesized in the literature but never formally tested, explains 93% of the reliable variance in measurement, while only 3.9% of the reliable variance could be attributed to the multidimensionality caused by the specific domains. The 80 items showed no differential item functioning based on sex, age, or enrolment in public vs. private school, demonstrating the important psychometric feature of invariance. Like Charles Spearman's g-factor of intelligence, the m-factor is robust and reliable. It provides a convenient measure of auditory stimulus apprehension that does not rely on verbal information, offering a new opportunity to probe biological and psychological relationships with music perception phenomena and the etiologies of speech and language disorders.

Assessing Music Perception in Young Children: Evidence for and Psychometric Features of the M-Factor

PubMed Central

Barros, Caio G.; Swardfager, Walter; Moreno, Sylvain; Bortz, Graziela; Ilari, Beatriz; Jackowski, Andrea P.; Ploubidis, George; Little, Todd D.; Lamont, Alexandra; Cogo-Moreira, Hugo

2017-01-01

Given the relationship between language acquisition and music processing, musical perception (MP) skills have been proposed as a tool for early diagnosis of speech and language difficulties; therefore, a psychometric instrument is needed to assess music perception in children under 10 years of age, a crucial period in neurodevelopment. We created a set of 80 musical stimuli encompassing seven domains of music perception to inform perception of tonal, atonal, and modal stimuli, in a random sample of 1006 children, 6–13 years of age, equally distributed from first to fifth grades, from 14 schools (38% private schools) in So Paulo State. The underlying model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. A model encompassing seven orthogonal specific domains (contour, loudness, scale, timbre, duration, pitch, and meter) and one general music perception factor, the “m-factor,” showed excellent fit indices. The m-factor, previously hypothesized in the literature but never formally tested, explains 93% of the reliable variance in measurement, while only 3.9% of the reliable variance could be attributed to the multidimensionality caused by the specific domains. The 80 items showed no differential item functioning based on sex, age, or enrolment in public vs. private school, demonstrating the important psychometric feature of invariance. Like Charles Spearman's g-factor of intelligence, the m-factor is robust and reliable. It provides a convenient measure of auditory stimulus apprehension that does not rely on verbal information, offering a new opportunity to probe biological and psychological relationships with music perception phenomena and the etiologies of speech and language disorders. PMID:28174518

Proportional spike-timing precision and firing reliability underlie efficient temporal processing of periodicity and envelope shape cues

PubMed Central

Zheng, Y.

2013-01-01

Temporal sound cues are essential for sound recognition, pitch, rhythm, and timbre perception, yet how auditory neurons encode such cues is subject of ongoing debate. Rate coding theories propose that temporal sound features are represented by rate tuned modulation filters. However, overwhelming evidence also suggests that precise spike timing is an essential attribute of the neural code. Here we demonstrate that single neurons in the auditory midbrain employ a proportional code in which spike-timing precision and firing reliability covary with the sound envelope cues to provide an efficient representation of the stimulus. Spike-timing precision varied systematically with the timescale and shape of the sound envelope and yet was largely independent of the sound modulation frequency, a prominent cue for pitch. In contrast, spike-count reliability was strongly affected by the modulation frequency. Spike-timing precision extends from sub-millisecond for brief transient sounds up to tens of milliseconds for sounds with slow-varying envelope. Information theoretic analysis further confirms that spike-timing precision depends strongly on the sound envelope shape, while firing reliability was strongly affected by the sound modulation frequency. Both the information efficiency and total information were limited by the firing reliability and spike-timing precision in a manner that reflected the sound structure. This result supports a temporal coding strategy in the auditory midbrain where proportional changes in spike-timing precision and firing reliability can efficiently signal shape and periodicity temporal cues. PMID:23636724

Music in Research and Rehabilitation of Disorders of Consciousness: Psychological and Neurophysiological Foundations.

PubMed

Kotchoubey, Boris; Pavlov, Yuri G; Kleber, Boris

2015-01-01

According to a prevailing view, the visual system works by dissecting stimuli into primitives, whereas the auditory system processes simple and complex stimuli with their corresponding features in parallel. This makes musical stimulation particularly suitable for patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC), because the processing pathways related to complex stimulus features can be preserved even when those related to simple features are no longer available. An additional factor speaking in favor of musical stimulation in DoC is the low efficiency of visual stimulation due to prevalent maladies of vision or gaze fixation in DoC patients. Hearing disorders, in contrast, are much less frequent in DoC, which allows us to use auditory stimulation at various levels of complexity. The current paper overviews empirical data concerning the four main domains of brain functioning in DoC patients that musical stimulation can address: perception (e.g., pitch, timbre, and harmony), cognition (e.g., musical syntax and meaning), emotions, and motor functions. Music can approach basic levels of patients' self-consciousness, which may even exist when all higher-level cognitions are lost, whereas music induced emotions and rhythmic stimulation can affect the dopaminergic reward-system and activity in the motor system respectively, thus serving as a starting point for rehabilitation.

Music in Research and Rehabilitation of Disorders of Consciousness: Psychological and Neurophysiological Foundations

PubMed Central

Kotchoubey, Boris; Pavlov, Yuri G.; Kleber, Boris

2015-01-01

According to a prevailing view, the visual system works by dissecting stimuli into primitives, whereas the auditory system processes simple and complex stimuli with their corresponding features in parallel. This makes musical stimulation particularly suitable for patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC), because the processing pathways related to complex stimulus features can be preserved even when those related to simple features are no longer available. An additional factor speaking in favor of musical stimulation in DoC is the low efficiency of visual stimulation due to prevalent maladies of vision or gaze fixation in DoC patients. Hearing disorders, in contrast, are much less frequent in DoC, which allows us to use auditory stimulation at various levels of complexity. The current paper overviews empirical data concerning the four main domains of brain functioning in DoC patients that musical stimulation can address: perception (e.g., pitch, timbre, and harmony), cognition (e.g., musical syntax and meaning), emotions, and motor functions. Music can approach basic levels of patients’ self-consciousness, which may even exist when all higher-level cognitions are lost, whereas music induced emotions and rhythmic stimulation can affect the dopaminergic reward-system and activity in the motor system respectively, thus serving as a starting point for rehabilitation. PMID:26640445

Normal-hearing listener preferences of music as a function of signal-to-noise-ratio

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barrett, Jillian G.

2005-04-01

Optimal signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) for speech discrimination are well-known, well-documented phenomena. Discrimination preferences and functions have been studied for both normal-hearing and hard-of-hearing populations, and information from these studies has provided clearer indices on additional factors affecting speech discrimination ability and SNR preferences. This knowledge lends itself to improvements in hearing aids and amplification devices, telephones, television and radio transmissions, and a wide arena of recorded media such as movies and music. This investigation was designed to identify the preferred signal-to-background ratio (SBR) of normal-hearing listeners in a musical setting. The signal was the singer's voice, and music was considered the background. Subjects listened to an unfamiliar ballad with a female singer, and rated seven different SBR treatments. When listening to melodic motifs with linguistic content, results indicated subjects preferred SBRs similar to those in conventional speech discrimination applications. However, unlike traditional speech discrimination studies, subjects did not prefer increased levels of SBR. Additionally, subjects had a much larger acceptable range of SBR in melodic motifs where the singer's voice was not intended to communicate via linguistic means, but by the pseudo-paralinguistic means of vocal timbre and harmonic arrangements. Results indicate further studies investigating perception of singing are warranted.

Pianists exhibit enhanced memory for vocal melodies but not piano melodies.

PubMed

Weiss, Michael W; Vanzella, Patrícia; Schellenberg, E Glenn; Trehub, Sandra E

2015-01-01

Nonmusicians remember vocal melodies (i.e., sung to la la) better than instrumental melodies. If greater exposure to the voice contributes to those effects, then long-term experience with instrumental timbres should elicit instrument-specific advantages. Here we evaluate this hypothesis by comparing pianists with other musicians and nonmusicians. We also evaluate the possibility that absolute pitch (AP), which involves exceptional memory for isolated pitches, influences melodic memory. Participants heard 24 melodies played in four timbres (voice, piano, banjo, marimba) and were subsequently required to distinguish the melodies heard previously from 24 novel melodies presented in the same timbres. Musicians performed better than nonmusicians, but both groups showed a comparable memory advantage for vocal melodies. Moreover, pianists performed no better on melodies played on piano than on other instruments, and AP musicians performed no differently than non-AP musicians. The findings confirm the robust nature of the voice advantage and rule out explanations based on familiarity, practice, and motor representations.

Topographic EEG activations during timbre and pitch discrimination tasks using musical sounds.

PubMed

Auzou, P; Eustache, F; Etevenon, P; Platel, H; Rioux, P; Lambert, J; Lechevalier, B; Zarifian, E; Baron, J C

1995-01-01

Successive auditory stimulation sequences were presented binaurally to 18 young normal volunteers. Five conditions were investigated: two reference tasks, assumed to involve passive listening to couples of musical sounds, and three discrimination tasks, one dealing with pitch, and two with timbre (either with or without the attack). A symmetrical montage of 16 EEG channels was recorded for each subject across the different conditions. Two quantitative parameters of EEG activity were compared among the different sequences within five distinct frequency bands. As compared to a rest (no stimulation) condition, both passive listening conditions led to changes in primary auditory cortex areas. Both discrimination tasks for pitch and timbre led to right hemisphere EEG changes, organized in two poles: an anterior one and a posterior one. After discussing the electrophysiological aspects of this work, these results are interpreted in terms of a network including the right temporal neocortex and the right frontal lobe to maintain the acoustical information in an auditory working memory necessary to carry out the discrimination task.

Working memory for pitch, timbre, and words

PubMed Central

Tillmann, Barbara

2012-01-01

Aiming to further our understanding of fundamental mechanisms of auditory working memory (WM), the present study compared performance for three auditory materials (words, tones, timbres). In a forward recognition task (Experiment 1) participants indicated whether the order of the items in the second sequence was the same as in the first sequence. In a backward recognition task (Experiment 2) participants indicated whether the items of the second sequence were played in the correct backward order. In Experiment 3 participants performed an articulatory suppression task during the retention delay of the backward task. To investigate potential length effects the number of items per sequence was manipulated. Overall findings underline the benefit of a cross-material experimental approach and suggest that human auditory WM is not a unitary system. Whereas WM processes for timbres differed from those for tones and words, similarities and differences were observed for words and tones: Both types of stimuli appear to rely on rehearsal mechanisms, but might differ in the involved sensorimotor codes. PMID:23116413

Sensitivity to musical emotion is influenced by tonal structure in congenital amusia.

PubMed

Jiang, Cunmei; Liu, Fang; Wong, Patrick C M

2017-08-08

Emotional communication in music depends on multiple attributes including psychoacoustic features and tonal system information, the latter of which is unique to music. The present study investigated whether congenital amusia, a lifelong disorder of musical processing, impacts sensitivity to musical emotion elicited by timbre and tonal system information. Twenty-six amusics and 26 matched controls made tension judgments on Western (familiar) and Indian (unfamiliar) melodies played on piano and sitar. Like controls, amusics used timbre cues to judge musical tension in Western and Indian melodies. While controls assigned significantly lower tension ratings to Western melodies compared to Indian melodies, thus showing a tonal familiarity effect on tension ratings, amusics provided comparable tension ratings for Western and Indian melodies on both timbres. Furthermore, amusics rated Western melodies as more tense compared to controls, as they relied less on tonality cues than controls in rating tension for Western melodies. The implications of these findings in terms of emotional responses to music are discussed.

A Neuronal Network Model for Pitch Selectivity and Representation

PubMed Central

Huang, Chengcheng; Rinzel, John

2016-01-01

Pitch is a perceptual correlate of periodicity. Sounds with distinct spectra can elicit the same pitch. Despite the importance of pitch perception, understanding the cellular mechanism of pitch perception is still a major challenge and a mechanistic model of pitch is lacking. A multi-stage neuronal network model is developed for pitch frequency estimation using biophysically-based, high-resolution coincidence detector neurons. The neuronal units respond only to highly coincident input among convergent auditory nerve fibers across frequency channels. Their selectivity for only very fast rising slopes of convergent input enables these slope-detectors to distinguish the most prominent coincidences in multi-peaked input time courses. Pitch can then be estimated from the first-order interspike intervals of the slope-detectors. The regular firing pattern of the slope-detector neurons are similar for sounds sharing the same pitch despite the distinct timbres. The decoded pitch strengths also correlate well with the salience of pitch perception as reported by human listeners. Therefore, our model can serve as a neural representation for pitch. Our model performs successfully in estimating the pitch of missing fundamental complexes and reproducing the pitch variation with respect to the frequency shift of inharmonic complexes. It also accounts for the phase sensitivity of pitch perception in the cases of Schroeder phase, alternating phase and random phase relationships. Moreover, our model can also be applied to stochastic sound stimuli, iterated-ripple-noise, and account for their multiple pitch perceptions. PMID:27378900

A Neuronal Network Model for Pitch Selectivity and Representation.

PubMed

Huang, Chengcheng; Rinzel, John

2016-01-01

Pitch is a perceptual correlate of periodicity. Sounds with distinct spectra can elicit the same pitch. Despite the importance of pitch perception, understanding the cellular mechanism of pitch perception is still a major challenge and a mechanistic model of pitch is lacking. A multi-stage neuronal network model is developed for pitch frequency estimation using biophysically-based, high-resolution coincidence detector neurons. The neuronal units respond only to highly coincident input among convergent auditory nerve fibers across frequency channels. Their selectivity for only very fast rising slopes of convergent input enables these slope-detectors to distinguish the most prominent coincidences in multi-peaked input time courses. Pitch can then be estimated from the first-order interspike intervals of the slope-detectors. The regular firing pattern of the slope-detector neurons are similar for sounds sharing the same pitch despite the distinct timbres. The decoded pitch strengths also correlate well with the salience of pitch perception as reported by human listeners. Therefore, our model can serve as a neural representation for pitch. Our model performs successfully in estimating the pitch of missing fundamental complexes and reproducing the pitch variation with respect to the frequency shift of inharmonic complexes. It also accounts for the phase sensitivity of pitch perception in the cases of Schroeder phase, alternating phase and random phase relationships. Moreover, our model can also be applied to stochastic sound stimuli, iterated-ripple-noise, and account for their multiple pitch perceptions.

MUSIC APPRECIATION AND TRAINING FOR COCHLEAR IMPLANT RECIPIENTS: A REVIEW

PubMed Central

Looi, Valerie; Gfeller, Kate; Driscoll, Virginia

2012-01-01

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in music perception of cochlear implant (CI) recipients, and a growing body of research conducted in this area. The majority of these studies have examined perceptual accuracy for pitch, rhythm, and timbre. Another important, but less commonly studied aspect of music listening is appreciation, or appraisal. Despite the ongoing research into potential technological improvements that may improve music perception for recipients, both perceptual accuracy and appreciation generally remain poor for most recipients. Whilst perceptual accuracy for music is important, appreciation and enjoyment also warrants research as it also contributes to clinical outcomes and perceived benefits. Music training is being shown to offer excellent potential for improving music perception and appreciation for recipients. Therefore, the primary topics of this review are music appreciation and training. However, a brief overview of the psychoacoustic, technical, and physiological factors associated with a recipient’s perception of music is provided, as these are important factors in understanding the listening experience for CI recipients. The purpose of this review is to summarize key papers that have investigated these issues, in order to demonstrate that i) music enjoyment and appraisal is an important and valid consideration in evaluating music outcomes for recipients, and ii) that music training can improve music listening for many recipients, and is something that can be offered to persons using current technology. PMID:23459244

Musicians show general enhancement of complex sound encoding and better inhibition of irrelevant auditory change in music: an ERP study.

PubMed

Kaganovich, Natalya; Kim, Jihyun; Herring, Caryn; Schumaker, Jennifer; Macpherson, Megan; Weber-Fox, Christine

2013-04-01

Using electrophysiology, we have examined two questions in relation to musical training - namely, whether it enhances sensory encoding of the human voice and whether it improves the ability to ignore irrelevant auditory change. Participants performed an auditory distraction task, in which they identified each sound as either short (350 ms) or long (550 ms) and ignored a change in timbre of the sounds. Sounds consisted of a male and a female voice saying a neutral sound [a], and of a cello and a French Horn playing an F3 note. In some blocks, musical sounds occurred on 80% of trials, while voice sounds on 20% of trials. In other blocks, the reverse was true. Participants heard naturally recorded sounds in half of experimental blocks and their spectrally-rotated versions in the other half. Regarding voice perception, we found that musicians had a larger N1 event-related potential component not only to vocal sounds but also to their never before heard spectrally-rotated versions. We therefore conclude that musical training is associated with a general improvement in the early neural encoding of complex sounds. Regarding the ability to ignore irrelevant auditory change, musicians' accuracy tended to suffer less from the change in timbre of the sounds, especially when deviants were musical notes. This behavioral finding was accompanied by a marginally larger re-orienting negativity in musicians, suggesting that their advantage may lie in a more efficient disengagement of attention from the distracting auditory dimension. © 2013 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Model of music cognition and amusia.

PubMed

García-Casares, N; Berthier Torres, M L; Froudist Walsh, S; González-Santos, P

2013-04-01

The study of the neural networks involved in music processing has received less attention than work researching the brain's language networks. For the last two decades there has been a growing interest in discovering the functional mechanisms of the musical brain and understanding those disorders in which brain regions linked with perception and production of music are damaged. Congenital and acquired musical deficits in their various forms (perception, execution, music-memory) are grouped together under the generic term amusia. In this selective review we present the "cutting edge" studies on the cognitive and neural processes implicated in music and the various forms of amusia. Musical processing requires a large cortico-subcortical network which is distributed throughout both cerebral hemispheres and the cerebellum. The analysis of healthy subjects using functional neuroimaging and examination of selective deficits (e.g., tone, rhythm, timbre, melodic contours) in patients will improve our knowledge of the mechanisms involved in musical processing and the latter's relationship with other cognitive processes. Copyright © 2011 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Cultural constraints on music perception and cognition.

PubMed

Morrison, Steven J; Demorest, Steven M

2009-01-01

Research suggests that music, like language, is both a biological predisposition and a cultural universal. While humans naturally attend to and process many of the psychophysical cues present in musical information, there is a great - and often culture-specific - diversity of musical practices differentiated in part by form, timbre, pitch, rhythm, and other structural elements. Musical interactions situated within a given cultural context begin to influence human responses to music as early as one year of age. Despite the world's diversity of musical cultures, the majority of research in cognitive psychology and the cognitive neuroscience of music has been conducted on subjects and stimuli from Western music cultures. From the standpoint of cognitive neuroscience, identification of fundamental cognitive and neurological processes associated with music requires ascertaining that such processes are demonstrated by listeners from a broad range of cultural backgrounds and in relation to various musics across cultural traditions. This chapter will review current research regarding the role of enculturation in music perception and cognition and the degree to which cultural influences are reflected in brain function. Exploring music cognition from the standpoint of culture will lead to a better understanding of the core processes underlying perception and how those processes give rise to the world's diversity of music forms and expressions.

Identification of musical instruments by normal-hearing subjects listening through a cochlear-implant simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reich, Rebecca D.; Eddington, Donald

2002-05-01

Signal processing in a cochlear implant (CI) is primarily designed to convey speech and environmental sounds, and can cause distortion of musical timbre. Systematic investigation of musical instrument identification through a CI has not yet revealed how timbre is affected by the implant's processing. In this experiment, the bandpass filtering, rectification, and low-pass filtering of an implant are simulated in MATLAB. Synthesized signals representing 12 common instruments, each performing a major scale, are processed by simulations using up to 8 analysis channels. The unprocessed recordings, together with the 8 simulation conditions for 12 instruments, are presented in random order to each of the subjects. The subject's task is to identify the instrument represented by each item. The subjects also subjectively score each item based on similarity and pleasantness. We anticipate performance using the simulation will be worse than the unprocessed condition because of the limited information delivered by the envelopes of the analysis channels. These results will be analyzed as a confusion matrix and provide a basis for contrasting the information used by subjects listening to the unprocessed and processed materials. Understanding these differences should aid in the development of new processing strategies to better represent music for cochlear implant users.

Timbral Sharpness and Modulations in Frequency and Amplitude: Implications for the Fusion of Musical Sounds.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goad, Pamela Joy

The fusion of musical voices is an important aspect of musical blend, or the mixing of individual sounds. Yet, little research has been done to explicitly determine the factors involved in fusion. In this study, the similarity of timbre and modulation were examined for their contribution to the fusion of sounds. It is hypothesized that similar timbres will fuse better than dissimilar timbres, and, voices with the same kind of modulation will fuse better than voices of different modulations. A perceptually-based measure, known as sharpness was investigated as a measure of timbre. The advantages of using sharpness are that it is based on hearing sensitivities and masking phenomena of inner ear processing. Five musical instrument families were digitally recorded in performances across a typical playing range at two extreme dynamic levels. Analyses reveal that sharpness is capable of uncovering subtle changes in timbre including those found in musical dynamics, instrument design, and performer-specific variations. While these analyses alone are insufficient to address fusion, preliminary calculations of timbral combinations indicate that sharpness has the potential to predict the fusion of sounds used in musical composition. Three experiments investigated the effects of modulation on the fusion of a harmonic major sixth interval. In the first experiment using frequency modulation, stimuli varied in deviation about a mean fundamental frequency and relative modulation phase between the two tones. Results showed smaller frequency deviations promoted fusion and relative phase differences had a minimal effect. In a second experiment using amplitude modulation, stimuli varied in deviation about a mean amplitude level and relative phase of modulation. Results showed smaller amplitude deviations promoted better fusion, but unlike frequency modulation, relative phase differences were also important. In a third experiment, frequency modulation, amplitude modulation and mixed modulation were arranged in all possible voicings. Results showed frequency modulation in the lower voice and less variance in amplitude envelopes contributed to an increase in fusion. The theory that similar modulations would promote better fusion was only marginally supported. For these experiments, results revealed differences depending on modulation type and that a lesser amount of modulation fosters greater fusion.

Pitch Adaptation Patterns in Bimodal Cochlear Implant Users: Over Time and After Experience

PubMed Central

Reiss, Lina A.J.; Ito, Rindy A.; Eggleston, Jessica L.; Liao, Selena; Becker, Jillian J.; Lakin, Carrie E.; Warren, Frank M.; McMenomey, Sean O.

2014-01-01

Background Pitch plasticity has been observed in Hybrid cochlear implant (CI) users. Does pitch plasticity also occur in bimodal CI users with traditional long-electrode CIs, and is pitch adaptation pattern associated with electrode discrimination or speech recognition performance? Objective Characterize pitch adaptation patterns in long-electrode CI users, correlate these patterns with electrode discrimination and speech perception outcomes, and analyze which subject factors are associated with the different patterns. Methods Electric-to-acoustic pitch matches were obtained in 19 subjects over time from CI activation to at least 12 months after activation, and in a separate group of 18 subjects in a single visit after at least 24 months of CI experience. Audiometric thresholds, electrode discrimination performance, and speech perception scores were also measured. Results Subjects measured over time had pitch adaptation patterns that fit one of the following categories: 1) “Pitch-adapting”, i.e. the mismatch between perceived electrode pitch and the corresponding frequency-to-electrode allocations decreased; 2) “Pitch-dropping”, i.e. the pitches of multiple electrodes dropped and converged to a similar low pitch; 3) “Pitch-unchanging”, i.e. electrode pitches did not change. Subjects measured after CI experience had a parallel set of adaptation patterns: 1) “Matched-pitch”, i.e. the electrode pitch was matched to the frequency allocation; 2) “Low-pitch”, i.e. the pitches of multiple electrodes were all around the lowest frequency allocation; 3) “Nonmatched-pitch”, i.e. the pitch patterns were compressed relative to the frequency allocations and did not fit either the matched-pitch or low-pitch categories. Unlike Hybrid CI users which were mostly in the pitch-adapting/matched-pitch category, the majority of bimodal CI users were in the latter two categories, pitch-dropping/low-pitch or pitch-unchanging/nonmatched-pitch. Subjects with pitch-adapting or matched-pitch patterns tended to have better low-frequency thresholds than subjects in the latter categories. Changes in electrode discrimination over time were not associated with changes in pitch differences between electrodes. Reductions in speech perception scores over time showed a weak but nonsignificant association with dropping-pitch patterns. Conclusions Bimodal CI users with more residual hearing may have somewhat greater similarity to Hybrid CI users and be more likely to adapt pitch perception to reduce mismatch with the frequencies allocated to the electrodes and the acoustic hearing. In contrast, bimodal CI users with less residual hearing exhibit either no adaptation, or surprisingly, a third pattern in which the pitches of the basal electrodes drop to match the frequency range allocated to the most apical electrode. The lack of association of electrode discrimination changes with pitch changes suggests that electrode discrimination does not depend on perceived pitch differences between electrodes, but rather on some other characteristics such as timbre. In contrast, speech perception may depend more on pitch perception and the ability to distinguish pitch between electrodes, especially since during multi-electrode stimulation, cues such as timbre may be less useful for discrimination. PMID:25319401

Resonance strategies used in Bulgarian women's singing style: a pilot study.

PubMed

Henrich, Nathalie; Kiek, Mara; Smith, John; Wolfe, Joe

2007-01-01

Are the characteristic timbre and loudness of Bulgarian women's singing related to tuning of resonances of the vocal tract? We studied an Australian female singer, who practises and teaches Bulgarian singing technique. Two different vocal qualities of this style were studied. The louder teshka is characterized by a sonorous voice production. The less loud leka has a smoother timbre that is closer to that of the head voice register. Six vowels in each of teshka, leka and the subject's 'normal' (i.e. Western rather than Bulgarian) style were studied. The acoustic resonances of the singer's vocal tract were measured directly during singing by injecting a synthesized, broad-band acoustic current. This singer does not use resonance tuning consistently in her classical Western style. However, in both teshka and leka, she tunes the first tract resonance close to the second harmonic of the voice for most vowels. This tuning boosts the power output in the radiation field for that harmonic. This tuning also contributes to the very strong second harmonic which is a characteristic of the timbre identified as the Bulgarian style.

A Follow-Up Study on Music and Lexical Tone Perception in Adult Mandarin-Speaking Cochlear Implant Users.

PubMed

Gu, Xin; Liu, Bo; Liu, Ziye; Qi, Beier; Wang, Shuo; Dong, Ruijuan; Chen, Xueqing; Zhou, Qian

2017-12-01

The aim was to evaluate the development of music and lexical tone perception in Mandarin-speaking adult cochlear implant (CI) users over a period of 1 year. Prospective patient series. Tertiary hospital and research institute. Twenty five adult CI users, with ages ranging from 19 to 75 years old, participated in a year-long follow-up evaluation. There were also 40 normal hearing adult subjects who participated as a control group to provide the normal value range. Musical sounds in cochlear implants (Mu.S.I.C.) test battery was undertaken to evaluate music perception ability. Mandarin Tone Identification in Noise Test (M-TINT) was used to assess lexical tone recognition. The tests for CI users were completed at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after the CI switch-on. Quantitative and statistical analysis of their results from music and tone perception tests. The performance of music perception and tone recognition both demonstrated an overall improvement in outcomes during the entire 1-year follow-up process. The increasing trends were obvious in the early period especially in the first 6 months after switch-on. There was a significant improvement in the melody discrimination (p < 0.01), timbre identification (p < 0.001), tone recognition in quiet (p < 0.0001), and in noise (p < 0.0001). Adult Mandarin-speaking CI users show an increasingly improved performance on music and tone perception during the 1-year follow-up. The improvement was the most prominent in the first 6 months of CI use. It is essential to strengthen the rehabilitation training within the first 6 months.

The Effects of Musician's Earplugs on Acoustic and Perceptual Measures of Choral and Solo Sound.

PubMed

Cook-Cunningham, Sheri L

2017-10-25

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the effects of earplugs on acoustical and perceptual measures of choral and solo sound. The researcher tested the effects of musician's earplugs on choral and solo timbre and singer perceptions. Members of an intact women's university choir recorded Dona Nobis Pacem under two conditions, no earplugs and with earplugs over time. Approximately half of the choir members also participated as soloists, recording Over the Rainbow under the same two conditions. All recordings were analyzed using long-term average spectra (LTAS). After participating in each recording session, the participants responded to a questionnaire about ability to hear self (solo and choral context) and ability to hear others (choral context) under two conditions, no earplugs and with earplugs. LTAS results revealed that wearing earplugs in a choral setting caused decreased mean signal energy (>1 dB), resulting in less resonant singing. LTAS results also indicated that wearing earplugs in a solo setting had less effect on mean signal energy, resulting in a mean difference <1 dB in 3 of the 4 weeks studied. Singer questionnaire responses showed that wearing earplugs had a greater effect on participants' ability to hear others than it did on their ability to hear themselves. In the context of this study, it seems that wearing earplugs had more effect on timbre and the ability to receive sufficient auditory feedback in a choral setting than it did in a solo setting. Findings from this study could provide important information when structuring hearing conservation strategies. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

What is a melody? On the relationship between pitch and brightness of timbre.

PubMed

Cousineau, Marion; Carcagno, Samuele; Demany, Laurent; Pressnitzer, Daniel

2013-01-01

Previous studies showed that the perceptual processing of sound sequences is more efficient when the sounds vary in pitch than when they vary in loudness. We show here that sequences of sounds varying in brightness of timbre are processed with the same efficiency as pitch sequences. The sounds used consisted of two simultaneous pure tones one octave apart, and the listeners' task was to make same/different judgments on pairs of sequences varying in length (one, two, or four sounds). In one condition, brightness of timbre was varied within the sequences by changing the relative level of the two pure tones. In other conditions, pitch was varied by changing fundamental frequency, or loudness was varied by changing the overall level. In all conditions, only two possible sounds could be used in a given sequence, and these two sounds were equally discriminable. When sequence length increased from one to four, discrimination performance decreased substantially for loudness sequences, but to a smaller extent for brightness sequences and pitch sequences. In the latter two conditions, sequence length had a similar effect on performance. These results suggest that the processes dedicated to pitch and brightness analysis, when probed with a sequence-discrimination task, share unexpected similarities.

Updating and feature overwriting in short-term memory for timbre.

PubMed

Mercer, Tom; McKeown, Denis

2010-11-01

Previous research has demonstrated a potent, stimulus-specific form of interference in short-term auditory memory. This effect has been interpreted in terms of interitem confusion and grouping, but the present experiments suggested that interference might be a feature-specific phenomenon. Participants compared standard and comparison tones over a 10-sec interval and were required to determine whether they differed in timbre. A single interfering distractor tone was presented either 50 msec or 8 sec after the offset of the standard (Experiment 1) or 2 sec prior to its onset (Experiment 2). The distractor varied in the number of features it shared with the standard and comparison, and this proved critical, since performance on the task was greatly impaired when the distractor either consisted of novel, unshared features (Experiment 1) or contained the distinguishing feature of the comparison tone (Experiments 1 and 2). These findings were incompatible with earlier accounts of forgetting but were fully explicable by the recent timbre memory model, which associates interference in short-term auditory memory with an "updating" process and feature overwriting. These results suggest similarities with the mechanisms that underlie forgetting in verbal short-term memory.

Measuring the Evolution of Contemporary Western Popular Music

PubMed Central

Serrà, Joan; Corral, Álvaro; Boguñá, Marián; Haro, Martín; Arcos, Josep Ll.

2012-01-01

Popular music is a key cultural expression that has captured listeners' attention for ages. Many of the structural regularities underlying musical discourse are yet to be discovered and, accordingly, their historical evolution remains formally unknown. Here we unveil a number of patterns and metrics characterizing the generic usage of primary musical facets such as pitch, timbre, and loudness in contemporary western popular music. Many of these patterns and metrics have been consistently stable for a period of more than fifty years. However, we prove important changes or trends related to the restriction of pitch transitions, the homogenization of the timbral palette, and the growing loudness levels. This suggests that our perception of the new would be rooted on these changing characteristics. Hence, an old tune could perfectly sound novel and fashionable, provided that it consisted of common harmonic progressions, changed the instrumentation, and increased the average loudness. PMID:22837813

Measuring the Evolution of Contemporary Western Popular Music

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Serrà, Joan; Corral, Álvaro; Boguñá, Marián; Haro, Martín; Arcos, Josep Ll.

2012-07-01

Popular music is a key cultural expression that has captured listeners' attention for ages. Many of the structural regularities underlying musical discourse are yet to be discovered and, accordingly, their historical evolution remains formally unknown. Here we unveil a number of patterns and metrics characterizing the generic usage of primary musical facets such as pitch, timbre, and loudness in contemporary western popular music. Many of these patterns and metrics have been consistently stable for a period of more than fifty years. However, we prove important changes or trends related to the restriction of pitch transitions, the homogenization of the timbral palette, and the growing loudness levels. This suggests that our perception of the new would be rooted on these changing characteristics. Hence, an old tune could perfectly sound novel and fashionable, provided that it consisted of common harmonic progressions, changed the instrumentation, and increased the average loudness.

Measuring the evolution of contemporary western popular music.

PubMed

Serrà, Joan; Corral, Alvaro; Boguñá, Marián; Haro, Martín; Arcos, Josep Ll

2012-01-01

Popular music is a key cultural expression that has captured listeners' attention for ages. Many of the structural regularities underlying musical discourse are yet to be discovered and, accordingly, their historical evolution remains formally unknown. Here we unveil a number of patterns and metrics characterizing the generic usage of primary musical facets such as pitch, timbre, and loudness in contemporary western popular music. Many of these patterns and metrics have been consistently stable for a period of more than fifty years. However, we prove important changes or trends related to the restriction of pitch transitions, the homogenization of the timbral palette, and the growing loudness levels. This suggests that our perception of the new would be rooted on these changing characteristics. Hence, an old tune could perfectly sound novel and fashionable, provided that it consisted of common harmonic progressions, changed the instrumentation, and increased the average loudness.

Dimensions of vehicle sounds perception.

PubMed

Wagner, Verena; Kallus, K Wolfgang; Foehl, Ulrich

2017-10-01

Vehicle sounds play an important role concerning customer satisfaction and can show another differentiating factor of brands. With an online survey of 1762 German and American customers, the requirement characteristics of high-quality vehicle sounds were determined. On the basis of these characteristics, a requirement profile was generated for every analyzed sound. These profiles were investigated in a second study with 78 customers using real vehicles. The assessment results of the vehicle sounds can be represented using the dimensions "timbre", "loudness", and "roughness/sharpness". The comparison of the requirement profiles and the assessment results show that the sounds which are perceived as pleasant and high-quality, more often correspond to the requirement profile. High-quality sounds are characterized by the fact that they are rather gentle, soft and reserved, rich, a bit dark and not too rough. For those sounds which are assessed worse by the customers, recommendations for improvements can be derived. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effect of time-variant acoustical properties on orchestral instrument timbres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hajda, John Michael

1999-06-01

The goal of this study was to investigate the timbre of orchestral instrument tones. Kendall (1986) showed that time-variant features are important to instrument categorization. But the relative salience of specific time-variant features to each other and to other acoustical parameters is not known. As part of a convergence strategy, a battery of experiments was conducted to assess the importance of global amplitude envelope, spectral frequencies, and spectral amplitudes. An omnibus identification experiment investigated the salience of global envelope partitions (attack, steady state, and decay). Valid partitioning models should identify important boundary conditions in the evolution of a signal; therefore, these models should be based on signal characteristics. With the use of such a model for sustained continuant tones, the steady-state segment was more salient than the attack. These findings contradicted previous research, which used questionable operational definitions for signal partitioning. For the next set of experiments, instrument tones were analyzed by phase vocoder, and stimuli were created by additive synthesis. Edits and combinations of edits controlled global amplitude envelope, spectral frequencies, and relative spectral amplitudes. Perceptual measurements were made with distance estimation, Verbal Attribute Magnitude Estimation, and similarity scaling. Results indicated that the primary acoustical attribute was the long-time-average spectral centroid. Spectral centroid is a measure of the center of energy distribution for spectral frequency components. Instruments with high values of spectral centroid (bowed strings) sound nasal while instruments with low spectral centroid (flute, clarinet) sound not nasal. The secondary acoustical attribute was spectral amplitude time variance. Predictably, time variance correlated highly with subject ratings of vibrato. The control of relative spectral amplitudes was more salient than the control of global envelope and spectral frequencies. Both amplitude phase relationships and time- variant spectral centroid were affected by the control of relative spectral amplitudes. Further experimentation is required to determine the salience of these features. The finding that instrumental vibrato is a manifestation of spectral amplitude time variance contradicts the common belief that vibrato is due to frequency (pitch) and intensity (loudness) modulation. This study suggests that vibrato is due to a periodic modulation in timbre. Future research should employ musical contexts.

Music Perception in Dementia.

PubMed

Golden, Hannah L; Clark, Camilla N; Nicholas, Jennifer M; Cohen, Miriam H; Slattery, Catherine F; Paterson, Ross W; Foulkes, Alexander J M; Schott, Jonathan M; Mummery, Catherine J; Crutch, Sebastian J; Warren, Jason D

2017-01-01

Despite much recent interest in music and dementia, music perception has not been widely studied across dementia syndromes using an information processing approach. Here we addressed this issue in a cohort of 30 patients representing major dementia syndromes of typical Alzheimer's disease (AD, n = 16), logopenic aphasia (LPA, an Alzheimer variant syndrome; n = 5), and progressive nonfluent aphasia (PNFA; n = 9) in relation to 19 healthy age-matched individuals. We designed a novel neuropsychological battery to assess perception of musical patterns in the dimensions of pitch and temporal information (requiring detection of notes that deviated from the established pattern based on local or global sequence features) and musical scene analysis (requiring detection of a familiar tune within polyphonic harmony). Performance on these tests was referenced to generic auditory (timbral) deviance detection and recognition of familiar tunes and adjusted for general auditory working memory performance. Relative to healthy controls, patients with AD and LPA had group-level deficits of global pitch (melody contour) processing while patients with PNFA as a group had deficits of local (interval) as well as global pitch processing. There was substantial individual variation within syndromic groups. Taking working memory performance into account, no specific deficits of musical temporal processing, timbre processing, musical scene analysis, or tune recognition were identified. The findings suggest that particular aspects of music perception such as pitch pattern analysis may open a window on the processing of information streams in major dementia syndromes. The potential selectivity of musical deficits for particular dementia syndromes and particular dimensions of processing warrants further systematic investigation.

What is a melody? On the relationship between pitch and brightness of timbre

PubMed Central

Cousineau, Marion; Carcagno, Samuele; Demany, Laurent; Pressnitzer, Daniel

2014-01-01

Previous studies showed that the perceptual processing of sound sequences is more efficient when the sounds vary in pitch than when they vary in loudness. We show here that sequences of sounds varying in brightness of timbre are processed with the same efficiency as pitch sequences. The sounds used consisted of two simultaneous pure tones one octave apart, and the listeners’ task was to make same/different judgments on pairs of sequences varying in length (one, two, or four sounds). In one condition, brightness of timbre was varied within the sequences by changing the relative level of the two pure tones. In other conditions, pitch was varied by changing fundamental frequency, or loudness was varied by changing the overall level. In all conditions, only two possible sounds could be used in a given sequence, and these two sounds were equally discriminable. When sequence length increased from one to four, discrimination performance decreased substantially for loudness sequences, but to a smaller extent for brightness sequences and pitch sequences. In the latter two conditions, sequence length had a similar effect on performance. These results suggest that the processes dedicated to pitch and brightness analysis, when probed with a sequence-discrimination task, share unexpected similarities. PMID:24478638

Acoustic passaggio pedagogy for the male voice.

PubMed

Bozeman, Kenneth Wood

2013-07-01

Awareness of interactions between the lower harmonics of the voice source and the first formant of the vocal tract, and of the passive vowel modifications that accompany them, can assist in working out a smooth transition through the passaggio of the male voice. A stable vocal tract length establishes the general location of all formants, including the higher formants that form the singer's formant cluster. Untrained males instinctively shorten the tube to preserve the strong F1/H2 acoustic coupling of voce aperta, resulting in 'yell' timbre. If tube length and shape are kept stable during pitch ascent, the yell can be avoided by allowing the second harmonic to rise above the first formant, creating the balanced timbre of voce chiusa.

Singing ability is rooted in vocal-motor control of pitch.

PubMed

Hutchins, Sean; Larrouy-Maestri, Pauline; Peretz, Isabelle

2014-11-01

The inability to vocally match a pitch can be caused by poor pitch perception or by poor vocal-motor control. Although previous studies have tried to examine the relationship between pitch perception and vocal production, they have failed to control for the timbre of the target to be matched. In the present study, we compare pitch-matching accuracy with an unfamiliar instrument (the slider) and with the voice, designed such that the slider plays back recordings of the participant's own voice. We also measured pitch accuracy in singing a familiar melody ("Happy Birthday") to assess the relationship between single-pitch-matching tasks and melodic singing. Our results showed that participants (all nonmusicians) were significantly better at matching recordings of their own voices with the slider than with their voice, indicating that vocal-motor control is an important limiting factor on singing ability. We also found significant correlations between the ability to sing a melody in tune and vocal pitch matching, but not pitch matching on the slider. Better melodic singers also tended to have higher quality voices (as measured by acoustic variables). These results provide important evidence about the role of vocal-motor control in poor singing ability and demonstrate that single-pitch-matching tasks can be useful in measuring general singing abilities.

Developing a music programme for preschool children with cochlear implants.

PubMed

Koşaner, Julie; Kilinc, Aynur; Deniz, Murat

2012-11-01

Although music perception is especially challenging for cochlear implant (CI) users, young CI users' musical perception abilities are improved by participation in structured musical activities. To design, implement, evaluate, and publish a music training programme with a monitoring tool for preschool CI users, for use in family-centred habilitation programmes. We devised a programme of musical activities, Musical EARS®, and a curriculum-related hierarchical Evaluation Form to represent performance. The programme included sections on singing; recognizing songs, tunes, and timbre; and responding appropriately to music and rhythm. It was implemented over 18 months at Ilkses Rehabilitation Centre, with 25 paediatric MED-EL CI users split into three groups of varying age, duration of CI use, and ability. Mean total scores increased significantly for all groups. Scores increased unevenly across subscales. Participation in and enjoyment of musical activities increased for both children and parents. Significant correlations were found between scores and length of CI use. The training programme effectively enriches child CI users' musical experience. To varying degrees, children learned to perform the Musical EARS® activities. The study allowed us to validate the lesson content and the hierarchical nature of the Evaluation Form. We conclude that prelingually deafened CI users should be systematically involved in musical activities to help them acquire skills acquired more easily by hearing peers.

Effect of musical training on static and dynamic measures of spectral-pattern discrimination.

PubMed

Sheft, Stanley; Smayda, Kirsten; Shafiro, Valeriy; Maddox, W Todd; Chandrasekaran, Bharath

2013-06-01

Both behavioral and physiological studies have demonstrated enhanced processing of speech in challenging listening environments attributable to musical training. The relationship, however, of this benefit to auditory abilities as assessed by psychoacoustic measures remains unclear. Using tasks previously shown to relate to speech-in-noise perception, the present study evaluated discrimination ability for static and dynamic spectral patterns by 49 listeners grouped as either musicians or nonmusicians. The two static conditions measured the ability to detect a change in the phase of a logarithmic sinusoidal spectral ripple of wideband noise with ripple densities of 1.5 and 3.0 cycles per octave chosen to emphasize either timbre or pitch distinctions, respectively. The dynamic conditions assessed temporal-pattern discrimination of 1-kHz pure tones frequency modulated by different lowpass noise samples with thresholds estimated in terms of either stimulus duration or signal-to-noise ratio. Musicians performed significantly better than nonmusicians on all four tasks. Discriminant analysis showed that group membership was correctly predicted for 88% of the listeners with the structure coefficient of each measure greater than 0.51. Results suggest that enhanced processing of static and dynamic spectral patterns defined by low-rate modulation may contribute to the relationship between musical training and speech-in-noise perception. [Supported by NIH.].

Global Sensory Qualities and Aesthetic Experience in Music.

PubMed

Brattico, Pauli; Brattico, Elvira; Vuust, Peter

2017-01-01

A well-known tradition in the study of visual aesthetics holds that the experience of visual beauty is grounded in global computational or statistical properties of the stimulus, for example, scale-invariant Fourier spectrum or self-similarity. Some approaches rely on neural mechanisms, such as efficient computation, processing fluency, or the responsiveness of the cells in the primary visual cortex. These proposals are united by the fact that the contributing factors are hypothesized to be global (i.e., they concern the percept as a whole), formal or non-conceptual (i.e., they concern form instead of content), computational and/or statistical, and based on relatively low-level sensory properties. Here we consider that the study of aesthetic responses to music could benefit from the same approach. Thus, along with local features such as pitch, tuning, consonance/dissonance, harmony, timbre, or beat, also global sonic properties could be viewed as contributing toward creating an aesthetic musical experience. Several such properties are discussed and their neural implementation is reviewed in the light of recent advances in neuroaesthetics.

Absolute Pitch: Effects of Timbre on Note-Naming Ability

PubMed Central

Vanzella, Patrícia; Schellenberg, E. Glenn

2010-01-01

Background Absolute pitch (AP) is the ability to identify or produce isolated musical tones. It is evident primarily among individuals who started music lessons in early childhood. Because AP requires memory for specific pitches as well as learned associations with verbal labels (i.e., note names), it represents a unique opportunity to study interactions in memory between linguistic and nonlinguistic information. One untested hypothesis is that the pitch of voices may be difficult for AP possessors to identify. A musician's first instrument may also affect performance and extend the sensitive period for acquiring accurate AP. Methods/Principal Findings A large sample of AP possessors was recruited on-line. Participants were required to identity test tones presented in four different timbres: piano, pure tone, natural (sung) voice, and synthesized voice. Note-naming accuracy was better for non-vocal (piano and pure tones) than for vocal (natural and synthesized voices) test tones. This difference could not be attributed solely to vibrato (pitch variation), which was more pronounced in the natural voice than in the synthesized voice. Although starting music lessons by age 7 was associated with enhanced note-naming accuracy, equivalent abilities were evident among listeners who started music lessons on piano at a later age. Conclusions/Significance Because the human voice is inextricably linked to language and meaning, it may be processed automatically by voice-specific mechanisms that interfere with note naming among AP possessors. Lessons on piano or other fixed-pitch instruments appear to enhance AP abilities and to extend the sensitive period for exposure to music in order to develop accurate AP. PMID:21085598

The effects of musical and linguistic components in recognition of real-world musical excerpts by cochlear implant recipients and normal-hearing adults.

PubMed

Gfeller, Kate; Jiang, Dingfeng; Oleson, Jacob J; Driscoll, Virginia; Olszewski, Carol; Knutson, John F; Turner, Christopher; Gantz, Bruce

2012-01-01

Cochlear implants (CI) are effective in transmitting salient features of speech, especially in quiet, but current CI technology is not well suited in transmission of key musical structures (e.g., melody, timbre). It is possible, however, that sung lyrics, which are commonly heard in real-world music may provide acoustical cues that support better music perception. The purpose of this study was to examine how accurately adults who use CIs (n = 87) and those with normal hearing (NH) (n = 17) are able to recognize real-world music excerpts based upon musical and linguistic (lyrics) cues. CI recipients were significantly less accurate than NH listeners on recognition of real-world music with or, in particular, without lyrics; however, CI recipients whose devices transmitted acoustic plus electric stimulation were more accurate than CI recipients reliant upon electric stimulation alone (particularly items without linguistic cues). Recognition by CI recipients improved as a function of linguistic cues. Participants were tested on melody recognition of complex melodies (pop, country, & classical styles). Results were analyzed as a function of: hearing status and history, device type (electric only or acoustic plus electric stimulation), musical style, linguistic and musical cues, speech perception scores, cognitive processing, music background, age, and in relation to self-report on listening acuity and enjoyment. Age at time of testing was negatively correlated with recognition performance. These results have practical implications regarding successful participation of CI users in music-based activities that include recognition and accurate perception of real-world songs (e.g., reminiscence, lyric analysis, & listening for enjoyment).

Higuchi’s Method applied to detection of changes in timbre of digital sound synthesis of string instruments with the functional transformation method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanjanapen, Manorth; Kunsombat, Cherdsak; Chiangga, Surasak

2017-09-01

The functional transformation method (FTM) is a powerful tool for detailed investigation of digital sound synthesis by the physical modeling method, the resulting sound or measured vibrational characteristics at discretized points on real instruments directly solves the underlying physical effect of partial differential equation (PDE). In this paper, we present the Higuchi’s method to examine the difference between the timbre of tone and estimate fractal dimension of musical signals which contains information about their geometrical structure that synthesizes by FTM. With the Higuchi’s method we obtain the whole process is not complicated, fast processing, with the ease of analysis without expertise in the physics or virtuoso musicians and the easiest way for the common people can judge that sounds similarly presented.

Pitch expertise is not created equal: Cross-domain effects of musicianship and tone language experience on neural and behavioural discrimination of speech and music.

PubMed

Hutka, Stefanie; Bidelman, Gavin M; Moreno, Sylvain

2015-05-01

Psychophysiological evidence supports a music-language association, such that experience in one domain can impact processing required in the other domain. We investigated the bidirectionality of this association by measuring event-related potentials (ERPs) in native English-speaking musicians, native tone language (Cantonese) nonmusicians, and native English-speaking nonmusician controls. We tested the degree to which pitch expertise stemming from musicianship or tone language experience similarly enhances the neural encoding of auditory information necessary for speech and music processing. Early cortical discriminatory processing for music and speech sounds was characterized using the mismatch negativity (MMN). Stimuli included 'large deviant' and 'small deviant' pairs of sounds that differed minimally in pitch (fundamental frequency, F0; contrastive musical tones) or timbre (first formant, F1; contrastive speech vowels). Behavioural F0 and F1 difference limen tasks probed listeners' perceptual acuity for these same acoustic features. Musicians and Cantonese speakers performed comparably in pitch discrimination; only musicians showed an additional advantage on timbre discrimination performance and an enhanced MMN responses to both music and speech. Cantonese language experience was not associated with enhancements on neural measures, despite enhanced behavioural pitch acuity. These data suggest that while both musicianship and tone language experience enhance some aspects of auditory acuity (behavioural pitch discrimination), musicianship confers farther-reaching enhancements to auditory function, tuning both pitch and timbre-related brain processes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lower Vocal Tract Morphologic Adjustments Are Relevant for Voice Timbre in Singing.

PubMed

Mainka, Alexander; Poznyakovskiy, Anton; Platzek, Ivan; Fleischer, Mario; Sundberg, Johan; Mürbe, Dirk

2015-01-01

The vocal tract shape is crucial to voice production. Its lower part seems particularly relevant for voice timbre. This study analyzes the detailed morphology of parts of the epilaryngeal tube and the hypopharynx for the sustained German vowels /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/ by thirteen male singer subjects who were at the beginning of their academic singing studies. Analysis was based on two different phonatory conditions: a natural, speech-like phonation and a singing phonation, like in classical singing. 3D models of the vocal tract were derived from magnetic resonance imaging and compared with long-term average spectrum analysis of audio recordings from the same subjects. Comparison of singing to the speech-like phonation, which served as reference, showed significant adjustments of the lower vocal tract: an average lowering of the larynx by 8 mm and an increase of the hypopharyngeal cross-sectional area (+ 21:9%) and volume (+ 16:8%). Changes in the analyzed epilaryngeal portion of the vocal tract were not significant. Consequently, lower larynx-to-hypopharynx area and volume ratios were found in singing compared to the speech-like phonation. All evaluated measures of the lower vocal tract varied significantly with vowel quality. Acoustically, an increase of high frequency energy in singing correlated with a wider hypopharyngeal area. The findings offer an explanation how classical male singers might succeed in producing a voice timbre with increased high frequency energy, creating a singer`s formant cluster.

Lower Vocal Tract Morphologic Adjustments Are Relevant for Voice Timbre in Singing

PubMed Central

Mainka, Alexander; Poznyakovskiy, Anton; Platzek, Ivan; Fleischer, Mario; Sundberg, Johan; Mürbe, Dirk

2015-01-01

The vocal tract shape is crucial to voice production. Its lower part seems particularly relevant for voice timbre. This study analyzes the detailed morphology of parts of the epilaryngeal tube and the hypopharynx for the sustained German vowels /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/ by thirteen male singer subjects who were at the beginning of their academic singing studies. Analysis was based on two different phonatory conditions: a natural, speech-like phonation and a singing phonation, like in classical singing. 3D models of the vocal tract were derived from magnetic resonance imaging and compared with long-term average spectrum analysis of audio recordings from the same subjects. Comparison of singing to the speech-like phonation, which served as reference, showed significant adjustments of the lower vocal tract: an average lowering of the larynx by 8 mm and an increase of the hypopharyngeal cross-sectional area (+ 21.9%) and volume (+ 16.8%). Changes in the analyzed epilaryngeal portion of the vocal tract were not significant. Consequently, lower larynx-to-hypopharynx area and volume ratios were found in singing compared to the speech-like phonation. All evaluated measures of the lower vocal tract varied significantly with vowel quality. Acoustically, an increase of high frequency energy in singing correlated with a wider hypopharyngeal area. The findings offer an explanation how classical male singers might succeed in producing a voice timbre with increased high frequency energy, creating a singer‘s formant cluster. PMID:26186691

A preliminary report of music-based training for adult cochlear implant users: Rationales and development.

PubMed

Gfeller, Kate; Guthe, Emily; Driscoll, Virginia; Brown, Carolyn J

2015-09-01

This paper provides a preliminary report of a music-based training program for adult cochlear implant (CI) recipients. Included in this report are descriptions of the rationale for music-based training, factors influencing program development, and the resulting program components. Prior studies describing experience-based plasticity in response to music training, auditory training for persons with hearing impairment, and music training for CI recipients were reviewed. These sources revealed rationales for using music to enhance speech, factors associated with successful auditory training, relevant aspects of electric hearing and music perception, and extant evidence regarding limitations and advantages associated with parameters for music training with CI users. This informed the development of a computer-based music training program designed specifically for adult CI users. Principles and parameters for perceptual training of music, such as stimulus choice, rehabilitation approach, and motivational concerns were developed in relation to the unique auditory characteristics of adults with electric hearing. An outline of the resulting program components and the outcome measures for evaluating program effectiveness are presented. Music training can enhance the perceptual accuracy of music, but is also hypothesized to enhance several features of speech with similar processing requirements as music (e.g., pitch and timbre). However, additional evaluation of specific training parameters and the impact of music-based training on speech perception of CI users is required.

A preliminary report of music-based training for adult cochlear implant users: rationales and development

PubMed Central

Gfeller, Kate; Guthe, Emily; Driscoll, Virginia; Brown, Carolyn J.

2015-01-01

Objective This paper provides a preliminary report of a music-based training program for adult cochlear implant (CI) recipients. Included in this report are descriptions of the rationale for music-based training, factors influencing program development, and the resulting program components. Methods Prior studies describing experience-based plasticity in response to music training, auditory training for persons with hearing impairment, and music training for cochlear implant recipients were reviewed. These sources revealed rationales for using music to enhance speech, factors associated with successful auditory training, relevant aspects of electric hearing and music perception, and extant evidence regarding limitations and advantages associated with parameters for music training with CI users. This information formed the development of a computer-based music training program designed specifically for adult CI users. Results Principles and parameters for perceptual training of music, such as stimulus choice, rehabilitation approach, and motivational concerns were developed in relation to the unique auditory characteristics of adults with electric hearing. An outline of the resulting program components and the outcome measures for evaluating program effectiveness are presented. Conclusions Music training can enhance the perceptual accuracy of music, but is also hypothesized to enhance several features of speech with similar processing requirements as music (e.g., pitch and timbre). However, additional evaluation of specific training parameters and the impact of music-based training on speech perception of CI users are required. PMID:26561884

Music therapy as specific and complementary training for adults after cochlear implantation: A pilot study.

PubMed

Hutter, E; Argstatter, H; Grapp, M; Plinkert, P K

2015-09-01

Although cochlear implant (CI) users achieve good speech comprehension, they experience difficulty perceiving music and prosody in speech. As the provision of music training in rehabilitation is limited, a novel concept of music therapy for rehabilitation of adult CI users was developed and evaluated in this pilot study. Twelve unilaterally implanted, postlingually deafened CI users attended ten sessions of individualized and standardized training. The training started about 6 weeks after the initial activation of the speech processor. Before and after therapy, psychological and musical tests were applied in order to evaluate the effects of music therapy. CI users completed the musical tests in two conditions: bilateral (CI + contralateral, unimplanted ear) and unilateral (CI only). After therapy, improvements were observed in the subjective sound quality (Hearing Implant Sound Quality Index) and the global score on the self-concept questionnaire (Multidimensional Self-Concept Scales) as well as in the musical subtests for melody recognition and for timbre identification in the unilateral condition. Discussion Preliminary results suggest improvements in subjective hearing and music perception, with an additional increase in global self-concept and enhanced daily listening capacities. The novel concept of individualized music therapy seems to provide an effective treatment option in the rehabilitation of adult CI users. Further investigations are necessary to evaluate effects in the area of prosody perception and to separate therapy effects from general learning effects in CI rehabilitation.

The Effects of Musical and Linguistic Components in Recognition of Real-World Musical Excerpts by Cochlear Implant Recipients and Normal-Hearing Adults

PubMed Central

Gfeller, Kate; Jiang, Dingfeng; Oleson, Jacob; Driscoll, Virginia; Olszewski, Carol; Knutson, John F.; Turner, Christopher; Gantz, Bruce

2011-01-01

Background Cochlear implants (CI) are effective in transmitting salient features of speech, especially in quiet, but current CI technology is not well suited in transmission of key musical structures (e.g., melody, timbre). It is possible, however, that sung lyrics, which are commonly heard in real-world music may provide acoustical cues that support better music perception. Objective The purpose of this study was to examine how accurately adults who use CIs (n=87) and those with normal hearing (NH) (n=17) are able to recognize real-world music excerpts based upon musical and linguistic (lyrics) cues. Results CI recipients were significantly less accurate than NH listeners on recognition of real-world music with or, in particular, without lyrics; however, CI recipients whose devices transmitted acoustic plus electric stimulation were more accurate than CI recipients reliant upon electric stimulation alone (particularly items without linguistic cues). Recognition by CI recipients improved as a function of linguistic cues. Methods Participants were tested on melody recognition of complex melodies (pop, country, classical styles). Results were analyzed as a function of: hearing status and history, device type (electric only or acoustic plus electric stimulation), musical style, linguistic and musical cues, speech perception scores, cognitive processing, music background, age, and in relation to self-report on listening acuity and enjoyment. Age at time of testing was negatively correlated with recognition performance. Conclusions These results have practical implications regarding successful participation of CI users in music-based activities that include recognition and accurate perception of real-world songs (e.g., reminiscence, lyric analysis, listening for enjoyment). PMID:22803258

Global Sensory Qualities and Aesthetic Experience in Music

PubMed Central

Brattico, Pauli; Brattico, Elvira; Vuust, Peter

2017-01-01

A well-known tradition in the study of visual aesthetics holds that the experience of visual beauty is grounded in global computational or statistical properties of the stimulus, for example, scale-invariant Fourier spectrum or self-similarity. Some approaches rely on neural mechanisms, such as efficient computation, processing fluency, or the responsiveness of the cells in the primary visual cortex. These proposals are united by the fact that the contributing factors are hypothesized to be global (i.e., they concern the percept as a whole), formal or non-conceptual (i.e., they concern form instead of content), computational and/or statistical, and based on relatively low-level sensory properties. Here we consider that the study of aesthetic responses to music could benefit from the same approach. Thus, along with local features such as pitch, tuning, consonance/dissonance, harmony, timbre, or beat, also global sonic properties could be viewed as contributing toward creating an aesthetic musical experience. Several such properties are discussed and their neural implementation is reviewed in the light of recent advances in neuroaesthetics. PMID:28424573

Spectral envelope sensitivity of musical instrument sounds.

PubMed

Gunawan, David; Sen, D

2008-01-01

It is well known that the spectral envelope is a perceptually salient attribute in musical instrument timbre perception. While a number of studies have explored discrimination thresholds for changes to the spectral envelope, the question of how sensitivity varies as a function of center frequency and bandwidth for musical instruments has yet to be addressed. In this paper a two-alternative forced-choice experiment was conducted to observe perceptual sensitivity to modifications made on trumpet, clarinet and viola sounds. The experiment involved attenuating 14 frequency bands for each instrument in order to determine discrimination thresholds as a function of center frequency and bandwidth. The results indicate that perceptual sensitivity is governed by the first few harmonics and sensitivity does not improve when extending the bandwidth any higher. However, sensitivity was found to decrease if changes were made only to the higher frequencies and continued to decrease as the distorted bandwidth was widened. The results are analyzed and discussed with respect to two other spectral envelope discrimination studies in the literature as well as what is predicted from a psychoacoustic model.

Name that tune: Melodic recognition by songbirds.

PubMed

Templeton, Christopher N

2016-12-01

Recent findings have indicated that European starlings perceive overall spectral shape and use this, rather than absolute pitch or timbre, to generalize between similar melodic progressions. This finding highlights yet another parallel between human and avian vocal communication systems and has many biological implications.

Auditory Imagery: Empirical Findings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hubbard, Timothy L.

2010-01-01

The empirical literature on auditory imagery is reviewed. Data on (a) imagery for auditory features (pitch, timbre, loudness), (b) imagery for complex nonverbal auditory stimuli (musical contour, melody, harmony, tempo, notational audiation, environmental sounds), (c) imagery for verbal stimuli (speech, text, in dreams, interior monologue), (d)…

Music Activities for "Little Wolf's Song"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cardany, Audrey Berger

2015-01-01

Drawn from Britta Techentrup's children's book "Little Wolf's Song", the author shares music activities appropriate for preschool and children in primary grades. Children will enjoy Technentrup's tender family story, while exploring vocal and instrumental timbres, as well as reading, writing, and creating with melodic contour.

Expertise shapes domain-specific functional cerebral asymmetry during mental imagery: the case of culinary arts and music.

PubMed

Bensafi, Moustafa; Fournel, Arnaud; Joussain, Pauline; Poncelet, Johan; Przybylski, Lauranne; Rouby, Catherine; Tillmann, Barbara

2017-06-01

Mental imagery in experts has been documented in visual arts, music and dance. Here, we examined this issue in an understudied art domain, namely, culinary arts. Previous research investigating mental imagery in experts has reported either a stronger involvement of the right hemisphere or bilateral brain activation. The first aim of our study was to examine whether culinary arts also recruit such a hemispheric pattern specifically during odor mental imagery. In a second aim, we investigated whether expertise effects observed in a given sensory domain transfer to another modality. We combined psychophysics and neurophysiology to study mental imagery in cooks, musicians and controls. We collected response times and event-related potentials (ERP) while participants mentally compared the odor of fruits, the timbre of musical instruments and the size of fruits, musical instruments and manufactured objects. Cooks were faster in imagining fruit odors, and musicians were faster in imagining the timbre of musical instruments. These differences were not observed in control participants. This expertise effect was reflected in the ERP late positive complex (LPC): only experts showed symmetric bilateral activation, specifically when cooks imagined odors and when musicians imagined timbres. In contrast, the LPC was significantly greater in the left hemisphere than in the right hemisphere for non-expert participants in all conditions. These findings suggest that sensory expertise does not involve transfer of mental imagery ability across modalities and highlight for the first time that olfactory expertise in cooks induces a balance of activations between hemispheres as does musical expertise in musicians. © 2017 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Learning and processing of nonverbal symbolic information in bilinguals and monolinguals

PubMed Central

Blumenfeld, Henrike K.; Adams, Ashley M.

2014-01-01

Bilinguals have been shown to outperform monolinguals on word learning and on inhibition tasks that require competition resolution. Yet the scope of such bilingual advantages remains underspecified. We compared bilinguals and monolinguals on nonverbal symbolic learning and on competition resolution while processing newly-learned material. Participants were trained on 12 tone-to-symbol mappings, combining timbre, pitch, and duration of tones. During subsequent processing, participants viewed a display with four symbols, and were instructed to identify the symbol that matched a simultaneously-presented tone. On competition trials, two symbols matched the tone in timbre and pitch, but only one matched the tone on timbre, pitch, and duration. No learning differences emerged between 27 Spanish-English bilinguals and 27 English monolinguals, and more successful learners performed better on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary task. During the processing task, competition trials yielded responses with lower accuracies and longer latencies than control trials. Further, in both groups, more successful learning of tone-to-symbol mappings was associated with more successful retrieval during processing. In monolinguals, English receptive vocabulary scores also influenced retrieval efficiency during processing, with English/Spanish vocabulary less related to the novel processing task in bilinguals. Finally, to examine inhibition of competing stimuli, priming probes were presented after each tone-symbol processing trial. These probes suggested that bilinguals, and to a lesser extent monolinguals, showed residual inhibition of competitors at 200 ms post-target identification. Together, findings suggest that learning of novel symbolic information may depend in part on previous linguistic knowledge (not bilingualism per se), and that, during processing of newly-learned material, subtle differences in retrieval and competition resolution may emerge between bilinguals and monolinguals. PMID:25360125

Instrument classification in polyphonic music based on timbre analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Tong

2001-07-01

While most previous work on musical instrument recognition is focused on the classification of single notes in monophonic music, a scheme is proposed in this paper for the distinction of instruments in continuous music pieces which may contain one or more kinds of instruments. Highlights of the system include music segmentation into notes, harmonic partial estimation in polyphonic sound, note feature calculation and normalization, note classification using a set of neural networks, and music piece categorization with fuzzy logic principles. Example outputs of the system are `the music piece is 100% guitar (with 90% likelihood)' and `the music piece is 60% violin and 40% piano, thus a violin/piano duet'. The system has been tested with twelve kinds of musical instruments, and very promising experimental results have been obtained. An accuracy of about 80% is achieved, and the number can be raised to 90% if misindexings within the same instrument family are tolerated (e.g. cello, viola and violin). A demonstration system for musical instrument classification and music timbre retrieval is also presented.

Using the Macintosh As an Oscilloscope in Psychology Courses.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shoemaker, Allen L.

1998-01-01

Examines the Digital Oscilloscope program that allows most Macintosh computers to dynamically display the waveform of any sound recorded by a microphone. Describes how the program can be used to illustrate the concept of timbre as well as reinforcing concepts of frequency, amplitude, and wavelength. (MJP)

Ups and Downs in Auditory Development: Preschoolers' Sensitivity to Pitch Contour and Timbre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Creel, Sarah C.

2016-01-01

Much research has explored developing sound representations in language, but less work addresses developing representations of other sound patterns. This study examined preschool children's musical representations using two different tasks: discrimination and sound--picture association. Melodic contour--a musically relevant property--and…

Music Perception with Cochlear Implants: A Review

PubMed Central

McDermott, Hugh J.

2004-01-01

The acceptance of cochlear implantation as an effective and safe treatment for deafness has increased steadily over the past quarter century. The earliest devices were the first implanted prostheses found to be successful in compensating partially for lost sensory function by direct electrical stimulation of nerves. Initially, the main intention was to provide limited auditory sensations to people with profound or total sensorineural hearing impairment in both ears. Although the first cochlear implants aimed to provide patients with little more than awareness of environmental sounds and some cues to assist visual speech-reading, the technology has advanced rapidly. Currently, most people with modern cochlear implant systems can understand speech using the device alone, at least in favorable listening conditions. In recent years, an increasing research effort has been directed towards implant users’ perception of nonspeech sounds, especially music. This paper reviews that research, discusses the published experimental results in terms of both psychophysical observations and device function, and concludes with some practical suggestions about how perception of music might be enhanced for implant recipients in the future. The most significant findings of past research are: (1) On average, implant users perceive rhythm about as well as listeners with normal hearing; (2) Even with technically sophisticated multiple-channel sound processors, recognition of melodies, especially without rhythmic or verbal cues, is poor, with performance at little better than chance levels for many implant users; (3) Perception of timbre, which is usually evaluated by experimental procedures that require subjects to identify musical instrument sounds, is generally unsatisfactory; (4) Implant users tend to rate the quality of musical sounds as less pleasant than listeners with normal hearing; (5) Auditory training programs that have been devised specifically to provide implant users with structured musical listening experience may improve the subjective acceptability of music that is heard through a prosthesis; (6) Pitch perception might be improved by designing innovative sound processors that use both temporal and spatial patterns of electric stimulation more effectively and precisely to overcome the inherent limitations of signal coding in existing implant systems; (7) For the growing population of implant recipients who have usable acoustic hearing, at least for low-frequency sounds, perception of music is likely to be much better with combined acoustic and electric stimulation than is typical for deaf people who rely solely on the hearing provided by their prostheses. PMID:15497033

Music perception with cochlear implants: a review.

PubMed

McDermott, Hugh J

2004-01-01

The acceptance of cochlear implantation as an effective and safe treatment for deafness has increased steadily over the past quarter century. The earliest devices were the first implanted prostheses found to be successful in compensating partially for lost sensory function by direct electrical stimulation of nerves. Initially, the main intention was to provide limited auditory sensations to people with profound or total sensorineural hearing impairment in both ears. Although the first cochlear implants aimed to provide patients with little more than awareness of environmental sounds and some cues to assist visual speech-reading, the technology has advanced rapidly. Currently, most people with modern cochlear implant systems can understand speech using the device alone, at least in favorable listening conditions. In recent years, an increasing research effort has been directed towards implant users' perception of nonspeech sounds, especially music. This paper reviews that research, discusses the published experimental results in terms of both psychophysical observations and device function, and concludes with some practical suggestions about how perception of music might be enhanced for implant recipients in the future. The most significant findings of past research are: (1) On average, implant users perceive rhythm about as well as listeners with normal hearing; (2) Even with technically sophisticated multiple-channel sound processors, recognition of melodies, especially without rhythmic or verbal cues, is poor, with performance at little better than chance levels for many implant users; (3) Perception of timbre, which is usually evaluated by experimental procedures that require subjects to identify musical instrument sounds, is generally unsatisfactory; (4) Implant users tend to rate the quality of musical sounds as less pleasant than listeners with normal hearing; (5) Auditory training programs that have been devised specifically to provide implant users with structured musical listening experience may improve the subjective acceptability of music that is heard through a prosthesis; (6) Pitch perception might be improved by designing innovative sound processors that use both temporal and spatial patterns of electric stimulation more effectively and precisely to overcome the inherent limitations of signal coding in existing implant systems; (7) For the growing population of implant recipients who have usable acoustic hearing, at least for low-frequency sounds, perception of music is likely to be much better with combined acoustic and electric stimulation than is typical for deaf people who rely solely on the hearing provided by their prostheses.

Flute Physics from a Flutist's Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boysen, Erika; Ruiz, Michael J.

2017-01-01

The basic physics of the flute is presented from the perspective of a professional flutist. The flutist can control loudness, pitch and to some extent timbre. Oscilloscope images are provided to compare changes in these three fundamental sound characteristics. Readers can view a video (Ruiz 2017 "Video: The Flute"…

Transient Classifier Systems and Man-Machine Interface Research.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-08-31

different timbre from two different resonant sources, i.e., like a violin and oboe emitting nearly the same fundamental mode fre- quency, but each with its...the subjects by examing both hits and misses for signal and noise stimuli. A pairwise com- parison of the means resulted in significant differences (at

Loudness Change in Response to Dynamic Acoustic Intensity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olsen, Kirk N.; Stevens, Catherine J.; Tardieu, Julien

2010-01-01

Three experiments investigate psychological, methodological, and domain-specific characteristics of loudness change in response to sounds that continuously increase in intensity (up-ramps), relative to sounds that decrease (down-ramps). Timbre (vowel, violin), layer (monotone, chord), and duration (1.8 s, 3.6 s) were manipulated in Experiment 1.…

Effect of real-world sounds on protein crystallization.

PubMed

Zhang, Chen-Yan; Liu, Yue; Tian, Xu-Hua; Liu, Wen-Jing; Li, Xiao-Yu; Yang, Li-Xue; Jiang, Han-Jun; Han, Chong; Chen, Ke-An; Yin, Da-Chuan

2018-06-01

Protein crystallization is sensitive to the environment, while audible sound, as a physical and environmental factor during the entire process, is always ignored. We have previously reported that protein crystallization can be affected by a computer-generated monotonous sound with fixed frequency and amplitude. However, real-world sounds are not so simple but are complicated by parameters (frequency, amplitude, timbre, etc.) that vary over time. In this work, from three sound categories (music, speech, and environmental sound), we selected 26 different sounds and evaluated their effects on protein crystallization. The correlation between the sound parameters and the crystallization success rate was studied mathematically. The results showed that the real-world sounds, similar to the artificial monotonous sounds, could not only affect protein crystallization, but also improve crystal quality. Crystallization was dependent not only on the frequency, amplitude, volume, irradiation time, and overall energy of the sounds but also on their spectral characteristics. Based on these results, we suggest that intentionally applying environmental sound may be a simple and useful tool to promote protein crystallization. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Seeing Circles and Drawing Ellipses: When Sound Biases Reproduction of Visual Motion

PubMed Central

Aramaki, Mitsuko; Bringoux, Lionel; Ystad, Sølvi; Kronland-Martinet, Richard

2016-01-01

The perception and production of biological movements is characterized by the 1/3 power law, a relation linking the curvature and the velocity of an intended action. In particular, motions are perceived and reproduced distorted when their kinematics deviate from this biological law. Whereas most studies dealing with this perceptual-motor relation focused on visual or kinaesthetic modalities in a unimodal context, in this paper we show that auditory dynamics strikingly biases visuomotor processes. Biologically consistent or inconsistent circular visual motions were used in combination with circular or elliptical auditory motions. Auditory motions were synthesized friction sounds mimicking those produced by the friction of the pen on a paper when someone is drawing. Sounds were presented diotically and the auditory motion velocity was evoked through the friction sound timbre variations without any spatial cues. Remarkably, when subjects were asked to reproduce circular visual motion while listening to sounds that evoked elliptical kinematics without seeing their hand, they drew elliptical shapes. Moreover, distortion induced by inconsistent elliptical kinematics in both visual and auditory modalities added up linearly. These results bring to light the substantial role of auditory dynamics in the visuo-motor coupling in a multisensory context. PMID:27119411

Vocal Features of Song and Speech: Insights from Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire.

PubMed

Merrill, Julia; Larrouy-Maestri, Pauline

2017-01-01

Similarities and differences between speech and song are often examined. However, the perceptual definition of these two types of vocalization is challenging. Indeed, the prototypical characteristics of speech or song support top-down processes, which influence listeners' perception of acoustic information. In order to examine vocal features associated with speaking and singing, we propose an innovative approach designed to facilitate bottom-up mechanisms in perceiving vocalizations by using material situated between speech and song: Speechsong. 25 participants were asked to evaluate 20 performances of a speechsong composition by Arnold Schoenberg, "Pierrot lunaire" op. 21 from 1912, evaluating 20 features of vocal-articulatory expression. Raters provided reliable judgments concerning the vocal features used by the performers and did not show strong appeal or specific expectations in reference to Schoenberg's piece. By examining the relationship between the vocal features and the impression of song or speech, the results confirm the importance of pitch (height, contour, range), but also point to the relevance of register, timbre, tension and faucal distance. Besides highlighting vocal features associated with speech and song, this study supports the relevance of the present approach of focusing on a theoretical middle category in order to better understand vocal expression in song and speech.

What Does Music Sound Like for a Cochlear Implant User?

PubMed

Jiam, Nicole T; Caldwell, Meredith T; Limb, Charles J

2017-09-01

Cochlear implant research and product development over the past 40 years have been heavily focused on speech comprehension with little emphasis on music listening and enjoyment. The relatively little understanding of how music sounds in a cochlear implant user stands in stark contrast to the overall degree of importance the public places on music and quality of life. The purpose of this article is to describe what music sounds like to cochlear implant users, using a combination of existing research studies and listener descriptions. We examined the published literature on music perception in cochlear implant users, particularly postlingual cochlear implant users, with an emphasis on the primary elements of music and recorded music. Additionally, we administered an informal survey to cochlear implant users to gather first-hand descriptions of music listening experience and satisfaction from the cochlear implant population. Limitations in cochlear implant technology lead to a music listening experience that is significantly distorted compared with that of normal hearing listeners. On the basis of many studies and sources, we describe how music is frequently perceived as out-of-tune, dissonant, indistinct, emotionless, and weak in bass frequencies, especially for postlingual cochlear implant users-which may in part explain why music enjoyment and participation levels are lower after implantation. Additionally, cochlear implant users report difficulty in specific musical contexts based on factors including but not limited to genre, presence of lyrics, timbres (woodwinds, brass, instrument families), and complexity of the perceived music. Future research and cochlear implant development should target these areas as parameters for improvement in cochlear implant-mediated music perception.

Speechant: A Vowel Notation System to Teach English Pronunciation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

dos Reis, Jorge; Hazan, Valerie

2012-01-01

This paper introduces a new vowel notation system aimed at aiding the teaching of English pronunciation. This notation system, designed as an enhancement to orthographic text, was designed to use concepts borrowed from the representation of musical notes and is also linked to the acoustic characteristics of vowel sounds. Vowel timbre is…

Missouri Journal of Research in Music Education, 1989-1994.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koch, Franklin W., Ed.; Sims, Wendy L., Ed.; Pembrook, Randall G., Ed.

1994-01-01

This journal is devoted to the needs and interests of the school and college music teachers of Missouri and the United States. Articles in Number 26 are: "The Effect of Instrument Type, Stimulus Timbre, and Stimulus Octave Placement on Tuning Accuracy" (Jane W. Cassidy); "The Relationship of Music Opportunity at the Common School…

Phase Shifting and the Beating of Complex Waves

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keeports, David

2011-01-01

At the introductory level, the demonstration and analysis of sound beating is usually limited to the superposition of two purely sinusoidal waves with equal amplitudes and very similar frequencies. Under such conditions, an observer hears the periodic variation of the loudness of a sound with an unchanging timbre. On the other hand, when complex…

A Formant Range Profile for Singers.

PubMed

Titze, Ingo R; Maxfield, Lynn M; Walker, Megan C

2017-05-01

Vowel selection is important in differentiating between singing styles. The timbre of the vocal instrument, which is related to its frequency spectrum, is governed by both the glottal sound source and the vowel choices made by singers. Consequently, the ability to modify the vowel space is a measure of how successfully a singer can maintain a desired timbre across a range of pitches. Formant range profiles were produced as a means of quantifying this ability. Seventy-seven subjects (including trained and untrained vocalists) participated, producing vowels with three intended mouth shapes: (1) neutral or speech-like, (2) megaphone-shaped (wide open mouth), and (3) inverted-megaphone-shaped (widened oropharynx with moderate mouth opening). The first and second formant frequencies (F 1 and F 2 ) were estimated with fry phonation for each shape and values were plotted in F1-F2 space. By taking four vowels of a quadrangle /i, æ, a, u/, the resulting area was quantified in kHz 2 (kHz squared) as a measure of the subject's ability to modify their vocal tract for spectral differences. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An analysis of texture, timbre, and rhythm in relation to form in Magnus Lindberg's "Gran Duo"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolfe, Brian Thomas

Gran Duo (1999-2000) by Magnus Lindberg (b. 1958) is the result of a commission by Sir Simon Rattle, former conductor of the City of Birmingham (England) Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Festival Hall to commemorate the third millennium. Composed for twenty-four woodwinds and brass, Lindberg divides the woodwind and brass families into eight characters that serve as participants in an attentive twenty-minute conversation. The document includes biographical information about the composition to further understand Lindberg's writing style. The composer's use of computer-assisted composition techniques inspires an alternative structural analysis of Gran Duo. Spectral graphs provide a supplementary tool for score study assisting with the verification of formal structural elements. A tempo chart allows the conductor to easily identify form and tempo relationships between each of the nineteen sections throughout the five-movement composition. In order to reveal character areas and their relation to the structure of the work, the analysis of texture, timbre, and rhythm reveal the formal structure of the composition, which reflects a conversation between the brass and woodwinds in this setting for wind instruments.

A FORMANT RANGE PROFILE FOR SINGERS

PubMed Central

Titze, Ingo R.; Maxfield, Lynn; Walker, Megan

2016-01-01

Vowel selection is important in differentiating between singing styles. The timbre of the vocal instrument, which is related to its frequency spectrum, is governed by both the glottal sound source and the vowel choices made by singers. Consequently, the ability to modify the vowel space is a measure of how successfully a singer can maintain a desired timbre across a range of pitches. Formant range profiles (FRPs) were produced as a means of quantifying this ability. 77 subjects (including trained and untrained vocalists) participated, producing vowels with three intended mouth shapes, (1) neutral or speech-like, (2) megaphone-shaped (wide open mouth), and (3) inverted-megaphone-shaped (widened oropharynx with moderate mouth opening). The first and second formant frequencies (F1 and F2) were estimated with fry phonation for each shape and values were plotted in F1–F2 space. By taking four vowels of a quadrangle /i, æ, a, u/, the resulting area was quantified in kHz2 (kHz squared) as a measure of the subject’s ability to modify their vocal tract for spectral differences. PMID:28029556

Human Factors Engineering Bibliographic Series. Volume 2: 1960-1964 Literature

DTIC Science & Technology

1966-10-01

flutter discrimination, melodic and temporal) binaural vs. monaural equipment and methods (e.g., anechoic chambers, audiometric devices, communication...brightness, duration, timbre, vocality) stimulus mixtures (e.g., harmonics, beats , combination tones, modulations) thresholds training, nonverbal--see Training...scales and aids) Beats --see Audition (stimulus mixtures) Bells--see Auditory (displays, nonverbal) Belts, Harnesses, and other Restraining Devices--see

Keeping Timbre in Mind: Working Memory for Complex Sounds that Can't Be Verbalized

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Golubock, Jason L.; Janata, Petr

2013-01-01

Properties of auditory working memory for sounds that lack strong semantic associations and are not readily verbalized or sung are poorly understood. We investigated auditory working memory capacity for lists containing 2-6 easily discriminable abstract sounds synthesized within a constrained timbral space, at delays of 1-6 s (Experiment 1), and…

Using "Audacity" and One Classroom Computer to Experiment with Timbre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Kenneth H.

2011-01-01

One computer, one class, and one educator can be an effective combination to engage students as a group in music composition, performance, and analysis. Having one desktop computer and a television monitor in the music classroom is not an uncommon or new scenario, especially in a time when many school budgets are being cut. This article…

The Role of Initial Attack and Performer Expertise on Instrument Identification

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cassidy, Jane W.; Schlegel, Amanda L.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the role initial attack and expertise play in the identification of instrumental tones. A stimulus CD was made of 32 excerpts of instrumental tones. Sixteen possible combinations of the variables of initial attack (present or absent), expertise (beginner versus professional), and timbre (flute, clarinet,…

Temporal stability of music perception and appraisal scores of adult cochlear implant recipients.

PubMed

Gfeller, Kate; Jiang, Dingfeng; Oleson, Jacob J; Driscoll, Virginia; Knutson, John F

2010-01-01

An extensive body of literature indicates that cochlear implants (CIs) are effective in supporting speech perception of persons with severe to profound hearing losses who do not benefit to any great extent from conventional hearing aids. Adult CI recipients tend to show significant improvement in speech perception within 3 mo following implantation as a result of mere experience. Furthermore, CI recipients continue to show modest improvement as long as 5yr postimplantation. In contrast, data taken from single testing protocols of music perception and appraisal indicate that CIs are less than ideal in transmitting important structural features of music, such as pitch, melody, and timbre. However, there is presently little information documenting changes in music perception or appraisal over extended time as a result of mere experience. This study examined two basic questions: (1) Do adult CI recipients show significant improvement in perceptual acuity or appraisal of specific music listening tasks when tested in two consecutive years? (2) If there are tasks for which CI recipients show significant improvement with time, are there particular demographic variables that predict those CI recipients most likely to show improvement with extended CI use? A longitudinal cohort study. Implant recipients return annually for visits to the clinic. The study included 209 adult cochlear implant recipients with at least 9 mo implant experience before their first year measurement. Outcomes were measured on the patient's annual visit in two consecutive years. Paired t-tests were used to test for significant improvement from one year to the next. Those variables demonstrating significant improvement were subjected to regression analyses performed to detect the demographic variables useful in predicting said improvement. There were no significant differences in music perception outcomes as a function of type of device or processing strategy used. Only familiar melody recognition (FMR) and recognition of melody excerpts with lyrics (MERT-L) showed significant improvement from one year to the next. After controlling for the baseline value, hearing aid use, months of use, music listening habits after implantation, and formal musical training in elementary school were significant predictors of FMR improvement. Bilateral CI use, formal musical training in high school and beyond, and a measure of sequential cognitive processing were significant predictors of MERT-L improvement. These adult CI recipients as a result of mere experience demonstrated fairly consistent music perception and appraisal on measures gathered in two consecutive years. Gains made tend to be modest, and can be associated with characteristics such as use of hearing aids, listening experiences, or bilateral use (in the case of lyrics). These results have implications for counseling of CI recipients with regard to realistic expectations and strategies for enhancing music perception and enjoyment.

Affective priming effects of musical sounds on the processing of word meaning.

PubMed

Steinbeis, Nikolaus; Koelsch, Stefan

2011-03-01

Recent studies have shown that music is capable of conveying semantically meaningful concepts. Several questions have subsequently arisen particularly with regard to the precise mechanisms underlying the communication of musical meaning as well as the role of specific musical features. The present article reports three studies investigating the role of affect expressed by various musical features in priming subsequent word processing at the semantic level. By means of an affective priming paradigm, it was shown that both musically trained and untrained participants evaluated emotional words congruous to the affect expressed by a preceding chord faster than words incongruous to the preceding chord. This behavioral effect was accompanied by an N400, an ERP typically linked with semantic processing, which was specifically modulated by the (mis)match between the prime and the target. This finding was shown for the musical parameter of consonance/dissonance (Experiment 1) and then extended to mode (major/minor) (Experiment 2) and timbre (Experiment 3). Seeing that the N400 is taken to reflect the processing of meaning, the present findings suggest that the emotional expression of single musical features is understood by listeners as such and is probably processed on a level akin to other affective communications (i.e., prosody or vocalizations) because it interferes with subsequent semantic processing. There were no group differences, suggesting that musical expertise does not have an influence on the processing of emotional expression in music and its semantic connotations.

The Five-String Banjo in the Music Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Kenneth H.

2011-01-01

The banjo is an instrument of unique image and sound. It has a long history in North America from its arrival on slave ships from North Africa to its contemporary use in jazz and popular music. Adding the instrument to the general music classroom can open new realms of timbre and new avenues of exploration into the instruments of cultures around…

Music Appreciation and Technology: An Evaluation of a Creativity-Based Approach Using a MIDI Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woodruff, Ernest R.; Heeler, Phillip J.

One component of a model of creativity, the application of an understanding of elements, was explored through a study of college students applying their understanding of such musical elements as harmony, melody, rhythm, timbre, and dynamics. The 24 subjects were students in a music appreciation class, and the project was implemented using a…

Preattentive representation of feature conjunctions for concurrent spatially distributed auditory objects.

PubMed

Takegata, Rika; Brattico, Elvira; Tervaniemi, Mari; Varyagina, Olga; Näätänen, Risto; Winkler, István

2005-09-01

The role of attention in conjoining features of an object has been a topic of much debate. Studies using the mismatch negativity (MMN), an index of detecting acoustic deviance, suggested that the conjunctions of auditory features are preattentively represented in the brain. These studies, however, used sequentially presented sounds and thus are not directly comparable with visual studies of feature integration. Therefore, the current study presented an array of spatially distributed sounds to determine whether the auditory features of concurrent sounds are correctly conjoined without focal attention directed to the sounds. Two types of sounds differing from each other in timbre and pitch were repeatedly presented together while subjects were engaged in a visual n-back working-memory task and ignored the sounds. Occasional reversals of the frequent pitch-timbre combinations elicited MMNs of a very similar amplitude and latency irrespective of the task load. This result suggested preattentive integration of auditory features. However, performance in a subsequent target-search task with the same stimuli indicated the occurrence of illusory conjunctions. The discrepancy between the results obtained with and without focal attention suggests that illusory conjunctions may occur during voluntary access to the preattentively encoded object representations.

Emotional expression in music: contribution, linearity, and additivity of primary musical cues

PubMed Central

Eerola, Tuomas; Friberg, Anders; Bresin, Roberto

2013-01-01

The aim of this study is to manipulate musical cues systematically to determine the aspects of music that contribute to emotional expression, and whether these cues operate in additive or interactive fashion, and whether the cue levels can be characterized as linear or non-linear. An optimized factorial design was used with six primary musical cues (mode, tempo, dynamics, articulation, timbre, and register) across four different music examples. Listeners rated 200 musical examples according to four perceived emotional characters (happy, sad, peaceful, and scary). The results exhibited robust effects for all cues and the ranked importance of these was established by multiple regression. The most important cue was mode followed by tempo, register, dynamics, articulation, and timbre, although the ranking varied across the emotions. The second main result suggested that most cue levels contributed to the emotions in a linear fashion, explaining 77–89% of variance in ratings. Quadratic encoding of cues did lead to minor but significant increases of the models (0–8%). Finally, the interactions between the cues were non-existent suggesting that the cues operate mostly in an additive fashion, corroborating recent findings on emotional expression in music (Juslin and Lindström, 2010). PMID:23908642

Nonlinear modelling in time domain numerical analysis of stringed instrument dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bielski, Paweł; Kujawa, Marcin

2017-03-01

Musical instruments are very various in terms of sound quality with their timbre shaped by materials and geometry. Materials' impact is commonly treated as dominant one by musicians, while it is unclear whether it is true or not. The research proposed in the study focuses on determining influence of both these factors on sound quality based on their impact on harmonic composition. Numerical approach has been chosen to allowed independent manipulation of geometrical and material parameters as opposed to experimental study subjected to natural randomness of instrument construction. Distinctive element of this research is precise modelling of whole instrument and treating it as one big vibrating system instead of performing modal analysis on an isolated part. Finite elements model of a stringed instrument has been built and a series of nonlinear time-domain dynamic analyses were executed to obtain displacement signals and perform subsequent spectral analysis. Precision of computations seems sufficient to determine the influence of instrument's macroscopic mechanical parameters on timbre. Further research should focus on implementation of acoustic medium in attempt to include dissipation and synchronization mechanisms. Outside the musical field this kind of research could be potentially useful in noise reduction problems.

Emotional expression in music: contribution, linearity, and additivity of primary musical cues.

PubMed

Eerola, Tuomas; Friberg, Anders; Bresin, Roberto

2013-01-01

The aim of this study is to manipulate musical cues systematically to determine the aspects of music that contribute to emotional expression, and whether these cues operate in additive or interactive fashion, and whether the cue levels can be characterized as linear or non-linear. An optimized factorial design was used with six primary musical cues (mode, tempo, dynamics, articulation, timbre, and register) across four different music examples. Listeners rated 200 musical examples according to four perceived emotional characters (happy, sad, peaceful, and scary). The results exhibited robust effects for all cues and the ranked importance of these was established by multiple regression. The most important cue was mode followed by tempo, register, dynamics, articulation, and timbre, although the ranking varied across the emotions. The second main result suggested that most cue levels contributed to the emotions in a linear fashion, explaining 77-89% of variance in ratings. Quadratic encoding of cues did lead to minor but significant increases of the models (0-8%). Finally, the interactions between the cues were non-existent suggesting that the cues operate mostly in an additive fashion, corroborating recent findings on emotional expression in music (Juslin and Lindström, 2010).

Brain Responses to Musical Feature Changes in Adolescent Cochlear Implant Users

PubMed Central

Petersen, Bjørn; Weed, Ethan; Sandmann, Pascale; Brattico, Elvira; Hansen, Mads; Sørensen, Stine Derdau; Vuust, Peter

2015-01-01

Cochlear implants (CIs) are primarily designed to assist deaf individuals in perception of speech, although possibilities for music fruition have also been documented. Previous studies have indicated the existence of neural correlates of residual music skills in postlingually deaf adults and children. However, little is known about the behavioral and neural correlates of music perception in the new generation of prelingually deaf adolescents who grew up with CIs. With electroencephalography (EEG), we recorded the mismatch negativity (MMN) of the auditory event-related potential to changes in musical features in adolescent CI users and in normal-hearing (NH) age mates. EEG recordings and behavioral testing were carried out before (T1) and after (T2) a 2-week music training program for the CI users and in two sessions equally separated in time for NH controls. We found significant MMNs in adolescent CI users for deviations in timbre, intensity, and rhythm, indicating residual neural prerequisites for musical feature processing. By contrast, only one of the two pitch deviants elicited an MMN in CI users. This pitch discrimination deficit was supported by behavioral measures, in which CI users scored significantly below the NH level. Overall, MMN amplitudes were significantly smaller in CI users than in NH controls, suggesting poorer music discrimination ability. Despite compliance from the CI participants, we found no effect of the music training, likely resulting from the brevity of the program. This is the first study showing significant brain responses to musical feature changes in prelingually deaf adolescent CI users and their associations with behavioral measures, implying neural predispositions for at least some aspects of music processing. Future studies should test any beneficial effects of a longer lasting music intervention in adolescent CI users. PMID:25705185

Brain responses to musical feature changes in adolescent cochlear implant users.

PubMed

Petersen, Bjørn; Weed, Ethan; Sandmann, Pascale; Brattico, Elvira; Hansen, Mads; Sørensen, Stine Derdau; Vuust, Peter

2015-01-01

Cochlear implants (CIs) are primarily designed to assist deaf individuals in perception of speech, although possibilities for music fruition have also been documented. Previous studies have indicated the existence of neural correlates of residual music skills in postlingually deaf adults and children. However, little is known about the behavioral and neural correlates of music perception in the new generation of prelingually deaf adolescents who grew up with CIs. With electroencephalography (EEG), we recorded the mismatch negativity (MMN) of the auditory event-related potential to changes in musical features in adolescent CI users and in normal-hearing (NH) age mates. EEG recordings and behavioral testing were carried out before (T1) and after (T2) a 2-week music training program for the CI users and in two sessions equally separated in time for NH controls. We found significant MMNs in adolescent CI users for deviations in timbre, intensity, and rhythm, indicating residual neural prerequisites for musical feature processing. By contrast, only one of the two pitch deviants elicited an MMN in CI users. This pitch discrimination deficit was supported by behavioral measures, in which CI users scored significantly below the NH level. Overall, MMN amplitudes were significantly smaller in CI users than in NH controls, suggesting poorer music discrimination ability. Despite compliance from the CI participants, we found no effect of the music training, likely resulting from the brevity of the program. This is the first study showing significant brain responses to musical feature changes in prelingually deaf adolescent CI users and their associations with behavioral measures, implying neural predispositions for at least some aspects of music processing. Future studies should test any beneficial effects of a longer lasting music intervention in adolescent CI users.

Stimulus presentation order and the perception of lexical tones in Cantonese

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Francis, Alexander L.; Ciocca, Valter

2003-09-01

Listeners' auditory discrimination of vowel sounds depends in part on the order in which stimuli are presented. Such presentation order effects have been argued to be language independent, and to result from psychophysical (not speech- or language-specific) factors such as the decay of memory traces over time or increased weighting of later-occurring stimuli. In the present study, native Cantonese speakers' discrimination of a linguistic tone continuum is shown to exhibit order of presentation effects similar to those shown for vowels in previous studies. When presented with two successive syllables differing in fundamental frequency by approximately 4 Hz, listeners were significantly more sensitive to this difference when the first syllable was higher in frequency than the second. However, American English-speaking listeners with no experience listening to Cantonese showed no such contrast effect when tested in the same manner using the same stimuli. Neither English nor Cantonese listeners showed any order of presentation effects in the discrimination of a nonspeech continuum in which tokens had the same fundamental frequencies as the Cantonese speech tokens but had a qualitatively non-speech-like timbre. These results suggest that tone presentation order effects, unlike vowel effects, may be language specific, possibly resulting from the need to compensate for utterance-related pitch declination when evaluating fundamental frequency for tone identification.

Vocal Features of Song and Speech: Insights from Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire

PubMed Central

Merrill, Julia; Larrouy-Maestri, Pauline

2017-01-01

Similarities and differences between speech and song are often examined. However, the perceptual definition of these two types of vocalization is challenging. Indeed, the prototypical characteristics of speech or song support top-down processes, which influence listeners' perception of acoustic information. In order to examine vocal features associated with speaking and singing, we propose an innovative approach designed to facilitate bottom-up mechanisms in perceiving vocalizations by using material situated between speech and song: Speechsong. 25 participants were asked to evaluate 20 performances of a speechsong composition by Arnold Schoenberg, “Pierrot lunaire” op. 21 from 1912, evaluating 20 features of vocal-articulatory expression. Raters provided reliable judgments concerning the vocal features used by the performers and did not show strong appeal or specific expectations in reference to Schoenberg's piece. By examining the relationship between the vocal features and the impression of song or speech, the results confirm the importance of pitch (height, contour, range), but also point to the relevance of register, timbre, tension and faucal distance. Besides highlighting vocal features associated with speech and song, this study supports the relevance of the present approach of focusing on a theoretical middle category in order to better understand vocal expression in song and speech. PMID:28744233

Sociodemographic and lifestyle factors affecting the self-perception period of lower urinary tract symptoms of international prostate symptom score items.

PubMed

Kim, J H; Shim, S R; Lee, W J; Kim, H J; Kwon, S-S; Bae, J H

2012-12-01

This study investigated the influence of sociodemographic and lifestyle factors on the lower urinary tract symptom (LUTS) self-perception period and International Prostate Symptom Score. This cross-sectional study examined 209 men aged ≥ 40 years with non-treated LUTS who participated in a prostate examination survey. Questions included International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) items with self-perception periods for each item. Sociodemographic and lifestyle factors were also assessed. Participants were divided by mild LUTS (IPSS less than 8) and moderate-to-severe LUTS (IPSS 8 or higher). Self-perception period of the moderate-to-severe LUTS (n = 110) was affected by BMI; the self-perception period of the mild LUTS (n = 90) was affected by age, income, occupation and concomitant disease. Moderate-to-severe LUTS were affected by self-perception period (p = 0.03). Self-perception period was affected by concern for health (p = 0.005) by multivariate analysis, and self-perception period of mild LUTS was affected by BMI (p = 0.012). Moderate-to-severe LUTS were affected by age, number of family members, concern for health and drinking (p < 0.05, respectively) by multivariate analysis. Lower urinary tract symptom was affected by self-perception period. In moderate-to-severe LUTS, age, concern for health and drinking were affecting factors of self-perception period. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

An Educational Experience in the Conservatory of Bologna: The Italian Students' Views on Contemporary Turkish Polyphonic Choral Music

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Apaydinli, Köksal

2016-01-01

It is known that many choirs in European countries perform different styles of traditional songs in different languages in their repertoire. However, Turkish contemporary polyphonic choral works which have specific harmony and timbres effected by "makam" may not be known as the others. In this context, the main aim of this study is to…

About egophony.

PubMed

Sapira, J D

1995-09-01

Egophony is a change in timbre (Ee to A) but not pitch or volume. It is due to a decrease in the amplitude and an increase in the frequency [corrected] of the second formant, produced by solid (including compressed lung) interposed between the resonator and the stethoscope head. This explains certain difficulties in learning this valuable but currently neglected sign as well as in understanding certain physiologic false-positive occurrences.

Temporal Stability of Music Perception and Appraisal Scores of Adult Cochlear Implant Recipients

PubMed Central

Gfeller, Kate; Jiang, Dingfeng; Oleson, Jacob; Driscoll, Virginia; Knutson, John F.

2010-01-01

Background An extensive body of literature indicates that cochlear implants are effective in supporting speech perception of persons with severe to profound hearing losses who do not benefit to any great extent from conventional hearing aids. Adult CI recipients tend to show significant improvement in speech perception within 3 months following implantation as a result of mere experience. Furthermore, CI recipients continue to show modest improvement as long as 5 years post implantation. In contrast, data taken from single testing protocols of music perception and appraisal indicate that CIs are less than ideal in transmitting important structural features of music, such as pitch, melody and timbre. However, there is presently little information documenting changes in music perception or appraisal over extended time as a result of mere experience. Purpose This study examined two basic questions: 1) Do adult CI recipients show significant improvement in perceptual acuity or appraisal of specific music listening tasks when tested in two consecutive years? 2) If there are tasks for which CI recipients show significant improvement with time, are there particular demographic variables that predict those CI recipients most likely to show improvement with extended CI use? Research Design A longitudinal cohort study. Implant recipients return annually for visits to the clinic. Study Sample The study included 209 adult cochlear implant recipients with at least 9 months implant experience before their first year measurement. Data collection and analysis Outcomes were measured on the patient’s annual visit in two consecutive years. Paired t-tests were used to test for significant improvement from one year to the next. Those variables demonstrating significant improvement were subjected to regression analyses performed to detect the demographic variables useful in predicting said improvement. Results There were no significant differences in music perception outcomes as a function of type of device or processing strategy used. Only familiar melody recognition (FMR) and recognition of melody excerpts with lyrics (MERT-L) showed significant improvement from one year to the next. After controlling for the baseline value, hearing aid use, months of use, music listening habits after implantation and formal musical training in elementary school were significant predictors of FMR improvement. Bilateral CI use, formal musical training in high school and beyond, and a measure of sequential cognitive processing were significant predictors of MERT-L improvement. Conclusions These adult CI recipients as a result of mere experience demonstrated fairly consistent music perception and appraisal on measures gathered in two consecutive years. Gains made tend to be modest, and can be associated with characteristics such as use of hearing aids, listening experiences, or bilateral use (in the case of lyrics). These results have implications for counseling of CI recipients with regard to realistic expectations and strategies for enhancing music perception and enjoyment. PMID:20085197

Concurrent Timbres in Orchestration: a Perceptual Study of Factors Determining "blend"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sandell, Gregory John

Orchestration often involves selecting instruments for concurrent presentation, as in melodic doubling or chords. One evaluation of the aural outcome of such choices is along the continuum of "blend": whether the instruments fuse into a single composite timbre, segregate into distinct timbral entities, or fall somewhere in between the two extremes. This study investigates, through perceptual experimentation, the acoustical correlates of blend for 15 natural-sounding orchestral instruments presented in concurrently-sounding pairs (e.g. flute-cello, trumpet -oboe, etc.). Ratings of blend showed primary effects for centroid (the location of the midpoint of the spectral energy distribution) and duration of the onset for the tones. Lower average values of both centroid and onset duration for a pair of tones led to increased blends, as did closeness in value for the two factors. Blend decreased (instruments segregated) with higher average values or increased difference in value for the two factors. The musical interval of presentation slightly affected the relative importance of these two mechanisms, with unison intervals determined more by lower average centroid, and minor thirds determined more by closeness in centroid. The contribution of onset in general was slightly more pronounced in the unison conditions than in the minor third condition. Additional factors contributing to blend were correlation of amplitude and centroid envelopes (blend increased as temporal patterns rose and fell in synchrony) and similarity in the overall amount of fundamental frequency perturbation (decreased blend with increasing jitter from both tones). To confirm the importance of centroid as an independent factor determining blend, pairs of tones including instruments with artificially changed centroids were rated for blend. Judgments for several versions of the same instrument pair showed that blend decreased as the altered instrument increased in centroid, corroborating the earlier experiments. Other factors manipulated were amplitude level and the degree of inharmonicity. A survey of orchestration manuals showed many illustrations of "blending" combinations of instruments that were consistent with the results of these experiments. This study's acoustically-based guidelines for blend augment instance-based methods of traditional orchestration teaching, providing underlying abstractions helpful for evaluating the blend of arbitrary combinations of instruments.

Borderline personality disorder symptoms and affective responding to perceptions of rejection and acceptance from romantic versus nonromantic partners.

PubMed

Lazarus, Sophie A; Scott, Lori N; Beeney, Joseph E; Wright, Aidan G C; Stepp, Stephanie D; Pilkonis, Paul A

2018-05-01

We examined event-contingent recording of daily interpersonal interactions in a diagnostically diverse sample of 101 psychiatric outpatients who were involved in a romantic relationship. We tested whether the unique effect of borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms on affective responses (i.e., hostility, sadness, guilt, fear, and positive affect) to perceptions of rejection or acceptance differed with one's romantic partner compared with nonromantic partners. BPD symptoms were associated with more frequent perceptions of rejection and less frequent perceptions of acceptance across the study. For all participants, perceptions of rejecting behavior were associated with higher within-person negative affect and lower within-person positive affect. As predicted, in interactions with romantic partners only, those with high BPD symptoms reported heightened hostility and, to a lesser extent, attenuated sadness in response to perceptions of rejection. BPD symptoms did not moderate associations between perceptions of rejection and guilt, fear, or positive affect across romantic and nonromantic partners. For all participants, perceived acceptance was associated with lower within-person negative affect and higher within-person positive affect. However, BPD symptoms were associated with attenuated positive affect in response to perceptions of accepting behavior in interactions with romantic partners only. BPD symptoms did not moderate associations between perceptions of acceptance and any of the negative affects across romantic and nonromantic partners. This study highlights the specificity of affective responses characteristic of BPD when comparisons are made with patients with other personality and psychiatric disorders. Implications for romantic relationship dysfunction are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Investigating the effects of musical training on functional brain development with a novel Melodic MMN paradigm.

PubMed

Putkinen, Vesa; Tervaniemi, Mari; Saarikivi, Katri; de Vent, Nathalie; Huotilainen, Minna

2014-04-01

Sensitivity to changes in various musical features was investigated by recording the mismatch negativity (MMN) auditory event-related potential (ERP) in musically trained and nontrained children semi-longitudinally at the ages of 9, 11, and 13 years. The responses were recorded using a novel Melodic multi-feature paradigm which allows fast (<15 min) recording of an MMN profile for changes in melody, rhythm, musical key, timbre, tuning and timing. When compared to the nontrained children, the musically trained children displayed enlarged MMNs for the melody modulations by the age 13 and for the rhythm modulations, timbre deviants and slightly mistuned tones already at the age of 11. Also, a positive mismatch response elicited by delayed tones was larger in amplitude in the musically trained than in the nontrained children at age 13. No group differences were found at the age 9 suggesting that the later enhancement of the MMN in the musically trained children resulted from training and not pre-existing difference between the groups. The current study demonstrates the applicability of the Melodic multi-feature paradigm in school-aged children and indicates that musical training enhances auditory discrimination for musically central sound dimensions in pre-adolescence. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Differentiation of Competence and Affect Self-Perceptions in Elementary School Students: Extending Empirical Evidence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arens, A. Katrin; Hasselhorn, Marcus

2015-01-01

This study aimed to address two underexplored research questions regarding support for the separation between competence and affect self-perceptions due to differential relations to outcome criteria. First, it is tested whether higher relations between affect self-perceptions and effort than between competence self-perceptions and effort can also…

Quarrelsome behavior in borderline personality disorder: influence of behavioral and affective reactivity to perceptions of others.

PubMed

Sadikaj, Gentiana; Moskowitz, D S; Russell, Jennifer J; Zuroff, David C; Paris, Joel

2013-02-01

We examined how the amplification of 3 within-person processes (behavioral reactivity to interpersonal perceptions, affect reactivity to interpersonal perceptions, and behavioral reactivity to a person's own affect) accounts for greater quarrelsome behavior among individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Using an event-contingent recording (ECR) methodology, individuals with BPD (N = 38) and community controls (N = 31) reported on their negative affect, quarrelsome behavior, and perceptions of the interaction partner's agreeable-quarrelsome behavior in interpersonal events during a 20-day period. Behavioral reactivity to negative affect was similar in both groups. However, behavioral reactivity and affect reactivity to interpersonal perceptions were elevated in individuals with BPD relative to community controls; specifically, individuals with BPD reported more quarrelsome behavior and more negative affect during interactions in which they perceived others as more cold-quarrelsome. Greater negative affect reactivity to perceptions of other's cold-quarrelsome behavior partly accounted for the increased quarrelsome behavior reported by individuals with BPD during these interactions. This pattern of results suggests a cycle in which the perception of cold-quarrelsome behavior in others triggers elevated negative affect and quarrelsome behavior in individuals with BPD, which subsequently led to more quarrelsome behavior from their interaction partners, which leads to perceptions of others as cold-quarrelsomeness, which begins the cycle anew. 2013 APA, all rights reserved

The affect heuristic, mortality salience, and risk: domain-specific effects of a natural disaster on risk-benefit perception.

PubMed

Västfjäll, Daniel; Peters, Ellen; Slovic, Paul

2014-12-01

We examine how affect and accessible thoughts following a major natural disaster influence everyday risk perception. A survey was conducted in the months following the 2004 south Asian Tsunami in a representative sample of the Swedish population (N = 733). Respondents rated their experienced affect as well as the perceived risk and benefits of various everyday decision domains. Affect influenced risk and benefit perception in a way that could be predicted from both the affect-congruency and affect heuristic literatures (increased risk perception and stronger risk-benefit correlations). However, in some decision domains, self-regulation goals primed by the natural disaster predicted risk and benefit ratings. Together, these results show that affect, accessible thoughts and motivational states influence perceptions of risks and benefits. © 2014 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effects of Positive Affect on Risk Perceptions in Adolescence and Young Adulthood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haase, Claudia M.; Silbereisen, Rainer K.

2011-01-01

Affective influences may play a key role in adolescent risk taking, but have rarely been studied. Using an audiovisual method of affect induction, two experimental studies examined the effect of positive affect on risk perceptions in adolescence and young adulthood. Outcomes were risk perceptions regarding drinking alcohol, smoking a cigarette,…

The Interplay of Preference, Familiarity and Psychophysical Properties in Defining Relaxation Music.

PubMed

Tan, Xueli; Yowler, Charles J; Super, Dennis M; Fratianne, Richard B

2012-01-01

The stress response has been well documented in past music therapy literature. However, hypometabolism, or the relaxation response, has received much less attention. Music therapists have long utilized various music-assisted relaxation techniques with both live and recorded music to elicit such a response. The ongoing proliferations of relaxation music through commercial media and the dire lack of evidence to support such claims warrant attention from healthcare professionals and music therapists. The purpose of these 3 studies was to investigate the correlational relationships between 12 psychophysical properties of music, preference, familiarity, and degree of perceived relaxation in music. Fourteen music therapists recommended and analyzed 30 selections of relaxation music. A group of 80 healthy adults then rated their familiarity, preference, and degree of perceived relaxation in the music. The analysis provided a detailed description of the intrinsic properties in music that were perceived to be relaxing by listeners. These properties included tempo, mode, harmonic, rhythmic, instrumental, and melodic complexities, timbre, vocalization/lyrics, pitch range, dynamic variations, and contour. In addition, music preference was highly correlated with listeners' perception of relaxation in music for both music therapists and healthy adults. The correlation between familiarity and degree of relaxation reached significance in the healthy adult group. Results from this study provided an in-depth operational definition of the intrinsic parameters in relaxation music and also highlighted the importance of preference and familiarity in eliciting the relaxation response.

Judgment of musical emotions after cochlear implantation in adults with progressive deafness

PubMed Central

Ambert-Dahan, Emmanuèle; Giraud, Anne-Lise; Sterkers, Olivier; Samson, Séverine

2015-01-01

While cochlear implantation is rather successful in restoring speech comprehension in quiet environments (Nimmons et al., 2008), other auditory tasks, such as music perception, can remain challenging for implant users. Here, we tested how patients who had received a cochlear implant (CI) after post-lingual progressive deafness perceive emotions in music. Thirteen adult CI recipients with good verbal comprehension (dissyllabic words ≥70%) and 13 normal hearing participants matched for age, gender, and education listened to 40 short musical excerpts that selectively expressed fear, happiness, sadness, and peacefulness ( Vieillard et al., 2008). The participants were asked to rate (on a 0–100 scale) how much the musical stimuli expressed these four cardinal emotions, and to judge their emotional valence (unpleasant–pleasant) and arousal (relaxing–stimulating). Although CI users performed above chance level, their emotional judgments (mean correctness scores) were generally impaired for happy, scary, and sad, but not for peaceful excerpts. CI users also demonstrated deficits in perceiving arousal of musical excerpts, whereas rating of valence remained unaffected. The current findings indicate that judgments of emotional categories and dimensions of musical excerpts are not uniformly impaired after cochlear implantation. These results are discussed in relation to the relatively spared abilities of CI users in perceiving temporal (rhythm and metric) as compared to spectral (pitch and timbre) musical dimensions, which might benefit the processing of musical emotions (Cooper et al., 2008). PMID:25814961

Affective state influences perception by affecting decision parameters underlying bias and sensitivity.

PubMed

Lynn, Spencer K; Zhang, Xuan; Barrett, Lisa Feldman

2012-08-01

Studies of the effect of affect on perception often show consistent directional effects of a person's affective state on perception. Unpleasant emotions have been associated with a "locally focused" style of stimulus evaluation, and positive emotions with a "globally focused" style. Typically, however, studies of affect and perception have not been conducted under the conditions of perceptual uncertainty and behavioral risk inherent to perceptual judgments outside the laboratory. We investigated the influence of perceivers' experienced affect (valence and arousal) on the utility of social threat perception by combining signal detection theory and behavioral economics. We compared 3 perceptual decision environments that systematically differed with respect to factors that underlie uncertainty and risk: the base rate of threat, the costs of incorrect identification threat, and the perceptual similarity of threats and nonthreats. We found that no single affective state yielded the best performance on the threat perception task across the 3 environments. Unpleasant valence promoted calibration of response bias to base rate and costs, high arousal promoted calibration of perceptual sensitivity to perceptual similarity, and low arousal was associated with an optimal adjustment of bias to sensitivity. However, the strength of these associations was conditional upon the difficulty of attaining optimal bias and high sensitivity, such that the effect of the perceiver's affective state on perception differed with the cause and/or level of uncertainty and risk.

Affective State Influences Perception by Affecting Decision Parameters Underlying Bias and Sensitivity

PubMed Central

Lynn, Spencer K.; Zhang, Xuan; Barrett, Lisa Feldman

2012-01-01

Studies of the effect of affect on perception often show consistent directional effects of a person’s affective state on perception. Unpleasant emotions have been associated with a “locally focused” style of stimulus evaluation, and positive emotions with a “globally focused” style. Typically, however, studies of affect and perception have not been conducted under the conditions of perceptual uncertainty and behavioral risk inherent to perceptual judgments outside the laboratory. We investigated the influence of perceivers’ experience affect (valence and arousal) on the utility of social threat perception by combining signal detection theory and behavioral economics. We created three perceptual decision environments that systematically differed with respect to factors that underlie uncertainty and risk: the base rate of threat, the costs of incorrect identification threat, and the perceptual similarity of threats and non-threats. We found that no single affective state yielded the best performance on the threat perception task across the three environments. Unpleasant valence promoted calibration of response bias to base rate and costs, high arousal promoted calibration of perceptual sensitivity to perceptual similarity, and low arousal was associated with an optimal adjustment of bias to sensitivity. However, the strength of these associations was conditional upon the difficulty of attaining optimal bias and high sensitivity, such that the effect of the perceiver’s affective state on perception differed with the cause and/or level of uncertainty and risk. PMID:22251054

The Effects of Rate of Deviation and Musical Context on Intonation Perception in Homophonic Four-Part Chorales.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bell, Michael Stephen

Sixty-four trained musicians listened to four -bar excerpts of selected chorales by J. S. Bach, which were presented both in four-part texture (harmonic context) and as a single voice part (melodic context). These digitally synthesized examples were created by combining the first twelve partials, and all voice parts had the same generic timbre. A within-subjects design was used, so subjects heard each example in both contexts. Included in the thirty -two excerpts for each subject were four soprano, four alto, four tenor, and four bass parts as the target voices. The intonation of the target voice was varied such that the voice stayed in tune or changed by a half cent, two cents, or eight cents per second (a cent is 1/100 of a half step). Although direction of the deviation (sharp or flat) was not a significant factor in intonation perception, main effects for context (melodic vs. harmonic) and rate of deviation were highly significant, as was the interaction between rate of deviation and context. Specifically, selections that stayed in tune or changed only by half cents were not perceived differently; for larger deviations, the error was detected earlier and the intonation was judged to be worse in the harmonic contexts compared to the melodic contexts. Additionally, the direction of the error was correctly identified in the melodic context more often than the hamonic context only for the examples that mistuned at a rate of eight cents per second. Correct identification of the voice part that went out of tune in the four-part textures depended only on rate of deviation: the in tune excerpts (no voice going out of tune) and the eight cent deviations were correctly identified most often, the two cent deviations were next, and the half cent deviation excerpts were the least accurately identified.

On the relationship between personal experience, affect and risk perception: The case of climate change

PubMed Central

van der Linden, Sander

2014-01-01

Examining the conceptual relationship between personal experience, affect, and risk perception is crucial in improving our understanding of how emotional and cognitive process mechanisms shape public perceptions of climate change. This study is the first to investigate the interrelated nature of these variables by contrasting three prominent social-psychological theories. In the first model, affect is viewed as a fast and associative information processing heuristic that guides perceptions of risk. In the second model, affect is seen as flowing from cognitive appraisals (i.e., affect is thought of as a post-cognitive process). Lastly, a third, dual-process model is advanced that integrates aspects from both theoretical perspectives. Four structural equation models were tested on a national sample (N = 808) of British respondents. Results initially provide support for the “cognitive” model, where personal experience with extreme weather is best conceptualized as a predictor of climate change risk perception and, in turn, risk perception a predictor of affect. Yet, closer examination strongly indicates that at the same time, risk perception and affect reciprocally influence each other in a stable feedback system. It is therefore concluded that both theoretical claims are valid and that a dual-process perspective provides a superior fit to the data. Implications for theory and risk communication are discussed. © 2014 The Authors. European Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. PMID:25678723

Textural timbre

PubMed Central

Hollins, Mark

2009-01-01

During haptic exploration of surfaces, complex mechanical oscillations—of surface displacement and air pressure—are generated, which are then transduced by receptors in the skin and in the inner ear. Tactile and auditory signals thus convey redundant information about texture, partially carried in the spectral content of these signals. It is no surprise, then, that the representation of temporal frequency is linked in the auditory and somatosensory systems. An emergent hypothesis is that there exists a supramodal representation of temporal frequency, and by extension texture. PMID:19721886

Active control of spectral detail radiated by an air-loaded impacted membrane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rollow, J. Douglas, IV

An active control system is developed to independently operate on the vibration of individual modes of an air-loaded drum head, resulting in changes in the acoustic field radiated from the structure. The timbre of the system is investigated, and techniques for changing the characteristic frequencies by means of the control system are proposed. A feedforward control system is constructed for empirical investigation of this approach, creating a musical instrument which can produce a variety of sounds not available with strictly mechanical systems. The work is motivated by applications for actively controlled structures, active control of sound quality, and musical acoustics. The instrument consists of a Mylar timpano head stretched over an enclosure which has been outfitted with electroacoustic drivers. Sensors are arranged on the surface of the drum head and combined to measure modal vibration, and the array of drivers allows independent control of these modes. A signal processor is used to form modal control filters which can modify the loading of each mode, changing the time-dependent and spectral characteristics, and therefore the timbre, of the radiated sound. A theoretical formulation of active control of structural vibration by means of fluid-coupled actuators is expressed, and computational solutions show the effects of fluid loading and the radiated field. Experimental results with the new instrument are shown, with implementations of the control system providing a demonstrated degree of control, and illustrating several limitations of such systems.

Welfare Status of Working Horses and Owners′ Perceptions of Their Animals

PubMed Central

Luna, Daniela; Vásquez, Rodrigo A.; Rojas, Manuel; Tadich, Tamara A.

2017-01-01

Simple Summary Appropriate strategies aimed at improving the welfare of working horses should contemplate the assessment of welfare status, as well as the evaluation of the human–animal relationship within each geo-cultural context. We assessed and compared the welfare status of working horses in two administrative regions of Chile and explored the nature of the owner–horse relationship from the perspective of the owner. The overall prevalence of health problems and negative behavior responses was low. However, significant differences between regions exist in the presence of lesions and the person responsible for managing horseshoeing. Two differing views were found regarding the owners’ perception of their horse: predominantly affective or instrumental. Despite the instrumental perception predominantly residing in one region, the affective perception was widely shared by owners in each region. The findings suggest that Chilean working horses have a, generally, good welfare and that the development of an affective owner–horse relationship is possible. Additionally, the results suggest that affective and instrumental perceptions of these animals can coexist. Abstract Appropriate interventions to improve working equine welfare should be proposed according to scientific evidence that arises from different geo-cultural contexts. This study aims to assess and compare the welfare status of working horses in two administrative regions of Chile and to determine how owners perceive their horses. Horses’ welfare status was assessed through direct indicators (direct observation and clinical examination) and indirect indicators (an interview with the owner). Owners′ perceptions of their horses were determined through a discourse analysis of their statements. In total, 100 horses and 100 owners were assessed. Results showed a low prevalence of health problems and negative behavior responses among horses in the two regions evaluated. Significant associations were found between inadequate body condition and the absence of deworming, and between hoof abnormalities and a low frequency of shoeing. Between regions, significant differences were found in the presence of lesions and the person responsible for horseshoeing. In regards to the owners′ appreciations, two differing perceptions of working horses were found: a predominantly affective perception and a perception of the animal as a working instrument. Although the instrumental perception was more frequent in the Araucania region, the affective perception was widely shared by both owner populations. The results reveal a good welfare status in working horses and suggest that both affective and instrumental perceptions of these animals can coexist. PMID:28788109

The Tripartite Model of Risk Perception (TRIRISK): Distinguishing Deliberative, Affective, and Experiential Components of Perceived Risk.

PubMed

Ferrer, Rebecca A; Klein, William M P; Persoskie, Alexander; Avishai-Yitshak, Aya; Sheeran, Paschal

2016-10-01

Although risk perception is a key predictor in health behavior theories, current conceptions of risk comprise only one (deliberative) or two (deliberative vs. affective/experiential) dimensions. This research tested a tripartite model that distinguishes among deliberative, affective, and experiential components of risk perception. In two studies, and in relation to three common diseases (cancer, heart disease, diabetes), we used confirmatory factor analyses to examine the factor structure of the tripartite risk perception (TRIRISK) model and compared the fit of the TRIRISK model to dual-factor and single-factor models. In a third study, we assessed concurrent validity by examining the impact of cancer diagnosis on (a) levels of deliberative, affective, and experiential risk perception, and (b) the strength of relations among risk components, and tested predictive validity by assessing relations with behavioral intentions to prevent cancer. The tripartite factor structure was supported, producing better model fit across diseases (studies 1 and 2). Inter-correlations among the components were significantly smaller among participants who had been diagnosed with cancer, suggesting that affected populations make finer-grained distinctions among risk perceptions (study 3). Moreover, all three risk perception components predicted unique variance in intentions to engage in preventive behavior (study 3). The TRIRISK model offers both a novel conceptualization of health-related risk perceptions, and new measures that enhance predictive validity beyond that engendered by unidimensional and bidimensional models. The present findings have implications for the ways in which risk perceptions are targeted in health behavior change interventions, health communications, and decision aids.

Children's Perceptions of TV Commercials and Products: The Effects of PSAs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christenson, Peter Gilbert

1982-01-01

Investigated whether public service announcements (PSAs) on the nature of television advertising affect (1) children's awareness of advertising intent; (2) their belief in its truthfulness; and (3) their perception of advertised products. Data indicate that PSAs can influence children's perceptions of advertising's credibility and can affect their…

Toward Instructional Leadership: Principals' Perceptions of Large-Scale Assessment in Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prytula, Michelle; Noonan, Brian; Hellsten, Laurie

2013-01-01

This paper describes a study of the perceptions that Saskatchewan school principals have regarding large-scale assessment reform and their perceptions of how assessment reform has affected their roles as principals. The findings revealed that large-scale assessments, especially provincial assessments, have affected the principal in Saskatchewan…

Understanding the Cognitive and Affective Mechanisms that Underlie Proxy Risk Perceptions among Caregivers of Asthmatic Children.

PubMed

Shepperd, James A; Lipsey, Nikolette P; Pachur, Thorsten; Waters, Erika A

2018-07-01

Medical decisions made on behalf of another person-particularly those made by adult caregivers for their minor children-are often informed by the decision maker's beliefs about the treatment's risks and benefits. However, we know little about the cognitive and affective mechanisms influencing such "proxy" risk perceptions and about how proxy risk perceptions are related to prominent judgment phenomena. Adult caregivers of minor children with asthma ( N = 132) completed an online, cross-sectional survey assessing 1) cognitions and affects that form the basis of the availability, representativeness, and affect heuristics; 2) endorsement of the absent-exempt and the better-than-average effect; and 3) proxy perceived risk and unrealistic comparative optimism of an asthma exacerbation. We used the Pediatric Asthma Control and Communication Instrument (PACCI) to assess asthma severity. Respondents with higher scores on availability, representativeness, and negative affect indicated higher proxy risk perceptions and (for representativeness only) lower unrealistic optimism, irrespective of asthma severity. Conversely, respondents who showed a stronger display of the better-than-average effect indicated lower proxy risk perceptions but did not differ in unrealistic optimism. The absent-exempt effect was unrelated to proxy risk perceptions and unrealistic optimism. Heuristic judgment processes appear to contribute to caregivers' proxy risk perceptions of their child's asthma exacerbation risk. Moreover, the display of other, possibly erroneous, judgment phenomena is associated with lower caregiver risk perceptions. Designing interventions that target these mechanisms may help caregivers work with their children to reduce exacerbation risk.

Negative affect, interpersonal perception, and binge eating behavior: An experience sampling study.

PubMed

Ambwani, Suman; Roche, Michael J; Minnick, Alyssa M; Pincus, Aaron L

2015-09-01

Etiological and maintenance models for disordered eating highlight the salience of negative affect and interpersonal dysfunction. This study employed a 14-day experience sampling procedure to assess the impact of negative affect and interpersonal perceptions on binge eating behavior. Young adult women (N = 40) with recurrent binge eating and significant clinical impairment recorded their mood, interpersonal behavior, and eating behaviors at six stratified semirandom intervals daily through the use of personal digital assistants. Although momentary negative affect was associated with binge eating behavior, average levels of negative affect over the experience sampling period were not, and interpersonal problems moderated the relationship between negative affect and binge eating. Interpersonal problems also intensified the association between momentary interpersonal perceptions and binge eating behavior. Lagged analyses indicated that previous levels of negative affect and interpersonal style also influence binge eating. The study findings suggest there may be important differences in how dispositional versus momentary experiences of negative affect are associated with binge eating. Results also highlight the importance of interpersonal problems for understanding relationships among negative affect, interpersonal perception, and binge eating behavior. These results offer several possibilities for attending to affective and interpersonal functioning in clinical practice. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The effect of face patch microstimulation on perception of faces and objects.

PubMed

Moeller, Sebastian; Crapse, Trinity; Chang, Le; Tsao, Doris Y

2017-05-01

What is the range of stimuli encoded by face-selective regions of the brain? We asked how electrical microstimulation of face patches in macaque inferotemporal cortex affects perception of faces and objects. We found that microstimulation strongly distorted face percepts and that this effect depended on precise targeting to the center of face patches. While microstimulation had no effect on the percept of many non-face objects, it did affect the percept of some, including non-face objects whose shape is consistent with a face (for example, apples) as well as somewhat facelike abstract images (for example, cartoon houses). Microstimulation even perturbed the percept of certain objects that did not activate the stimulated face patch at all. Overall, these results indicate that representation of facial identity is localized to face patches, but activity in these patches can also affect perception of face-compatible non-face objects, including objects normally represented in other parts of inferotemporal cortex.

Short-Term Exposure to One Dialect Affects Processing of Another

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hay, Jen; Drager, Katie; Warren, Paul

2010-01-01

It is well established that speakers accommodate in speech production. Recent work has shown a similar effect in perception--speech perception is affected by a listener's beliefs about the speaker. In this paper, we explore the consequences of such perceptual accommodation for experiments in speech perception and lexical access. Our interest is…

Language Experience Affects Grouping of Musical Instrument Sounds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bhatara, Anjali; Boll-Avetisyan, Natalie; Agus, Trevor; Höhle, Barbara; Nazzi, Thierry

2016-01-01

Language experience clearly affects the perception of speech, but little is known about whether these differences in perception extend to non-speech sounds. In this study, we investigated rhythmic perception of non-linguistic sounds in speakers of French and German using a grouping task, in which complexity (variability in sounds, presence of…

Does the Perception that Stress Affects Health Matter? The Association with Health and Mortality

PubMed Central

Keller, Abiola; Litzelman, Kristin; Wisk, Lauren E.; Maddox, Torsheika; Cheng, Erika Rose; Creswell, Paul D.; Witt, Whitney P.

2012-01-01

Objective This study sought to examine the relationship among the amount of stress, the perception that stress affects health, and health and mortality outcomes in a nationally-representative sample of U.S. adults. Methods Data from the 1998 National Health Interview Survey were linked to prospective National Death Index mortality data through 2006. Separate logistic regression models were used to examine the factors associated with current health status and psychological distress. Cox proportional hazard models were used to determine the impact of perceiving that stress affects health on all-cause mortality. Each model specifically examined the interaction between the amount of stress and the perception that stress affects health, controlling for sociodemographic, health behavior, and access to healthcare factors. Results 33.7% of nearly 186 million (n=28,753) U.S. adults perceived that stress affected their health a lot or to some extent. Both higher levels of reported stress and the perception that stress affects health were independently associated with an increased likelihood of worse health and mental health outcomes. The amount of stress and the perception that stress affects health interacted such that those who reported a lot of stress and that stress impacted their health a lot had a 43% increased risk of premature death (HR = 1.43, 95% CI [1.20, 1.71]). Conclusions High amounts of stress and the perception that stress impacts health are each associated with poor health and mental health. Individuals who perceived that stress affects their health and reported a large amount of stress had an increased risk of premature death. PMID:22201278

Factors Affecting the Perception of Importance and Practice of Patient Safety Management among Hospital Employees in Korea.

PubMed

Kim, In-Sook; Park, MiJeong; Park, Mi-Young; Yoo, Hana; Choi, Jihea

2013-03-01

The study was undertaken to identify factors affecting perception of the importance and practice of patient safety management (PSM) among hospital employees in Korea. This study was conducted using a descriptive design and a self-report questionnaire. Two hundred and eighty employees were recruited from three hospitals using a convenience sampling method. Measures were perception of the importance, practice, and characteristics of PSM. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including t test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation analysis, and multiple regression. Factors affecting perception of the importance of PSM were whether hospital employees were in contact with patients while on duty, weekly working hours, education on PSM, and perceived adequacy of PSM system construction. Factors affecting the practice of PSM were perceived adequacy of work load, perceived adequacy of PSM system construction and perception of its importance. The findings of this study indicate a need for developing strategies to improve perception of the importance and practice of PSM among all hospital employees, and provide a reference for future experimental studies. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The Affective Bases of Risk Perception: Negative Feelings and Stress Mediate the Relationship between Mental Imagery and Risk Perception.

PubMed

Sobkow, Agata; Traczyk, Jakub; Zaleskiewicz, Tomasz

2016-01-01

Recent research has documented that affect plays a crucial role in risk perception. When no information about numerical risk estimates is available (e.g., probability of loss or magnitude of consequences), people may rely on positive and negative affect toward perceived risk. However, determinants of affective reactions to risks are poorly understood. In a series of three experiments, we addressed the question of whether and to what degree mental imagery eliciting negative affect and stress influences risk perception. In each experiment, participants were instructed to visualize consequences of risk taking and to rate riskiness. In Experiment 1, participants who imagined negative risk consequences reported more negative affect and perceived risk as higher compared to the control condition. In Experiment 2, we found that this effect was driven by affect elicited by mental imagery rather than its vividness and intensity. In this study, imagining positive risk consequences led to lower perceived risk than visualizing negative risk consequences. Finally, we tested the hypothesis that negative affect related to higher perceived risk was caused by negative feelings of stress. In Experiment 3, we introduced risk-irrelevant stress to show that participants in the stress condition rated perceived risk as higher in comparison to the control condition. This experiment showed that higher ratings of perceived risk were influenced by psychological stress. Taken together, our results demonstrate that affect-laden mental imagery dramatically changes risk perception through negative affect (i.e., psychological stress).

The Affective Bases of Risk Perception: Negative Feelings and Stress Mediate the Relationship between Mental Imagery and Risk Perception

PubMed Central

Sobkow, Agata; Traczyk, Jakub; Zaleskiewicz, Tomasz

2016-01-01

Recent research has documented that affect plays a crucial role in risk perception. When no information about numerical risk estimates is available (e.g., probability of loss or magnitude of consequences), people may rely on positive and negative affect toward perceived risk. However, determinants of affective reactions to risks are poorly understood. In a series of three experiments, we addressed the question of whether and to what degree mental imagery eliciting negative affect and stress influences risk perception. In each experiment, participants were instructed to visualize consequences of risk taking and to rate riskiness. In Experiment 1, participants who imagined negative risk consequences reported more negative affect and perceived risk as higher compared to the control condition. In Experiment 2, we found that this effect was driven by affect elicited by mental imagery rather than its vividness and intensity. In this study, imagining positive risk consequences led to lower perceived risk than visualizing negative risk consequences. Finally, we tested the hypothesis that negative affect related to higher perceived risk was caused by negative feelings of stress. In Experiment 3, we introduced risk-irrelevant stress to show that participants in the stress condition rated perceived risk as higher in comparison to the control condition. This experiment showed that higher ratings of perceived risk were influenced by psychological stress. Taken together, our results demonstrate that affect-laden mental imagery dramatically changes risk perception through negative affect (i.e., psychological stress). PMID:27445901

Dementia

MedlinePlus

... living. Functions affected include memory, language skills, visual perception, problem solving, self-management, and the ability to ... living. Functions affected include memory, language skills, visual perception, problem solving, self-management, and the ability to ...

The Distinct Role of Comparative Risk Perceptions in a Breast Cancer Prevention Program

PubMed Central

Dillard, Amanda J.; Ubel, Peter A.; Smith, Dylan M.; Zikmund-Fisher, Brian J.; Nair, Vijay; Derry, Holly A.; Zhang, Aijun; Pitsch, Rosemarie K.; Alford, Sharon Hensley; McClure, Jennifer B.; Fagerlin, Angela

2013-01-01

Background Comparative risk perceptions may rival other types of information in terms of effects on health behavior decisions. Purpose We examined associations between comparative risk perceptions, affect, and behavior while controlling for absolute risk perceptions and actual risk. Methods Women at an increased risk of breast cancer participated in a program to learn about tamoxifen which can reduce the risk of breast cancer. Women reported comparative risk perceptions of breast cancer and completed measures of anxiety, knowledge, and tamoxifen-related behavior intentions. Three months later, women reported their behavior. Results Comparative risk perceptions were positively correlated with anxiety, knowledge, intentions, and behavior three months later. After controlling for participants’ actual risk of breast cancer and absolute risk perceptions, comparative risk perceptions predicted anxiety and knowledge, but not intentions or behavior. Conclusions Comparative risk perceptions can affect patient outcomes like anxiety and knowledge independently of absolute risk perceptions and actual risk information. PMID:21698518

Emotion perception and empathy: An individual differences test of relations.

PubMed

Olderbak, Sally; Wilhelm, Oliver

2017-10-01

Numerous theories posit a positive relation between perceiving emotion expressed in the face of a stranger (emotion perception) and feeling or cognitively understanding the emotion of that person (affective and cognitive empathy, respectively). However, when relating individual differences in emotion perception with individual differences in affective or cognitive empathy, effect sizes are contradictory, but often not significantly different from zero. Based on 4 studies (study ns range from 97 to 486 persons; n total = 958) that differ from one another on many design and sample characteristics, applying advanced modeling techniques to control for measurement error, we estimate relations between affective empathy, cognitive empathy, and emotion perception. Relations are tested separately for each of the 6 basic emotions (an emotion-specific model) as well as across all emotions (an emotion-general model). Reflecting the literature, effect sizes and statistical significance with an emotion-general model vary across the individual studies (rs range from -.001 to .24 for emotion perception with affective empathy and -.01 to .39 for emotion perception with cognitive empathy), with a meta-analysis of these results indicating emotion perception is weakly related with affective (r = .13, p = .003) and cognitive empathy (r = .13, p = .05). Relations are not strengthened in an emotion-specific model. We argue that the weak effect sizes and inconsistency across studies reflects a neglected distinction of measurement approach-specifically, empathy is assessed as typical behavior and emotion perception is assessed as maximal effort-and conclude with considerations regarding the measurement of each construct. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Effect of different professions' clothing on children's height perception.

PubMed

Rashidi, Mahmoud; Keshtkaran, Katayoun; Zabihidan, Sahar; Hosseinchari, Masoud; Pazhoohi, Farid

2012-11-01

Height is a biological factor that can affect how others perceive and behave toward an individual. Height is a biological factor that can affect how others perceive and behave toward an individual. Clothing, as a non-biological factor, can affect these perceptions of height. In this study weClothing, as a non-biological factor, can affect these perceptions of height. In this study we investigated the effect of different professions' clothing on children's perceptions of height. One investigated the effect of different professions' clothing on children's perceptions of height. One hundred and eighty primary school students participated in this study and estimated the height of an actor in the clothing of four different professions which differed in terms of prestige. The results of study showed that the difference between the perceived and actual height was larger when participants estimated the height of socially esteemed professions. Also there was no difference between girls' and boys' estimation of different professions' height. The implications of these findings are discussed.

The impact of middle manager affective commitment on perceived improvement program implementation success.

PubMed

Fryer, Ashley-Kay; Tucker, Anita L; Singer, Sara J

Recent literature suggests that middle manager affective commitment (emotional attachment, identification, and involvement) to an improvement program may influence implementation success. However, less is known about the interplay between middle manager affective commitment and frontline worker commitment, another important driver of implementation success. We contribute to this research by surveying middle managers who directly manage frontline workers on nursing units. We assess how middle manager affective commitment is related to their perceptions of implementation success and whether their perceptions of frontline worker support mediate this relationship. We also test whether a set of organizational support factors foster middle manager affective commitment. We adapt survey measures of manager affective commitment to our research context of hospitals. We surveyed 67 nurse managers from 19 U.S. hospitals. We use hierarchical linear regression to assess relationships among middle manager affective commitment to their units' falls reduction program and their perceptions of three constructs related to the program: frontline worker support, organizational support, and implementation success. Middle manager affective commitment to their unit's falls reduction program is positively associated with their perception of implementation success. This relationship is mediated by their perception of frontline worker support for the falls program. Moreover, middle managers' affective commitment to their unit's falls program mediates the relationship between perceived organizational support for the program and perceived implementation success. We, through this research, offer an important contribution by providing empirical support of factors that may influence successful implementation of an improvement program: middle manager affective commitment, frontline worker support, and organizational support for an improvement program. Increasing levels of middle manager affective commitment to an improvement program could strengthen program implementation success by facilitating frontline worker support for the program. Furthermore, providing the organizational support items in our survey construct may bolster middle manager affective commitment.

Does the perception that stress affects health matter? The association with health and mortality.

PubMed

Keller, Abiola; Litzelman, Kristin; Wisk, Lauren E; Maddox, Torsheika; Cheng, Erika Rose; Creswell, Paul D; Witt, Whitney P

2012-09-01

This study sought to examine the relationship among the amount of stress, the perception that stress affects health, and health and mortality outcomes in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. Data from the 1998 National Health Interview Survey were linked to prospective National Death Index mortality data through 2006. Separate logistic regression models were used to examine the factors associated with current health status and psychological distress. Cox proportional hazard models were used to determine the impact of perceiving that stress affects health on all-cause mortality. Each model specifically examined the interaction between the amount of stress and the perception that stress affects health, controlling for sociodemographic, health behavior, and access to health care factors. 33.7% of nearly 186 million (unweighted n = 28,753) U.S. adults perceived that stress affected their health a lot or to some extent. Both higher levels of reported stress and the perception that stress affects health were independently associated with an increased likelihood of worse health and mental health outcomes. The amount of stress and the perception that stress affects health interacted such that those who reported a lot of stress and that stress impacted their health a lot had a 43% increased risk of premature death (HR = 1.43, 95% CI [1.2, 1.7]). High amounts of stress and the perception that stress impacts health are each associated with poor health and mental health. Individuals who perceived that stress affects their health and reported a large amount of stress had an increased risk of premature death. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

The role of vision in auditory distance perception.

PubMed

Calcagno, Esteban R; Abregú, Ezequiel L; Eguía, Manuel C; Vergara, Ramiro

2012-01-01

In humans, multisensory interaction is an important strategy for improving the detection of stimuli of different nature and reducing the variability of response. It is known that the presence of visual information affects the auditory perception in the horizontal plane (azimuth), but there are few researches that study the influence of vision in the auditory distance perception. In general, the data obtained from these studies are contradictory and do not completely define the way in which visual cues affect the apparent distance of a sound source. Here psychophysical experiments on auditory distance perception in humans are performed, including and excluding visual cues. The results show that the apparent distance from the source is affected by the presence of visual information and that subjects can store in their memory a representation of the environment that later improves the perception of distance.

Perceptions of emotion and age among younger, midlife, and older adults.

PubMed

Santorelli, Gennarina D; Ready, Rebecca E; Mather, Molly A

2018-03-01

Older adults report greater emotional well-being than younger persons, yet negative stereotypes about aging are pervasive. Little is known about age group perceptions of emotion in adulthood, particularly for familiar persons. Thus, this project determined perceptions of general affect in familiar younger and older adults. In two studies, participants (Study 1, younger adult n = 123, older adult n = 43; Study 2, younger adult n = 34, midlife adult n = 41, older adult n = 16) provided self-report data about their affect in general, as well as reported on the affect of a familiar younger person (aged 18--34) and a familiar older person (aged 65 or older). Emotion scales assessed high- and low-arousal positive and negative affect. Results suggest a less favorable perception of emotion experiences of older adults compared to younger adults. Specifically, participants of all age groups rated older adults as having lower positive emotions and higher negative emotions than is found in self-report data. Perceptions of emotion in older adulthood reflect stereotypes of negative functioning. Older adult participants were not immune to holding negative views about older adults. Negative perceptions about emotion experiences in later life may be detrimental to the physical and mental health of older adults.

Depression, anxiety and positive affect in people diagnosed with low-grade tumours: the role of illness perceptions.

PubMed

Keeling, Melanie; Bambrough, Jacki; Simpson, Jane

2013-06-01

People with low-grade brain tumour experience a range of emotional, behavioural and psychosocial consequences. Using Leventhal's self-regulation model to explore biopsychosocial factors associated with distress, we examine the relationships between illness perceptions, coping and depression, anxiety and positive affect. A cross-sectional, self-report study in which 74 people (54% women) diagnosed with a low-grade brain tumour completed the Illness Perceptions Questionnaire-Revised was conducted. Mean time since diagnosis was 27.69 months (SD = 19.79). Mean age was 38.30 years (SD = 10.67). The Illness Perceptions Questionnaire-Revised, in addition to clinical, demographic and coping variables previously associated with psychological distress, was used to predict three psychological outcomes: depression, anxiety and positive affect. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that a biopsychosocial causal attribution was a significant predictor of anxiety and depression. Illness identity also emerged as a significant predictor of depression scores. Coping through self-blame was the only coping variable to emerge as a significant predictor of anxiety scores. A combination of coping through venting, acceptance, positive reframing, denial, behavioural disengagement and self-blame contributed to the variance in all three psychological outcome scores. No illness perception variables significantly predicted positive affect. Illness perceptions play a significant role in emotional distress experienced by people with low-grade brain tumours. Illness perceptions did not play a significant role in positive affect. Coping variables were shown to significantly contribute to the scores on all three psychological outcomes. Results suggest interventions targeted at modifying illness perceptions and enhancing problem-focused coping strategies may reduce psychological distress. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Impact of hospital security programmes and workplace aggression on nurse perceptions of safety.

PubMed

Blando, James D; O'Hagan, Emily; Casteel, Carri; Nocera, Mary-Alice; Peek-Asa, Corinne

2013-04-01

To assess how nurses' perception of their safety and risk of violence was affected by their work environment and whether this perception correlated with their actual risk. The work environment has an impact on nurses' perception of their risk of violence and this perception affects worker productivity, quality, employee retention, worker satisfaction and their actual safety. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in person of 314 emergency department nurses and 143 psychiatric nurses, and assault data was collected from injury logs. This study found that nurses in the emergency and psychiatric units differed in their perception of violence and safety. The workplace elements that led to a perception of lower risk of violence were not correlated with a lower rate of injury from violent acts. The nurses' beliefs about the adequacy of security equipment, security guards and the frequency of verbal abuse were strongly correlated with perceived safety. Several factors that influence nurses' perception of their risk of violence are not well correlated with their actual risk. Managers must address workplace elements that affect nurse perceptions because this has an impact on quality and employee retention. They must also address factors that have an impact on the actual risk of violence because this study showed, for the first time, that these may differ from perceptions. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Risk perception of tsunami in the community of Arauco, Chile - a contribution of risk perception to disaster risk management at local level

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kubisch, M. Sc. Susanne; Edilia Jaque Castillo, Dra.; Braun, JProf. Andreas Ch., ,, Dr.

2017-04-01

The research was carried out in the city center of the coastal community of Arauco, Central Chile. The community of Arauco was one of the most affected communities of the tsunami in Chile, the 27th of February 2010. For the data evaluation, the affected inhabitants of the community have been surveyed via standardized questionnaires. Furthermore experts of different fields, amongst others, Disaster Risk Management (DRM), risk education, urban and regional planning, as well as geology have been consulted in form of expert interviews. The results revealed a high risk perception part of the affected community and a weakness of DRM especially at local level, which opens a gap between the evaluation and treatment of risk by experts and risk perception of the affected community. The risk perception of the affected community, here, is predominantly determined by ecological vulnerability, expressed in direct and indirect experience of a tsunami and by institutional vulnerability, expressed among others by a weakness of DRM at local level and a mistrust in responsible institutions for DRM. Due to the institutional vulnerability and the mistrust in responsible institutions we recommend a Community Based Approach (CBA) to strengthen DRM at local level and to take advantage of the high risk perception and knowledge of the affected community. Involving the community in DRM, we assume to close the gap between risk evaluation of experts and risk perception of the inhabitants and to come up with the unique necessities and conditions at local level. Especially in centralized countries, DRM is less effective, because at the one hand, decisions are made distant from the affected communities, so that measures often do not come up with the unique conditions and necessities at local level, and on the other hand measures often do not find acceptance by the affected community. Furthermore centralized DRM is often not effective and quick in response in case of emergency. Another obstacle for an effective DRM, often forms the general mistrust in governmental institutions. In these cases the participation of the affected communities in form of CBAs are assumed to overcome these problems.

Symmetric Electrode Spanning Narrows the Excitation Patterns of Partial Tripolar Stimuli in Cochlear Implants.

PubMed

Luo, Xin; Wu, Ching-Chih

2016-12-01

In cochlear implants (CIs), standard partial tripolar (pTP) mode reduces current spread by returning a fraction of the current to two adjacent flanking electrodes within the cochlea. Symmetric electrode spanning (i.e., separating both the apical and basal return electrodes from the main electrode by one electrode) has been shown to increase the pitch of pTP stimuli, when the ratio of intracochlear return current was fixed. To explain the pitch increase caused by symmetric spanning in pTP mode, this study measured the electrical potentials of both standard and symmetrically spanned pTP stimuli on a main electrode EL8 in five CI ears using electrical field imaging (EFI). In addition, the spatial profiles of evoked compound action potentials (ECAP) and the psychophysical forward masking (PFM) patterns were also measured for both stimuli. The EFI, ECAP, and PFM patterns of a given stimulus differed in shape details, reflecting the different levels of auditory processing and different ratios of intracochlear return current across the measurement methods. Compared to the standard pTP stimuli, the symmetrically spanned pTP stimuli significantly reduced the areas under the curves of the normalized EFI and PFM patterns, without shifting the pattern peaks and centroids (both around EL8). The more focused excitation patterns with symmetric spanning may have caused the previously reported pitch increase, due to an interaction between pitch and timbre perception. Being able to reduce the spread of excitation, pTP mode symmetric spanning is a promising stimulation strategy that may further increase spectral resolution and frequency selectivity with CIs.

The role of music in deaf culture: deaf students' perception of emotion in music.

PubMed

Darrow, Alice-Ann

2006-01-01

Although emotional interpretation of music is an individual and variable experience, researchers have found that typical listeners are quite consistent in associating basic or primary emotions such as happiness, sadness, fear, and anger to musical compositions. It has been suggested that an individual with a sensorineural hearing loss, or any lesion in auditory perceptors in the brain may have trouble perceiving music emotionally. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether students with a hearing loss who associate with the deaf culture, assign the same emotions to music as students without a hearing loss. Sixty-two elementary and junior high students at a Midwestern state school for the deaf and students at neighboring elementary and junior high schools served as participants. Participants at the state school for the deaf had hearing losses ranging from moderate to severe. Twelve film score excerpts, composed to depict the primary emotions-happiness, sadness, and fear, were used as the musical stimuli. Participants were asked to assign an emotion to each excerpt. Results indicated a significant difference between the Deaf and typical hearing participants' responses, with hearing participants' responses more in agreement with the composers' intent. No significant differences were found for age or gender. Analyses of the Deaf participants' responses indicate that timbre, texture, and rhythm are perhaps the musical elements most influential in transmitting emotion to persons with a hearing loss. Adaptive strategies are suggested for assisting children who are deaf in accessing the elements of music intended to portray emotion.

Do Communication Disorders Extend to Musical Messages?: An Answer from Children with Hearing Loss or Autism Spectrum Disorders

PubMed Central

Whipple, Christina M.; Gfeller, Kate; Driscoll, Virginia; Oleson, Jacob; McGregor, Karla

2014-01-01

Background Effective musical communication requires conveyance of the intended message in a manner perceptible to the receiver. Communication disorders that impair transmitting or decoding of structural features of music (e.g., pitch, timbre) and/or symbolic representation may result in atypical musical communication, which can have a negative impact on music therapy interventions. Objective This study compared recognition of symbolic representation of emotions or movements in music by two groups of children with different communicative characteristics: severe to profound hearing loss (using cochlear implants [CI]) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Their responses were compared to those of children with typical-development and normal hearing (TD-NH). Accuracy was examined as a function of communicative status, emotional or movement category, and individual characteristics. Methods Participants listened to recorded musical excerpts conveying emotions or movements and matched them with labels. Measures relevant to auditory and/or language function were also gathered. Results There was no significant difference between the ASD and TD-NH groups in identification of musical emotions or movements. However, the CI group was significantly less accurate than the other two groups in identification of both emotions and movements. Mixed effects logistic regression revealed different patterns of accuracy for specific emotions as a function of group. Conclusion Conveyance of emotions or movements through music may be decoded differently by persons with different types of communication disorders. Because music is the primary therapeutic tool in music therapy sessions, clinicians should consider these differential abilities when selecting music for clinical interventions focusing on emotions or movement. PMID:25691513

Perceptually Salient Regions of the Modulation Power Spectrum for Musical Instrument Identification.

PubMed

Thoret, Etienne; Depalle, Philippe; McAdams, Stephen

2017-01-01

The ability of a listener to recognize sound sources, and in particular musical instruments from the sounds they produce, raises the question of determining the acoustical information used to achieve such a task. It is now well known that the shapes of the temporal and spectral envelopes are crucial to the recognition of a musical instrument. More recently, Modulation Power Spectra (MPS) have been shown to be a representation that potentially explains the perception of musical instrument sounds. Nevertheless, the question of which specific regions of this representation characterize a musical instrument is still open. An identification task was applied to two subsets of musical instruments: tuba, trombone, cello, saxophone, and clarinet on the one hand, and marimba, vibraphone, guitar, harp, and viola pizzicato on the other. The sounds were processed with filtered spectrotemporal modulations with 2D Gaussian windows. The most relevant regions of this representation for instrument identification were determined for each instrument and reveal the regions essential for their identification. The method used here is based on a "molecular approach," the so-called bubbles method. Globally, the instruments were correctly identified and the lower values of spectrotemporal modulations are the most important regions of the MPS for recognizing instruments. Interestingly, instruments that were confused with each other led to non-overlapping regions and were confused when they were filtered in the most salient region of the other instrument. These results suggest that musical instrument timbres are characterized by specific spectrotemporal modulations, information which could contribute to music information retrieval tasks such as automatic source recognition.

The developmental dynamics of children's academic performance and mothers' homework-related affect and practices.

PubMed

Silinskas, Gintautas; Kiuru, Noona; Aunola, Kaisa; Lerkkanen, Marja-Kristiina; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

2015-04-01

This study investigated the longitudinal associations between children's academic performance and their mothers' affect, practices, and perceptions of their children in homework situations. The children's (n = 2,261) performance in reading and math was tested in Grade 1 and Grade 4, and the mothers (n = 1,476) filled out questionnaires on their affect, practices, and perceptions while their children were in Grades 2, 3, and 4. The results showed, first, that the more help in homework the mothers reported, the slower was the development of their children's academic performance from Grade 1 to Grade 4. This negative association was true especially if mothers perceived their children not to be able to work autonomously. Second, children's good academic performance in Grade 1 predicted mothers' perception of child's ability to be autonomous and positive affect in homework situations later on, whereas poor performance predicted mothers' negative affect, help, and monitoring. Finally, mothers' negative affect mediated the association between children's poor performance, maternal practices, and perceptions of their children. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Increased discriminability of authenticity from multimodal laughter is driven by auditory information.

PubMed

Lavan, Nadine; McGettigan, Carolyn

2017-10-01

We present an investigation of the perception of authenticity in audiovisual laughter, in which we contrast spontaneous and volitional samples and examine the contributions of unimodal affective information to multimodal percepts. In a pilot study, we demonstrate that listeners perceive spontaneous laughs as more authentic than volitional ones, both in unimodal (audio-only, visual-only) and multimodal contexts (audiovisual). In the main experiment, we show that the discriminability of volitional and spontaneous laughter is enhanced for multimodal laughter. Analyses of relationships between affective ratings and the perception of authenticity show that, while both unimodal percepts significantly predict evaluations of audiovisual laughter, it is auditory affective cues that have the greater influence on multimodal percepts. We discuss differences and potential mismatches in emotion signalling through voices and faces, in the context of spontaneous and volitional behaviour, and highlight issues that should be addressed in future studies of dynamic multimodal emotion processing.

The Role of Affective and Cognitive Individual Differences in Social Perception.

PubMed

Aquino, Antonio; Haddock, Geoffrey; Maio, Gregory R; Wolf, Lukas J; Alparone, Francesca R

2016-06-01

Three studies explored the connection between social perception processes and individual differences in the use of affective and cognitive information in relation to attitudes. Study 1 revealed that individuals high in need for affect (NFA) accentuated differences in evaluations of warm and cold traits, whereas individuals high in need for cognition (NFC) accentuated differences in evaluations of competent and incompetent traits. Study 2 revealed that individual differences in NFA predicted liking of warm or cold targets, whereas individual differences in NFC predicted perceptions of competent or incompetent targets. Furthermore, the effects of NFA and NFC were independent of structural bases and meta-bases of attitudes. Study 3 revealed that differences in the evaluation of warm and cold traits mediated the effects of NFA and NFC on liking of targets. The implications for social perception processes and for individual differences in affect-cognition are discussed. © 2016 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Physicians' communication and perceptions of patients: is it how they look, how they talk, or is it just the doctor?

PubMed

Street, Richard L; Gordon, Howard; Haidet, Paul

2007-08-01

Although physicians' communication style and perceptions affect outcomes, few studies have examined how these perceptions relate to the way physicians communicate with patients. Moreover, while any number of factors may affect the communication process, few studies have analyzed these effects collectively in order to identify the most powerful influences on physician communication and perceptions. Adopting an ecological approach, this investigation examined: (a) the relationships of physicians' patient-centered communication (informative, supportive, partnership-building) and affect (positive, contentious) on their perceptions of the patient, and (b) the degree to which communication and perceptions were affected by the physicians' characteristics, patients' demographic characteristics, physician-patient concordance, and the patient's communication. Physicians (N=29) and patients (N=207) from 10 outpatient settings in the United States participated in the study. From audio-recordings of these visits, coders rated the physicians' communication and affect as well as the patients' participation and affect. Doctors were more patient-centered with patients they perceived as better communicators, more satisfied, and more likely to adhere. Physicians displayed more patient-centered communication and more favorably perceived patients who expressed positive affect, were more involved, and who were less contentious. Physicians were more contentious with black patients, whom they also perceived as less effective communicators and less satisfied. Finally, physicians who reported a patient-centered orientation to the doctor-patient relationship also were more patient-centered in their communication. The results suggest that reciprocity and mutual influence have a strong effect on these interactions in that more positive (or negative) communication from one participant leads to similar responses from the other. Physicians' encounters with black patients revealed communicative difficulties that may lower quality of care for these patients.

Linking prenatal experience to the emerging musical mind.

PubMed

Ullal-Gupta, Sangeeta; Vanden Bosch der Nederlanden, Christina M; Tichko, Parker; Lahav, Amir; Hannon, Erin E

2013-09-03

The musical brain is built over time through experience with a multitude of sounds in the auditory environment. However, learning the melodies, timbres, and rhythms unique to the music and language of one's culture begins already within the mother's womb during the third trimester of human development. We review evidence that the intrauterine auditory environment plays a key role in shaping later auditory development and musical preferences. We describe evidence that externally and internally generated sounds influence the developing fetus, and argue that such prenatal auditory experience may set the trajectory for the development of the musical mind.

Students' Achievement Goals, Emotion Perception Ability and Affect and Performance in the Classroom: A Multilevel Examination

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vassiou, Aikaterini; Mouratidis, Athanasios; Andreou, Eleni; Kafetsios, Konstantinos

2016-01-01

Performance at school is affected not only by students' achievement goals but also by emotional exchanges among classmates and their teacher. In this study, we investigated relationships between students' achievement goals and emotion perception ability and class affect and performance. Participants were 949 Greek adolescent students in 49 classes…

Affective Responses to Acute Exercise in Elderly Impaired Males: The Moderating Effects of Self-Efficacy and Age.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAuley, Edward; And Others

1995-01-01

Examined relationships between perceptions of personal efficacy and affective responsibility to acute exercise in elderly male inpatients and outpatients at a Veterans Administration Medical Center. A significant change in feelings of fatigue was revealed over time but exercise effects on affect were shown to be moderated by perceptions of…

Factors Affecting Parent’s Perception on Air Quality—From the Individual to the Community Level

PubMed Central

Guo, Yulin; Liu, Fengfeng; Lu, Yuanan; Mao, Zongfu; Lu, Hanson; Wu, Yanyan; Chu, Yuanyuan; Yu, Lichen; Liu, Yisi; Ren, Meng; Li, Na; Chen, Xi; Xiang, Hao

2016-01-01

The perception of air quality significantly affects the acceptance of the public of the government’s environmental policies. The aim of this research is to explore the relationship between the perception of the air quality of parents and scientific monitoring data and to analyze the factors that affect parents’ perceptions. Scientific data of air quality were obtained from Wuhan’s environmental condition reports. One thousand parents were investigated for their knowledge and perception of air quality. Scientific data show that the air quality of Wuhan follows an improving trend in general, while most participants believed that the air quality of Wuhan has deteriorated, which indicates a significant difference between public perception and reality. On the individual level, respondents with an age of 40 or above (40 or above: OR = 3.252; 95% CI: 1.170–9.040), a higher educational level (college and above: OR = 7.598; 95% CI: 2.244–25.732) or children with poor healthy conditions (poor: OR = 6.864; 95% CI: 2.212–21.302) have much more negative perception of air quality. On the community level, industrial facilities, vehicles and city construction have major effects on parents’ perception of air quality. Our investigation provides baseline information for environmental policy researchers and makers regarding the public’s perception and expectation of air quality and the benefits to the environmental policy completing and enforcing. PMID:27187432

Factors Affecting Parent's Perception on Air Quality-From the Individual to the Community Level.

PubMed

Guo, Yulin; Liu, Fengfeng; Lu, Yuanan; Mao, Zongfu; Lu, Hanson; Wu, Yanyan; Chu, Yuanyuan; Yu, Lichen; Liu, Yisi; Ren, Meng; Li, Na; Chen, Xi; Xiang, Hao

2016-05-12

The perception of air quality significantly affects the acceptance of the public of the government's environmental policies. The aim of this research is to explore the relationship between the perception of the air quality of parents and scientific monitoring data and to analyze the factors that affect parents' perceptions. Scientific data of air quality were obtained from Wuhan's environmental condition reports. One thousand parents were investigated for their knowledge and perception of air quality. Scientific data show that the air quality of Wuhan follows an improving trend in general, while most participants believed that the air quality of Wuhan has deteriorated, which indicates a significant difference between public perception and reality. On the individual level, respondents with an age of 40 or above (40 or above: OR = 3.252; 95% CI: 1.170-9.040), a higher educational level (college and above: OR = 7.598; 95% CI: 2.244-25.732) or children with poor healthy conditions (poor: OR = 6.864; 95% CI: 2.212-21.302) have much more negative perception of air quality. On the community level, industrial facilities, vehicles and city construction have major effects on parents' perception of air quality. Our investigation provides baseline information for environmental policy researchers and makers regarding the public's perception and expectation of air quality and the benefits to the environmental policy completing and enforcing.

A study on the risk perception of light pollution and the process of social amplification of risk in Korea.

PubMed

Kim, Kyung Hee; Choi, Jae Wook; Lee, Eunil; Cho, Yong Min; Ahn, Hyung Rae

2015-05-01

In this study, the risk perception level of each light pollution type was analyzed, and the effects of the variables (e.g., psychometric paradigm factor, trust in the government, etc.) on the process of the increase in the risk perception were analyzed. For the sample population (1096 persons) in Korea, the risk perception levels of each light pollution type and other environmental and health risk factors were compared, and the relative magnitude was examined. In addition, to test which variables affect the group with high-risk perception of each light pollution type, a logistic regression analysis was performed. For the group with highest risk perception of light pollution, the odds ratios (OR) of all psychometric paradigms (excluding controllability) increased compared to those of the group with low-risk perception. Additionally, the level showing the acquisition of information from the media and the recollection level of media criticism on each light pollution type showed a statistically significant increase. Especially, the risk perception of light trespass increased as trust in the government decreased. The significance of this study includes the finding that the public's risk perception of light pollution was significantly affected by the psychometric paradigm factors. Moreover, this study analyzed the differences of the variables that affect the increase in the risk perception of each light pollution type and provided a theoretical framework that can practically reflect the strategy for the risk communication of light pollution.

The influence of physical self-perception of female college students participating in Pilates classes on perceived health state and psychological wellbeing

PubMed Central

Roh, Su Yeon

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of physical self-perception of female college students participating in Pilates on perceived health state and psychological wellbeing. The subjects of this study were 187 female college students participating in Pilates classes in six universities located in Gyeonggi-do. The collected data was analyzed by using SPSS and AMOS 18.0 version. The results are as follows. First, the physical self-perception of female college students participating in Pilates classes affects their perceived health state. Second, the physical self-perception of female college students participating in Pilates classes affects their psychological well-being. Third, the perceived health state of female college students participating in Pilates classes affects their psychological well-being. Fourth, there is a causal relationship among the physical self-perception, perceived health state, and psychological well-being of female college students participating in Pilates classes. In particular, the physical self-perception obtained by the students through their Pilates classes strengthens their psychological well-being through their perceived health state. PMID:29740551

The influence of physical self-perception of female college students participating in Pilates classes on perceived health state and psychological wellbeing.

PubMed

Roh, Su Yeon

2018-04-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of physical self-perception of female college students participating in Pilates on perceived health state and psychological wellbeing. The subjects of this study were 187 female college students participating in Pilates classes in six universities located in Gyeonggi-do. The collected data was analyzed by using SPSS and AMOS 18.0 version. The results are as follows. First, the physical self-perception of female college students participating in Pilates classes affects their perceived health state. Second, the physical self-perception of female college students participating in Pilates classes affects their psychological well-being. Third, the perceived health state of female college students participating in Pilates classes affects their psychological well-being. Fourth, there is a causal relationship among the physical self-perception, perceived health state, and psychological well-being of female college students participating in Pilates classes. In particular, the physical self-perception obtained by the students through their Pilates classes strengthens their psychological well-being through their perceived health state.

Graphic Warning Labels Elicit Affective and Thoughtful Responses from Smokers: Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

PubMed

Evans, Abigail T; Peters, Ellen; Strasser, Andrew A; Emery, Lydia F; Sheerin, Kaitlin M; Romer, Daniel

2015-01-01

Observational research suggests that placing graphic images on cigarette warning labels can reduce smoking rates, but field studies lack experimental control. Our primary objective was to determine the psychological processes set in motion by naturalistic exposure to graphic vs. text-only warnings in a randomized clinical trial involving exposure to modified cigarette packs over a 4-week period. Theories of graphic-warning impact were tested by examining affect toward smoking, credibility of warning information, risk perceptions, quit intentions, warning label memory, and smoking risk knowledge. Adults who smoked between 5 and 40 cigarettes daily (N = 293; mean age = 33.7), did not have a contra-indicated medical condition, and did not intend to quit were recruited from Philadelphia, PA and Columbus, OH. Smokers were randomly assigned to receive their own brand of cigarettes for four weeks in one of three warning conditions: text only, graphic images plus text, or graphic images with elaborated text. Data from 244 participants who completed the trial were analyzed in structural-equation models. The presence of graphic images (compared to text-only) caused more negative affect toward smoking, a process that indirectly influenced risk perceptions and quit intentions (e.g., image->negative affect->risk perception->quit intention). Negative affect from graphic images also enhanced warning credibility including through increased scrutiny of the warnings, a process that also indirectly affected risk perceptions and quit intentions (e.g., image->negative affect->risk scrutiny->warning credibility->risk perception->quit intention). Unexpectedly, elaborated text reduced warning credibility. Finally, graphic warnings increased warning-information recall and indirectly increased smoking-risk knowledge at the end of the trial and one month later. In the first naturalistic clinical trial conducted, graphic warning labels are more effective than text-only warnings in encouraging smokers to consider quitting and in educating them about smoking's risks. Negative affective reactions to smoking, thinking about risks, and perceptions of credibility are mediators of their impact. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01782053.

Feeling good, feeling bad: influences of maternal perceptions of the child and marital adjustment on well-being in mothers of children with an autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Lickenbrock, Diane M; Ekas, Naomi V; Whitman, Thomas L

2011-07-01

Mothers of children with an autism spectrum disorder (n = 49) participated in a 30-day diary study which examined associations between mothers' positive and negative perceptions of their children, marital adjustment, and maternal well-being. Hierarchical linear modeling results revealed that marital adjustment mediated associations between positive perceptions and maternal well-being. Mothers who reported higher levels of positive perceptions of the child were higher in marital adjustment and well-being. Results also revealed that marital adjustment moderated the relation between negative perceptions and negative maternal affect. Mothers low in marital adjustment had a positive association between negative maternal perceptions of the child and negative maternal affect. These findings highlight the dynamic roles that mothers' perceptions and marital adjustment play in determining maternal psychological outcomes.

[Perception of parental attitudes and the level of female adolescents' self-esteem affected with anorexia nervosa].

PubMed

Witkowska, Bogumiła

2013-01-01

The article's aim is to look for correlation between a parent - child relationship and the level of self-esteem in the perception of girls affected with anorexia nervosa (who meet the criteria of DSM-IV-TR). The differences in the perception of parental attitudes (of mothers and fathers) and self-esteem of girls suffering from anorexia nervosa and their healthy peers were also analyzed. Two equally numbered groups of girls: the clinical group (30 persons affected with anorexia nervosa) and control group (30 healthy girls) in the 15-20 age range were examined. Two test were applied: Parent-Child Relations Questionnaire (PCR) A. Roe and M. Siegelman in the authorized translation by W. S. Kowalski to investigate characteristic behavior of parents of small children as perceived by youth or adults and a Questionnaire "What are you like?" by P. Sears in adaptation of J. Kostrzewski, which is used to study self-esteem. The results confirmed the expected relationship between perception of parental attitudes and the level of self-esteem of girls affected with anorexia nervosa. Parental attitudes characterized by love and protection promote higher self-esteem of their daughters and the experience of higher demands and rejection by both parents lowers their self-esteem. The comparison of average attitudes of mothers and fathers in perception of their daughters diagnosed with anorexia nervosa did not confirm significant statistical differences. Comparison of maternal attitudes in the perception of their daughters from the group affected by anorexia and the healthy group revealed significant differences in full range of attitudes. The differences in perception of the attitudes of their fathers were statistically substantial regarding the attitudes concerning love and rejection. Self-esteem of persons treated for anorexia is significantly lower than of their healthy peers.

Factors affecting patient's perception of anticancer treatments side-effects: an observational study.

PubMed

Russo, Stefania; Cinausero, Marika; Gerratana, Lorenzo; Bozza, Claudia; Iacono, Donatella; Driol, Pamela; Deroma, Laura; Sottile, Roberta; Fasola, Gianpiero; Puglisi, Fabio

2014-02-01

Analysis of relative importance of side effects of anticancer therapy is extremely useful in the process of clinical decision making. There is evidence that patients' perception of the side effects of anticancer treatments changes over time. Aim of this study was to evaluate the cancer patients' perceptions of physical and non-physical side effects of contemporary anticancer therapy. Four hundred and sixty-four patients entered the study (153 men and 311 women). Participants were asked to rank their side effects in order of distress by using two sets of cards naming physical and non-physical effects, respectively. Influencing factors, including treatment and patient characteristics, were also analysed. Patients ranked the non-physical side effect 'Affects my family or partner' first. 'Constantly tired' and 'Loss of hair' were ranked second and third, respectively. Significant differences from previous studies on this topic emerged. In particular, 'Vomiting', a predominant concern in previous studies, almost disappeared, whereas 'Nausea' and 'Loss of hair' remained important side effects in the patients' perception. Interestingly, marital status was predominant in driving patients' perception, being associated with several side effects ('Constantly tired', 'Loss of appetite', 'Affects my work/Home duties', 'Affects my social activities', 'Infertility'). Other significant factors influencing patient's perception of side effects included age, disease characteristics and ongoing anticancer therapy. This study provided information on current status of patients' perceptions of side effects of anticancer treatment. These results could be used in pre-treatment patient education and counselling.

Beliefs of Pre-Service Teachers toward Competitive Activities and the Effect on Implementation and Planning for Physical Education Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bernstein, Eve; Herman, Ariela M.; Lysniak, Ulana

2013-01-01

The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) is the framework for this study. TRA, or attitude theory, suggests that teachers' affect and cognition or knowledge may influence how an individual interprets an activity (Ajzen, 2005). Attitudes may affect teachers' perceptions and beliefs about PE, and these perceptions and beliefs may affect how teachers…

Can listeners hear who is singing? What is the pitch bandwidth of singer discrimination in untrained listeners?

PubMed

Erickson, Molly L

2012-05-01

This study sought to determine the pitch bandwidth of singer discrimination based on singer gender, pitch range, and same-different voice category. Repeated measures factorial design. This study used a forced-choice paradigm, where listeners heard two different singers (singer 1 and singer 2) producing /ɑ/ at an identical pitch and an unknown singer (either singer 1 or singer 2) producing /ɑ/ at a different pitch. It was the listener's task to identify which singer (singer 1 or singer 2) was the unknown singer. Two baritones and two tenors were recorded producing /ɑ/ at the pitches C3, E3, G3, B3, D4, and F4. Two sopranos and two mezzo-sopranos were recorded producing /ɑ/ at the pitches C4, E4, G4, B4, D5, and F5. For each group of stimuli, male and female, all possible pairs of singers were constructed for the lowest pitch (C2 or C3, respectively) and highest pitch (F4 or F5, respectively). The unknown singer was varied across the remaining pitches. For between category comparisons, the ability to discriminate singers diminished monotonically with pitch interval, reaching below chance levels between the intervals of the 9th and 11th. For within category comparisons, it was much harder to discriminate singers across pitch, particularly when the voices were female. Timbre is not perceived as invariant across the entire singing range, and the bandwidth of this timbre invariance depends on multiple factors, including pitch range, gender, and same-different voice category. Copyright © 2012 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Targeted selection of brownfields from portfolios for sustainable regeneration: User experiences from five cases testing the Timbre Brownfield Prioritization Tool.

PubMed

Bartke, Stephan; Martinát, Stanislav; Klusáček, Petr; Pizzol, Lisa; Alexandrescu, Filip; Frantál, Bohumil; Critto, Andrea; Zabeo, Alex

2016-12-15

Prioritizing brownfields for redevelopment in real estate portfolios can contribute to more sustainable regeneration and land management. Owners of large real estate and brownfield portfolios are challenged to allocate their limited resources to the development of the most critical or promising sites, in terms of time and cost efficiency. Authorities worried about the negative impacts of brownfields - in particular in the case of potential contamination - on the environment and society also need to prioritize their resources to those brownfields that most urgently deserve attention and intervention. Yet, numerous factors have to be considered for prioritizing actions, in particular when adhering to sustainability principles. Several multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approaches and tools have been suggested in order to support these actors in managing their brownfield portfolios. Based on lessons learned from the literature on success factors, sustainability assessment and MCDA approaches, researchers from a recent EU project have developed the web-based Timbre Brownfield Prioritization Tool (TBPT). It facilitates assessment and prioritization of a portfolio of sites on the basis of the probability of successful and sustainable regeneration or according to individually specified objectives. This paper introduces the challenges of brownfield portfolio management in general and reports about the application of the TBPT in five cases: practical test-uses by two large institutional land owners from Germany, a local and a regional administrative body from the Czech Republic, and an expert from a national environmental authority from Romania. Based on literature requirements for sustainability assessment tools and on the end-users' feedbacks from the practical tests, we discuss the TBPT's strengths and weaknesses in order to inform and give recommendations for future development of prioritization tools. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pitch Syntax Violations Are Linked to Greater Skin Conductance Changes, Relative to Timbral Violations - The Predictive Role of the Reward System in Perspective of Cortico-subcortical Loops.

PubMed

Gorzelańczyk, Edward J; Podlipniak, Piotr; Walecki, Piotr; Karpiński, Maciej; Tarnowska, Emilia

2017-01-01

According to contemporary opinion emotional reactions to syntactic violations are due to surprise as a result of the general mechanism of prediction. The classic view is that, the processing of musical syntax can be explained by activity of the cerebral cortex. However, some recent studies have indicated that subcortical brain structures, including those related to the processing of emotions, are also important during the processing of syntax. In order to check whether emotional reactions play a role in the processing of pitch syntax or are only the result of the general mechanism of prediction, the comparison of skin conductance levels reacting to three types of melodies were recorded. In this study, 28 subjects listened to three types of short melodies prepared in Musical Instrument Digital Interface Standard files (MIDI) - tonally correct, tonally violated (with one out-of-key - i.e., of high information content), and tonally correct but with one note played in a different timbre. The BioSemi ActiveTwo with two passive Nihon Kohden electrodes was used. Skin conductance levels were positively correlated with the presented stimuli (timbral changes and tonal violations). Although changes in skin conductance levels were also observed in response to the change in timbre, the reactions to tonal violations were significantly stronger. Therefore, despite the fact that timbral change is at least as equally unexpected as an out-of-key note, the processing of pitch syntax mainly generates increased activation of the sympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system. These results suggest that the cortico-subcortical loops (especially the anterior cingulate - limbic loop) may play an important role in the processing of musical syntax.

Affective and physiological correlates of the perception of unimodal and bimodal emotional stimuli.

PubMed

Rosa, Pedro J; Oliveira, Jorge; Alghazzawi, Daniyal; Fardoun, Habib; Gamito, Pedro

2017-08-01

Despite the multisensory nature of perception, previous research on emotions has been focused on unimodal emotional cues with visual stimuli. To the best of our knowledge, there is no evidence on the extent to which incongruent emotional cues from visual and auditory sensory channels affect pupil size. To investigate the effects of audiovisual emotional information perception on the physiological and affective response, but also to determine the impact of mismatched cues in emotional perception on these physiological indexes. Pupil size, electrodermal activity and affective subjective responses were recorded while 30 participants were exposed to visual and auditory stimuli with varied emotional content in three different experimental conditions: pictures and sounds presented alone (unimodal), emotionally matched audio-visual stimuli (bimodal congruent) and emotionally mismatched audio-visual stimuli (bimodal incongruent). The data revealed no effect of emotional incongruence on physiological and affective responses. On the other hand, pupil size covaried with skin conductance response (SCR), but the subjective experience was partially dissociated from autonomic responses. Emotional stimuli are able to trigger physiological responses regardless of valence, sensory modality or level of emotional congruence.

God and Genes in the Caring Professions: Clinician and Clergy Perceptions of Religion and Genetics

PubMed Central

Bartlett, Virginia L; Johnson, Rolanda L

2013-01-01

Little is known about how care providers’ perceptions of religion and genetics affect interactions with patients/parishioners. This study investigates clinicians’ and clergy’s perceptions of and experiences with religion and genetics in their clinical and pastoral interactions. An exploratory qualitative study designed to elicit care providers’ descriptions of experiences with religion and genetics in clinical or pastoral interactions. Thirteen focus groups were conducted with members of the caring professions: physicians, nurses, and genetics counselors (clinicians), ministers and chaplains (clergy). Preliminary analysis of qualitative data is presented here. Preliminary analysis highlights four positions in professional perceptions of the relationship between science and faith. Further, differences among professional perceptions appear to influence perceptions of needed or available resources for interactions with religion and genetics. Clinicians’ and clergy’s perceptions of how religion and genetics relate are not defined solely by professional affiliation. These non-role-defined perceptions may affect clinical and pastoral interactions, especially regarding resources for patients and parishioners. PMID:19170091

Affective signals of threat increase perceived proximity.

PubMed

Cole, Shana; Balcetis, Emily; Dunning, David

2013-01-01

Do stimuli appear to be closer when they are more threatening? We tested people's perceptions of distance to stimuli that they felt were threatening relative to perceptions of stimuli they felt were disgusting or neutral. Two studies demonstrated that stimuli that emitted affective signals of threat (e.g., an aggressive male student) were seen as physically closer than stimuli that emitted affective signals of disgust (e.g., a repulsive male student) or no affective signal. Even after controlling for the direct effects of physiological arousal, object familiarity, and intensity of the negative emotional reaction, we found that threatening stimuli appeared to be physically closer than did disgusting ones (Study 2). These findings highlight the links among biased perception, action regulation, and successful navigation of the environment.

Reason and less

PubMed Central

Goel, Vinod

2014-01-01

We consider ourselves to be rational beings. We feel that our choices, decisions, and actions are selected from a flexible array of possibilities, based upon reasons. When we vote for a political candidate, it is because they share our views on certain critical issues. When we hire an individual for a job, it is because they are the best qualified. However, if this is true, why does an analysis of the direction of shift in the timbre of the voice of political candidates during an exchange or debate, predict the winner of American presidential elections? Why is it that while only 3% of the American population consists of white men over 6′4″ tall, 30% of the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are white men over 6′4″ tall? These are examples of “instinctual biases” affecting or modulating rational thought processes. I argue that existing theories of reasoning cannot substantively accommodate these ubiquitous, real-world phenomena. Failure to recognize and incorporate these types of phenomena into the study of human reasoning results in a distorted understanding of rationality. The goal of this article is to draw attention to these types of phenomena and propose an “adulterated rationality” account of reasoning as a first step in trying to explain them. PMID:25191288

Characterization of integrated optical CD for process control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Jackie; Uchida, Junichi; van Dommelen, Youri; Carpaij, Rene; Cheng, Shaunee; Pollentier, Ivan; Viswanathan, Anita; Lane, Lawrence; Barry, Kelly A.; Jakatdar, Nickhil

2004-05-01

The accurate measurement of CD (critical dimension) and its application to inline process control are key challenges for high yield and OEE (overall equipment efficiency) in semiconductor production. CD-SEM metrology, although providing the resolution necessary for CD evaluation, suffers from the well-known effect of resist shrinkage, making accuracy and stability of the measurements an issue. For sub-100 nm in-line process control, where accuracy and stability as well as speed are required, CD-SEM metrology faces serious limitations. In contrast, scatterometry, using broadband optical spectra taken from grating structures, does not suffer from such limitations. This technology is non-destructive and, in addition to CD, provides profile information and film thickness in a single measurement. Using Timbre's Optical Digital Profililometry (ODP) technology, we characterized the Process Window, using a iODP101 integrated optical CD metrology into a TEL Clean Track at IMEC. We demonstrate the Optical CD's high sensitivity to process change and its insensitivity to measurement noise. We demonstrate the validity of ODP modeling by showing its accurate response to known process changes built into the evaluation and its excellent correlation to CD-SEM. We will further discuss the intrinsic Optical CD metrology factors that affect the tool precision, accuracy and its correlation to CD-SEM.

A new look at emotion perception: Concepts speed and shape facial emotion recognition.

PubMed

Nook, Erik C; Lindquist, Kristen A; Zaki, Jamil

2015-10-01

Decades ago, the "New Look" movement challenged how scientists thought about vision by suggesting that conceptual processes shape visual perceptions. Currently, affective scientists are likewise debating the role of concepts in emotion perception. Here, we utilized a repetition-priming paradigm in conjunction with signal detection and individual difference analyses to examine how providing emotion labels-which correspond to discrete emotion concepts-affects emotion recognition. In Study 1, pairing emotional faces with emotion labels (e.g., "sad") increased individuals' speed and sensitivity in recognizing emotions. Additionally, individuals with alexithymia-who have difficulty labeling their own emotions-struggled to recognize emotions based on visual cues alone, but not when emotion labels were provided. Study 2 replicated these findings and further demonstrated that emotion concepts can shape perceptions of facial expressions. Together, these results suggest that emotion perception involves conceptual processing. We discuss the implications of these findings for affective, social, and clinical psychology. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

[Factors affecting the quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in inpatient units: perception of nurses].

PubMed

Citolino, Clairton Marcos Filho; Santos, Eduesley Santana; Silva, Rita de Cassia Gengo E; Nogueira, Lilia de Souza

2015-12-01

To identify, in the perception of nurses, the factors that affect the quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in adult inpatient units, and investigate the influence of both work shifts and professional experience length of time in the perception of these factors. A descriptive, exploratory study conducted at a hospital specialized in cardiology and pneumology with the application of a questionnaire to 49 nurses working in inpatient units. The majority of nurses reported that the high number of professionals in the scenario (75.5%), the lack of harmony (77.6%) or stress of any member of staff (67.3%), lack of material and/or equipment failure (57.1%), lack of familiarity with the emergency trolleys (98.0%) and presence of family members at the beginning of the cardiopulmonary arrest assistance (57.1%) are factors that adversely affect the quality of care provided during CPR. Professional experience length of time and the shift of nurses did not influence the perception of these factors. The identification of factors that affect the quality of CPR in the perception of nurses serves as parameter to implement improvements and training of the staff working in inpatient units.

Dopamine Precursor Depletion Influences Pain Affect Rather than Pain Sensation

PubMed Central

Schulz, Enrico; Baumkötter, Jochen; Ploner, Markus

2014-01-01

Pain is a multidimensional experience, which includes sensory, cognitive, and affective aspects. Converging lines of evidence indicate that dopaminergic neurotransmission plays an important role in human pain perception. However, the precise effects of dopamine on different aspects of pain perception remain to be elucidated. To address this question, we experimentally decreased dopaminergic neurotransmission in 22 healthy human subjects using Acute Phenylalanine and Tyrosine Depletion (APTD). During APTD and a control condition we applied brief painful laser stimuli to the hand, assessed different aspects of pain perception, and recorded electroencephalographic responses. APTD-induced decreases of cerebral dopaminergic activity did not influence sensory aspects of pain perception. In contrast, APTD yielded increases of pain unpleasantness. The increases of unpleasantness ratings positively correlated with effectiveness of APTD. Our finding of an influence of dopaminergic neurotransmission on affective but not sensory aspects of phasic pain suggests that analgesic effects of dopamine might be mediated by indirect effects on pain affect rather than by direct effects on ascending nociceptive signals. These findings contribute to our understanding of the complex relationship between dopamine and pain perception, which may play a role in various clinical pain states. PMID:24760082

Socialization of Affect: Effects of Parent Attitudes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saarni, Carolyn

Children's beliefs about why affective expressive behavior should be dissociated from internal state were elicited via a structured interview and investigated in conjunction with their parents' (1) attitudes toward children's expressive behavior, (2) perceptions of their own self-monitoring, and (3) perceptions of their families'"social…

Mental Health: What's Normal, What's Not?

MedlinePlus

... health provider is likely to ask about: Your perceptions. How much your signs and symptoms affect your ... to rule out any underlying health conditions. Others' perceptions. Your perceptions alone might not give you an ...

The Effect of Incorrect Reliability Information on Expectations, Perceptions, and Use of Automation.

PubMed

Barg-Walkow, Laura H; Rogers, Wendy A

2016-03-01

We examined how providing artificially high or low statements about automation reliability affected expectations, perceptions, and use of automation over time. One common method of introducing automation is providing explicit statements about the automation's capabilities. Research is needed to understand how expectations from such introductions affect perceptions and use of automation. Explicit-statement introductions were manipulated to set higher-than (90%), same-as (75%), or lower-than (60%) levels of expectations in a dual-task scenario with 75% reliable automation. Two experiments were conducted to assess expectations, perceptions, compliance, reliance, and task performance over (a) 2 days and (b) 4 days. The baseline assessments showed initial expectations of automation reliability matched introduced levels of expectation. For the duration of each experiment, the lower-than groups' perceptions were lower than the actual automation reliability. However, the higher-than groups' perceptions were no different from actual automation reliability after Day 1 in either study. There were few differences between groups for automation use, which generally stayed the same or increased with experience using the system. Introductory statements describing artificially low automation reliability have a long-lasting impact on perceptions about automation performance. Statements including incorrect automation reliability do not appear to affect use of automation. Introductions should be designed according to desired outcomes for expectations, perceptions, and use of the automation. Low expectations have long-lasting effects. © 2015, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Objectification in Virtual Romantic Contexts: Perceived Discrepancies between Self and Partner Ideals Differentially affect Body Consciousness in Women and Men

PubMed Central

Overstreet, Nicole M.; Quinn, Diane M.; Marsh, Kerry L.

2015-01-01

The current study examined whether exposure to sexually objectifying images in a potential romantic partner's virtual apartment affects discrepancies between people's perception of their own appearance (i.e., self-perceptions) and their perception of the body ideal that is considered desirable to a romantic partner (i.e., partner-ideals). Participants were 114 heterosexual undergraduate students (57 women and 57 men) from a northeastern U.S. university. The study used a 2 (Participant Gender) x 2 (Virtual Environment: Sexualized vs. Non-Sexualized) between-subjects design. We predicted that women exposed to sexually objectifying images in a virtual environment would report greater discrepancies between their self-perceptions and partner-ideals than men, which in turn would contribute to women's body consciousness. Findings support this hypothesis and show that perceived discrepancies account for the relationship between exposure to sexually objectifying images and body consciousness for women but not men. We also found gender asymmetries in objectification responses when each component of perceived discrepancies, i.e., self-perceptions versus perceptions of a romantic partner's body ideal, were examined separately. For men, exposure to muscular sexualized images was significantly associated with their self-perceptions but not their perceptions of the body size that is considered desirable to a romantic partner. For women, exposure to thin sexualized images was significantly associated with their perceptions that a romantic partner preferred a woman with a smaller body size. However, exposure to these images did not affect women's self-perceptions. Implications for gender asymmetries in objectification responses and perceived discrepancies that include a romantic partner's perceptions are discussed. PMID:26594085

Categorical Perception of Affective and Linguistic Facial Expressions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCullough, Stephen; Emmorey, Karen

2009-01-01

Two experiments investigated categorical perception (CP) effects for affective facial expressions and linguistic facial expressions from American Sign Language (ASL) for Deaf native signers and hearing non-signers. Facial expressions were presented in isolation (Experiment 1) or in an ASL verb context (Experiment 2). Participants performed ABX…

Ethical Ideologies: Do They Affect Shopping Behaviors and Perceptions of Morality?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cho, Hyeon; Yoo, Jeong-Ju; Johnson, Kim K. P.

2005-01-01

Counterfeiting is a serious problem facing several industries, including the medical, agricultural, and apparel industries (Bloch, Bush, & Campbell, 1993). The authors investigated whether ethical viewpoints affect perceptions of the morality of particular shopping behaviors, attitudes toward counterfeit products, and intentions to purchase such…

Details for Manuscript Number SSM-D-06-01956R1 “Physicians” Communication and Perceptions of Patients: Is it How They Look, How They Talk, or is it Just the Doctor?”

PubMed Central

Street, Richard L.; Gordon, Howard; Haidet, Paul

2010-01-01

Although physicians’ communication style and perceptions affect outcomes, few studies have examined how these perceptions relate to the way physicians communicate with patients. Moreover, while any number of factors may affect the communication process, few studies have analyzed these effects collectively in order to identify the most powerful influences on physician communication and perceptions. Adopting an ecological approach, this investigation examined: (a) the relationships of physicians’ patient-centered communication (informative, supportive, partnership-building) and affect (positive, contentious) on their perceptions of the patient, and (b) the degree to which communication and perceptions were affected by the physicians’ characteristics, patients’ demographic characteristics, physician-patient concordance, and the patient’s communication. Physicians (N = 29) and patients (N = 207) from 10 outpatient settings in the United States participated in the study. From audio-recordings of these visits, coders rated the physicians’ communication and affect as well as the patients’ participation and affect. Doctors were more patient-centered with patients they perceived as better communicators, more satisfied, and more likely to adhere. Physicians displayed more patient-centered communication and more favorably perceived patients who expressed positive affect, were more involved, and who were less contentious. Physicians were more contentious with black patients, whom they also perceived as less effective communicators and less satisfied. Finally, physicians who reported a patient-centered orientation to the doctor-patient relationship also were more patient-centered in their communication. The results suggest that reciprocity and mutual influence have a strong effect on these interactions in that more positive (or negative) communication from one participant leads to similar responses from the other. Physicians’ encounters with black patients revealed communicative difficulties that may lower quality of care for these patients. PMID:17462801

Adolescents' Perceptions of Cannabis Use by Their Peers: Does It Have Anything to Do with Behavior?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheppard, Margaret A.

1989-01-01

Exposed students (N=2,319) in grades 7-10 to drug use study results showing use of cannabis (marijuana) as uncommon among peer group. Measured influence of new data on perceptions and how changed perceptions might affect cannabis use. Found changing perceptions was difficult. Found student perceptions of drug use bore no relationship to personal…

Music, Mechanism, and the “Sonic Turn” in Physical Diagnosis

PubMed Central

Pesic, Peter

2016-01-01

The sonic diagnostic techniques of percussion and mediate auscultation advocated by Leopold von Auenbrugger and R. T. H. Laennec developed within larger musical contexts of practice, notation, and epistemology. Earlier, François-Nicolas Marquet proposed a musical notation of pulse that connected felt pulsation with heard music. Though contemporary vitalists rejected Marquet's work, mechanists such as Albrecht von Haller included it into the larger discourse about the physiological manifestations of bodily fluids and fibers. Educated in that mechanistic physiology, Auenbrugger used musical vocabulary to present his work on thoracic percussion; Laennec's musical experience shaped his exploration of the new timbres involved in mediate auscultation. PMID:26349757

Physical and perceptual estimation of differences between loudspeakers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavandier, Mathieu; Herzog, Philippe; Meunier, Sabine

2006-12-01

Differentiating the restitution of timbre by several loudspeakers may result from standard measurements, or from listening tests. This work proposes a protocol keeping a close relationship between the objective and perceptual evaluations: the stimuli are musical excerpts, and the measuring environment is a standard listening room. The protocol involves recordings made at a listener position, and objective dissimilarities are computed using an auditory model simulating masking effects. The resulting data correlate very well with listening tests using the same recordings, and show similar dependencies on the major parameters identified from the dissimilarity matrices. To cite this article: M. Lavandier et al., C. R. Mecanique 334 (2006).

The Effect of Preparatory Set on Musical Response in College Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bartel, Lee R.

1992-01-01

Presents study results on the cognitive-affective response to music as affected by three dimensions of preparatory set. Explores self-perception of musicality, attitude toward style concepts and valuing of music experiences, and beliefs and expectations of music listening. Concludes that perception of musicality, general attitude, style…

A Case Study of Peer Educators in a Community-Based Program to Reduce Teen Pregnancy: Selected Characteristics Prior to Training, Perceptions of Training and Work, and Perceptions of How Participation in the Program Has Affected Them

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beshers, Sarah C.

2007-01-01

This investigation is a case study of peer educators in a community-based teen pregnancy prevention program. Research questions focused on identifying ways in which peer educators differed from other teens and exploring the perceptions of the peer educators about their experience in the program and the ways in which it has affected them. Data were…

Emotion perception, but not affect perception, is impaired with semantic memory loss.

PubMed

Lindquist, Kristen A; Gendron, Maria; Barrett, Lisa Feldman; Dickerson, Bradford C

2014-04-01

For decades, psychologists and neuroscientists have hypothesized that the ability to perceive emotions on others' faces is inborn, prelinguistic, and universal. Concept knowledge about emotion has been assumed to be epiphenomenal to emotion perception. In this article, we report findings from 3 patients with semantic dementia that cannot be explained by this "basic emotion" view. These patients, who have substantial deficits in semantic processing abilities, spontaneously perceived pleasant and unpleasant expressions on faces, but not discrete emotions such as anger, disgust, fear, or sadness, even in a task that did not require the use of emotion words. Our findings support the hypothesis that discrete emotion concept knowledge helps transform perceptions of affect (positively or negatively valenced facial expressions) into perceptions of discrete emotions such as anger, disgust, fear, and sadness. These findings have important consequences for understanding the processes supporting emotion perception.

Emotion perception, but not affect perception, is impaired with semantic memory loss

PubMed Central

Lindquist, Kristen A.; Gendron, Maria; Feldman Barrett, Lisa; Dickerson, Bradford C.

2014-01-01

For decades, psychologists and neuroscientists have hypothesized that the ability to perceive emotions on others’ faces is inborn, pre-linguistic, and universal. Concept knowledge about emotion has been assumed to be epiphenomenal to emotion perception. In this paper, we report findings from three patients with semantic dementia that cannot be explained by this “basic emotion” view. These patients, who have substantial deficits in semantic processing abilities, spontaneously perceived pleasant and unpleasant expressions on faces, but not discrete emotions such as anger, disgust, fear, or sadness, even in a task that did not require the use of emotion words. Our findings support the hypothesis that discrete emotion concept knowledge helps transform perceptions of affect (positively or negatively valenced facial expressions) into perceptions of discrete emotions such as anger, disgust, fear and sadness. These findings have important consequences for understanding the processes supporting emotion perception. PMID:24512242

Disentangling the influence of value predispositions and risk/benefit perceptions on support for nanotechnology among the American public.

PubMed

Kim, Jiyoun; Yeo, Sara K; Brossard, Dominique; Scheufele, Dietram A; Xenos, Michael A

2014-05-01

Using nanotechnology as a case study, this article explores (1) how people's perceptions of benefits and risks are related to their approval of nanotechnology, (2) which information-processing factors contribute to public risk/benefit perceptions, and (3) whether individuals' predispositions (i.e., deference to scientific authority and ideology) may moderate the relationship between cognitive processing and risk perceptions of the technology. Results indicate that benefit perceptions positively affect public support for nanotechnology; perceptions of risk tend to be more influenced by systematic processing than by heuristic cues, whereas both heuristic and systematic processing influence benefit perceptions. People who are more liberal-minded tend to be more affected by systematic processing when thinking about the benefits of nanotechnology than those who are more conservative. Compared to less deferent individuals, those who are more deferent to scientific authority tend to be less influenced by systematic processing when making judgments about the benefits and risks of nanotechnology. Implications are discussed. © 2013 Society for Risk Analysis.

Reward priming eliminates color-driven affect in perception.

PubMed

Hu, Kesong

2018-01-03

Brain and behavior evidence suggests that colors have distinct affective properties. Here, we investigated how reward influences color-driven affect in perception. In Experiment 1, we assessed competition between blue and red patches during a temporal-order judgment (TOJ) across a range of stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). During the value reinforcement, reward was linked to either blue (version 1) or red (version 2) in the experiment. The same stimuli then served as test ones in the following unrewarded, unspeeded TOJ task. Our analysis showed that blue patches were consistently seen as occurring first, even when objectively appearing 2nd at short SOAs. This accelerated perception of blue over red was disrupted by prior primes related to reward (vs. neutral) but not perceptional (blue vs. red) priming. Experiment 2 replicated the findings of Experiment 1 while uncoupling action and stimulus values. These results are consistent with the blue-approach and red-avoidance motivation hypothesis and highlight an active nature of the association of reward priming and color processing. Together, the present study implies a link between reward and color affect and contributes to the understanding of how reward influences color affect in visual processing.

Exercise Experiences and Changes in Affective Attitude: Direct and Indirect Effects of In Situ Measurements of Experiences

PubMed Central

Sudeck, Gorden; Schmid, Julia; Conzelmann, Achim

2016-01-01

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between exercise experiences (perceptions of competence, perceived exertion, acute affective responses to exercise) and affective attitudes toward exercise. This relationship was analyzed in a non-laboratory setting during a 13-weeks exercise program. Materials and Methods: 56 women and 49 men (aged 35–65 years; Mage = 50.0 years; SD = 8.2 years) took part in the longitudinal study. Affective responses to exercise (affective valence, positive activation, calmness) as well as perceptions of competence and perceived exertion were measured at the beginning, during, and end of three exercise sessions within the 13-weeks exercise program. Affective attitude toward exercise were measured before and at the end of the exercise program. A two-level path analysis was conducted. The direct and indirect effects of exercise experiences on changes in affective attitude were analyzed on the between-person level: firstly, it was tested whether perceptions of competence and perceived exertion directly relate to changes in affective attitude. Secondly, it was assessed whether perceptions of competence and perceived exertion indirectly relate to changes in affective attitudes—imparted via the affective response during exercise. Results and Conclusion: At the between-person level, a direct effect on changes in affective attitude was found for perceptions of competence (β = 0.24, p < 0.05). The model revealed one significant indirect pathway between perceived exertion and changes in affective attitude via positive activation: on average, the less strenuous people perceive physical exercise to be, the more awake they will feel during exercise (β = -0.57, p < 0.05). Those people with higher average levels of positive activation during exercise exhibit more improvements in affective attitudes toward exercise from the beginning to the end of the 13-weeks exercise program (β = 0.24, p < 0.05). Main study results have revealed that in situ experiences predicted changes in affective attitude during multi-week exercise programs. These relevant in situ experiences encompass cognitive factors, the sensation of interoceptive cues, and affective responses to exercise. Considering the predictive role of affective attitudes for exercise behavior, these findings suggest that exercise interventions should put greater emphasis on specific exercise experiences. PMID:27378992

An Investigation of High School Students' and Teachers' Perceptions of Academic Achievement and Underachievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morales, Natalie Ann

2014-01-01

This study investigated high school students' and teachers' perceptions of academic self perception, environmental perceptions, goal valuation, and motivation/self-regulation as factors affecting students' academic achievement. A two-way MANOVA was conducted to determine if high school students' gender and academic programs,…

Graphic Warning Labels Elicit Affective and Thoughtful Responses from Smokers: Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial

PubMed Central

Evans, Abigail T.; Peters, Ellen; Strasser, Andrew A.; Emery, Lydia F.; Sheerin, Kaitlin M.; Romer, Daniel

2015-01-01

Objective Observational research suggests that placing graphic images on cigarette warning labels can reduce smoking rates, but field studies lack experimental control. Our primary objective was to determine the psychological processes set in motion by naturalistic exposure to graphic vs. text-only warnings in a randomized clinical trial involving exposure to modified cigarette packs over a 4-week period. Theories of graphic-warning impact were tested by examining affect toward smoking, credibility of warning information, risk perceptions, quit intentions, warning label memory, and smoking risk knowledge. Methods Adults who smoked between 5 and 40 cigarettes daily (N = 293; mean age = 33.7), did not have a contra-indicated medical condition, and did not intend to quit were recruited from Philadelphia, PA and Columbus, OH. Smokers were randomly assigned to receive their own brand of cigarettes for four weeks in one of three warning conditions: text only, graphic images plus text, or graphic images with elaborated text. Results Data from 244 participants who completed the trial were analyzed in structural-equation models. The presence of graphic images (compared to text-only) caused more negative affect toward smoking, a process that indirectly influenced risk perceptions and quit intentions (e.g., image->negative affect->risk perception->quit intention). Negative affect from graphic images also enhanced warning credibility including through increased scrutiny of the warnings, a process that also indirectly affected risk perceptions and quit intentions (e.g., image->negative affect->risk scrutiny->warning credibility->risk perception->quit intention). Unexpectedly, elaborated text reduced warning credibility. Finally, graphic warnings increased warning-information recall and indirectly increased smoking-risk knowledge at the end of the trial and one month later. Conclusions In the first naturalistic clinical trial conducted, graphic warning labels are more effective than text-only warnings in encouraging smokers to consider quitting and in educating them about smoking’s risks. Negative affective reactions to smoking, thinking about risks, and perceptions of credibility are mediators of their impact. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01782053 PMID:26672982

Neural effects of environmental advertising: An fMRI analysis of voice age and temporal framing.

PubMed

Casado-Aranda, Luis-Alberto; Martínez-Fiestas, Myriam; Sánchez-Fernández, Juan

2018-01-15

Ecological information offered to society through advertising enhances awareness of environmental issues, encourages development of sustainable attitudes and intentions, and can even alter behavior. This paper, by means of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and self-reports, explores the underlying mechanisms of processing ecological messages. The study specifically examines brain and behavioral responses to persuasive ecological messages that differ in temporal framing and in the age of the voice pronouncing them. The findings reveal that attitudes are more positive toward future-framed messages presented by young voices. The whole-brain analysis reveals that future-framed (FF) ecological messages trigger activation in brain areas related to imagery, prospective memories and episodic events, thus reflecting the involvement of past behaviors in future ecological actions. Past-framed messages (PF), in turn, elicit brain activations within the episodic system. Young voices (YV), in addition to triggering stronger activation in areas involved with the processing of high-timbre, high-pitched and high-intensity voices, are perceived as more emotional and motivational than old voices (OV) as activations in anterior cingulate cortex and amygdala. Messages expressed by older voices, in turn, exhibit stronger activation in areas formerly linked to low-pitched voices and voice gender perception. Interestingly, a link is identified between neural and self-report responses indicating that certain brain activations in response to future-framed messages and young voices predicted higher attitudes toward future-framed and young voice advertisements, respectively. The results of this study provide invaluable insight into the unconscious origin of attitudes toward environmental messages and indicate which voice and temporal frame of a message generate the greatest subconscious value. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Do communication disorders extend to musical messages? An answer from children with hearing loss or autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Whipple, Christina M; Gfeller, Kate; Driscoll, Virginia; Oleson, Jacob; McGregor, Karla

2015-01-01

Effective musical communication requires conveyance of the intended message in a manner perceptible to the receiver. Communication disorders that impair transmitting or decoding of structural features of music (e.g., pitch, timbre) and/or symbolic representation may result in atypical musical communication, which can have a negative impact on music therapy interventions. This study compared recognition of symbolic representation of emotions or movements in music by two groups of children with different communicative characteristics: severe to profound hearing loss (using cochlear implants [CI]) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Their responses were compared to those of children with typical-development and normal hearing (TD-NH). Accuracy was examined as a function of communicative status, emotional or movement category, and individual characteristics. Participants listened to recorded musical excerpts conveying emotions or movements and matched them with labels. Measures relevant to auditory and/or language function were also gathered. There was no significant difference between the ASD and TD-NH groups in identification of musical emotions or movements. However, the CI group was significantly less accurate than the other two groups in identification of both emotions and movements. Mixed effects logistic regression revealed different patterns of accuracy for specific emotions as a function of group. Conveyance of emotions or movements through music may be decoded differently by persons with different types of communication disorders. Because music is the primary therapeutic tool in music therapy sessions, clinicians should consider these differential abilities when selecting music for clinical interventions focusing on emotions or movement. © the American Music Therapy Association 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The role of language in the experience and perception of emotion: a neuroimaging meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Brooks, Jeffrey A.; Shablack, Holly; Gendron, Maria; Satpute, Ajay B.; Parrish, Michael H.

2017-01-01

Abstract Recent behavioral and neuroimaging studies demonstrate that labeling one’s emotional experiences and perceptions alters those states. Here, we used a comprehensive meta-analysis of the neuroimaging literature to systematically explore whether the presence of emotion words in experimental tasks has an impact on the neural representation of emotional experiences and perceptions across studies. Using a database of 386 studies, we assessed brain activity when emotion words (e.g. ‘anger’, ‘disgust’) and more general affect words (e.g. ‘pleasant’, ‘unpleasant’) were present in experimental tasks vs not present. As predicted, when emotion words were present, we observed more frequent activations in regions related to semantic processing. When emotion words were not present, we observed more frequent activations in the amygdala and parahippocampal gyrus, bilaterally. The presence of affect words did not have the same effect on the neural representation of emotional experiences and perceptions, suggesting that our observed effects are specific to emotion words. These findings are consistent with the psychological constructionist prediction that in the absence of accessible emotion concepts, the meaning of affective experiences and perceptions are ambiguous. Findings are also consistent with the regulatory role of ‘affect labeling’. Implications of the role of language in emotion construction and regulation are discussed. PMID:27539864

[Perception of residents in world heritage site to the effects of ecological migration: a case study of three migrant resettlement spots in Wulingyuan, Hunan Province of South-central China].

PubMed

Wang, Kai; Ou, Yan; Ge, Quan-Sheng

2012-06-01

Based on the investigation in three typical migrant resettlement spots in Wulingyuan Scenic Area, a demonstration analysis was conducted on the residents' perception to the effects of ecological migration on world heritage site. The residents in the 3 spots had great differences in the positive perception to the economic effects of ecological migration, but less differences in the perception to the negative indices. The residents had high identity with the positive socio-cultural effects, but weak perception to the negative effects. The residents in the 3 resettlement spots had obvious differences in the perception to the effects on resources and environment, but mostly agreed that the negative psychological effects were not so obvious. The negative comments were given to the main migration policies. Age, educational level, monthly income, and proportion of tourism input were the main factors affecting the residents' perception, and the way of resettlement as well as the proportion of tourism input also had important effects on the residents' perception. Migration policy was the dominant factor affecting the integral perception of the residents to ecological migration.

Coherent modulation of stimulus colour can affect visually induced self-motion perception.

PubMed

Nakamura, Shinji; Seno, Takeharu; Ito, Hiroyuki; Sunaga, Shoji

2010-01-01

The effects of dynamic colour modulation on vection were investigated to examine whether perceived variation of illumination affects self-motion perception. Participants observed expanding optic flow which simulated their forward self-motion. Onset latency, accumulated duration, and estimated magnitude of the self-motion were measured as indices of vection strength. Colour of the dots in the visual stimulus was modulated between white and red (experiment 1), white and grey (experiment 2), and grey and red (experiment 3). The results indicated that coherent colour oscillation in the visual stimulus significantly suppressed the strength of vection, whereas incoherent or static colour modulation did not affect vection. There was no effect of the types of the colour modulation; both achromatic and chromatic modulations turned out to be effective in inhibiting self-motion perception. Moreover, in a situation where the simulated direction of a spotlight was manipulated dynamically, vection strength was also suppressed (experiment 4). These results suggest that observer's perception of illumination is critical for self-motion perception, and rapid variation of perceived illumination would impair the reliabilities of visual information in determining self-motion.

When managers and their teams disagree: a longitudinal look at the consequences of differences in perceptions of organizational support.

PubMed

Bashshur, Michael R; Hernández, Ana; González-Romá, Vicente

2011-05-01

The authors argue that over time the difference between team members' perception of the organizational support received by the team (or team climate for organizational support) and their manager's perception of the organizational support received by the team has an effect on important outcomes and emergent states, such as team performance and team positive and negative affect above and beyond the main effects of climate perceptions themselves. With a longitudinal sample of 179 teams at Time 1 and 154 teams at Time 2, the authors tested their predictions using a combined polynomial regression and response surface analyses approach. The results supported the authors' predictions. When team managers and team members' perceptions of organizational support were high and in agreement, outcomes were maximized. When team managers and team members disagreed, team negative affect increased and team performance and team positive affect decreased. The negative effects of disagreement were most amplified when managers perceived that the team received higher levels of support than did the team itself.

Memory colours affect colour appearance.

PubMed

Witzel, Christoph; Olkkonen, Maria; Gegenfurtner, Karl R

2016-01-01

Memory colour effects show that colour perception is affected by memory and prior knowledge and hence by cognition. None of Firestone & Scholl's (F&S's) potential pitfalls apply to our work on memory colours. We present a Bayesian model of colour appearance to illustrate that an interaction between perception and memory is plausible from the perspective of vision science.

How Interviewers' Nonverbal Behaviors Can Affect Children's Perceptions and Suggestibility

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Almerigogna, Jehanne; Ost, James; Akehurst, Lucy; Fluck, Mike

2008-01-01

We conducted two studies to examine how interviewers' nonverbal behaviors affect children's perceptions and suggestibility. In the first study, 42 8- to 10-year-olds watched video clips showing an interviewer displaying combinations of supportive and nonsupportive nonverbal behaviors and were asked to rate the interviewer on six attributes (e.g.,…

Public School Principals' Perceptions of Selected External Factors Affecting Job Performance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reisert, John E.

Based on principals' own perceptions, this paper examines how the principal's role has changed, what constitutes principals' major problems or concerns, and how state and federal regulations and community pressures have affected the principal's role. The project identified and interviewed 56 public school principals for an 11-county area served by…

Reactions to Lexical, Syntactical, and Text Layout Variations of a Print Advertisement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Motes, William H.; And Others

1992-01-01

Assesses reader reactions to a broad range of lexical, syntactical, and text layout conditions, both in isolation and interactively. Finds that, although the role of these elements in affecting readers' perceptions is not as critical as was presumed, certain perceptions are significantly affected by specific lexical, syntactical, and layout…

Micro-Valences: Perceiving Affective Valence in Everyday Objects

PubMed Central

Lebrecht, Sophie; Bar, Moshe; Barrett, Lisa Feldman; Tarr, Michael J.

2012-01-01

Perceiving the affective valence of objects influences how we think about and react to the world around us. Conversely, the speed and quality with which we visually recognize objects in a visual scene can vary dramatically depending on that scene’s affective content. Although typical visual scenes contain mostly “everyday” objects, the affect perception in visual objects has been studied using somewhat atypical stimuli with strong affective valences (e.g., guns or roses). Here we explore whether affective valence must be strong or overt to exert an effect on our visual perception. We conclude that everyday objects carry subtle affective valences – “micro-valences” – which are intrinsic to their perceptual representation. PMID:22529828

A reappraisal of the uncanny valley: categorical perception or frequency-based sensitization?

PubMed Central

Burleigh, Tyler J.; Schoenherr, Jordan R.

2015-01-01

The uncanny valley (UCV) hypothesis describes a non-linear relationship between perceived human-likeness and affective response. The “uncanny valley” refers to an intermediate level of human-likeness that is associated with strong negative affect. Recent studies have suggested that the uncanny valley might result from the categorical perception of human-like stimuli during identification. When presented with stimuli sharing human-like traits, participants attempt to segment the continuum in “human” and “non-human” categories. Due to the ambiguity of stimuli located at a category boundary, categorization difficulty gives rise to a strong, negative affective response. Importantly, researchers who have studied the UCV in terms of categorical perception have focused on categorization responses rather than affective ratings. In the present study, we examined whether the negative affect associated with the UCV might be explained in terms of an individual's degree of exposure to stimuli. In two experiments, we tested a frequency-based model against a categorical perception model using a category-learning paradigm. We manipulated the frequency of exemplars that were presented to participants from two categories during a training phase. We then examined categorization and affective responses functions, as well as the relationship between categorization and affective responses. Supporting previous findings, categorization responses suggested that participants acquired novel category structures that reflected a category boundary. These category structures appeared to influence affective ratings of eeriness. Crucially, participants' ratings of eeriness were additionally affected by exemplar frequency. Taken together, these findings suggest that the UCV is determined by both categorical properties as well as the frequency of individual exemplars retained in memory. PMID:25653623

Perceptions and Attitudes of Mothers about Child Neglect in Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Polat, Selda; Tasar, Aysin; Ozkan, Secil; Yeltekin, Sevinc; Cakir, Bahar Cuhac; Akbaba, Sevil; Sahin, Figen; Camurdan, Aysu Duyan; Beyazova, Ufuk

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the perceptions and attitudes about child neglect of a group of mothers, in Ankara, Turkey, and to determine the factors affecting perception and attitudes of these mothers about child neglect. A questionnaire consisting of 15 scenarios about perception of child neglect and 12 behavioral descriptions about…

"Are the Good Beautiful or the Beautiful Good?" The Relationship between Children's Perceptions of Ability and Perceptions of Physical Attractiveness.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Felson, Richard B.; Bohrnstedt, George W.

1979-01-01

Children's ratings were obtained, examining reciprocal feedback between perceptions of physical attractiveness and ability. Data supported the conclusion that perceptions of ability affect those of physical attractiveness but not vice versa. The role of the relative ambiguity of stimuli associated with physical attractiveness may explain the…

Bodily action penetrates affective perception

PubMed Central

Rigutti, Sara; Gerbino, Walter

2016-01-01

Fantoni & Gerbino (2014) showed that subtle postural shifts associated with reaching can have a strong hedonic impact and affect how actors experience facial expressions of emotion. Using a novel Motor Action Mood Induction Procedure (MAMIP), they found consistent congruency effects in participants who performed a facial emotion identification task after a sequence of visually-guided reaches: a face perceived as neutral in a baseline condition appeared slightly happy after comfortable actions and slightly angry after uncomfortable actions. However, skeptics about the penetrability of perception (Zeimbekis & Raftopoulos, 2015) would consider such evidence insufficient to demonstrate that observer’s internal states induced by action comfort/discomfort affect perception in a top-down fashion. The action-modulated mood might have produced a back-end memory effect capable of affecting post-perceptual and decision processing, but not front-end perception. Here, we present evidence that performing a facial emotion detection (not identification) task after MAMIP exhibits systematic mood-congruent sensitivity changes, rather than response bias changes attributable to cognitive set shifts; i.e., we show that observer’s internal states induced by bodily action can modulate affective perception. The detection threshold for happiness was lower after fifty comfortable than uncomfortable reaches; while the detection threshold for anger was lower after fifty uncomfortable than comfortable reaches. Action valence induced an overall sensitivity improvement in detecting subtle variations of congruent facial expressions (happiness after positive comfortable actions, anger after negative uncomfortable actions), in the absence of significant response bias shifts. Notably, both comfortable and uncomfortable reaches impact sensitivity in an approximately symmetric way relative to a baseline inaction condition. All of these constitute compelling evidence of a genuine top-down effect on perception: specifically, facial expressions of emotion are penetrable by action-induced mood. Affective priming by action valence is a candidate mechanism for the influence of observer’s internal states on properties experienced as phenomenally objective and yet loaded with meaning. PMID:26893964

After the fall of the Berlin Wall: perceptions and consequences of stability and change among middle-aged and older East and West Germans.

PubMed

Westerhof, Gerben J; Keyes, Corey L M

2006-09-01

This study empirically tested the self-systems theory of subjective change in light of the rapid change after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The theory predicts that individuals have a tendency to perceive stability and that perceived stability exerts a strong positive effect on subjective well-being. We would expect perceptions of decline and, to a lesser extent, perceptions of improvement to be related to lower levels of subjective well-being. Data were from respondents aged 40-85 years who participated in the German Aging Survey. We used measures of well-being and temporal comparisons during the past 10 years (1986-1996). West Germans reported more stability than East Germans, in particular in the public domain and in older age groups. Compared with perceptions of stability, perceptions of decline were related to less life satisfaction and more negative affect, and perceptions of growth to more negative affect. Temporal comparisons were unrelated to positive affect. Our findings both confirm and reject the self-systems theory of subjective change as it relates to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Studying temporal comparisons is important in understanding the effects of historical events and their timing within an individual life course.

Motion perception without Nystagmus--a novel manifestation of cerebellar stroke.

PubMed

Shaikh, Aasef G

2014-01-01

The motion perception and the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) each serve distinct functions. The VOR keeps the gaze steady on the target of interest, whereas vestibular perception serves a number of tasks, including awareness of self-motion and orientation in space. VOR and motion perception might abide the same neurophysiological principles, but their distinct anatomical correlates were proposed. In patients with cerebellar stroke in distribution of medial division of posterior inferior cerebellar artery, we asked whether specific location of the focal lesion in vestibulocerebellum could cause impaired perception of motion but normal eye movements. Thirteen patients were studied, 5 consistently perceived spinning of surrounding environment (vertigo), but the eye movements were normal. This group was called "disease model." Remaining 8 patients were also symptomatic for vertigo, but they had spontaneous nystagmus. The latter group was called "disease control." Magnetic resonance imaging in both groups consistently revealed focal cerebellar infarct affecting posterior cerebellar vermis (lobule IX). In the "disease model" group, only part of lobule IX was affected. In the disease control group, however, complete lobule IX was involved. This study discovered a novel presentation of cerebellar stroke where only motion perception was affected, but there was an absence of objective neurologic signs. Copyright © 2014 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rubber Hand Illusion Affects Joint Angle Perception

PubMed Central

Butz, Martin V.; Kutter, Esther F.; Lorenz, Corinna

2014-01-01

The Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) is a well-established experimental paradigm. It has been shown that the RHI can affect hand location estimates, arm and hand motion towards goals, the subjective visual appearance of the own hand, and the feeling of body ownership. Several studies also indicate that the peri-hand space is partially remapped around the rubber hand. Nonetheless, the question remains if and to what extent the RHI can affect the perception of other body parts. In this study we ask if the RHI can alter the perception of the elbow joint. Participants had to adjust an angular representation on a screen according to their proprioceptive perception of their own elbow joint angle. The results show that the RHI does indeed alter the elbow joint estimation, increasing the agreement with the position and orientation of the artificial hand. Thus, the results show that the brain does not only adjust the perception of the hand in body-relative space, but it also modifies the perception of other body parts. In conclusion, we propose that the brain continuously strives to maintain a consistent internal body image and that this image can be influenced by the available sensory information sources, which are mediated and mapped onto each other by means of a postural, kinematic body model. PMID:24671172

Do Students' Approaches to Learning Affect Their Perceptions of Using Computing and Information Technology?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jelfs, Anne; Colbourn, Chris

2002-01-01

Discusses the use of communication and information technology (C&IT) in higher education in the United Kingdom and describes research that examined student perceptions of using C&IT for a virtual seminar series in psychology. Identified student learning approaches within the group and how it affected their adoption or rejection of the…

Environment Matters: Exploring the Relationships between the Classroom Environment and College Students' Affect in Mathematics Learning in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Wenlan; Yin, Hongbiao; Lu, Genshu; Zhang, Qiaoping

2017-01-01

This study explored the relationships between Chinese college students' perceptions of the classroom environment and some affective aspects in the study of mathematics. A total of 2529 students responded to three measures that were specifically designed to assess college students' perceptions of the mathematics classroom environment, their…

The Factors Affecting the Intercultural Sensitivity Perception Level of Psychological Counseling and Guidance Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tuncel, Ibrahim; Aricioglu, Ahu

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study is to determine the factors affecting the intercultural sensitivity perception levels of Psychological Counseling and Guidance students. This study was conducted in Pamukkale University which is located in the western part of Turkey. Data were gathered from 524 freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior students who are…

Perceptions of Educational Barriers Affecting the Academic Achievement of Latino K-12 Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Becerra, David

2012-01-01

This study examined different factors affecting the perceptions of barriers in academic achievement of Latino K-12 students. The study used data from 1,508 participants who identified themselves as being of Hispanic or Latino heritage in the 2004 National Survey of Latinos: Education, compiled by the Pew Hispanic Center between August 7 and…

Principal Leadership Behaviors Which Teachers at Different Career Stages Perceive as Affecting Job Satisfaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Valari

2013-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of teachers as to how the leadership of their principal affects their job satisfaction. This study collected the view of teachers at different career stages and examined their perceptions and needs. The participants consisted of 12 elementary school teachers at three different…

The Effect of Program Context on Childrens' Learning from a Television News Story.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drew, Dan; Reeves, Byron

To test the assumptions that children's perceptions of a news program affect their learning and that their perceptions are in turn affected by age and program context, a study was undertaken involving 435 third through seventh graders. The specific independent and perceptual variables examined were: believability, liking the story and program,…

Development of Chromatic Induction in Infancy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Okamura, Hiromi; Kanazawa, So; Yamaguchi, Masami K.

2007-01-01

The perception of colour in an embedded field is affected by the surround colour. This phenomenon is known as chromatic induction. In the present study we investigated whether the colour perception by infants aged 5-7 months could be affected by the surround colour. In Experiments 1 and 2 each stimulus was composed of an array of six squares in…

Cognitive and Socio-Affective Outcomes of Project-Based Learning: Perceptions of Greek Second Chance School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koutrouba, Konstantina; Karageorgou, Elissavet

2013-01-01

The present questionnaire-based study was conducted in 2010 in order to examine 677 Greek Second Chance School (SCS) students' perceptions about the cognitive and socio-affective outcomes of project-based learning. Data elaboration, statistical and factor analysis showed that the participants found that project-based learning offered a second…

A Qualitative Study of Indian and Indian Immigrant Adolescents' Perceptions of the Factors Affecting Their Engagement and Performance in School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Areepattamannil, Shaljan; Freeman, John G.; Klinger, Don A.

2018-01-01

Although a growing body of quantitative research has examined the non-cognitive factors affecting the school engagement and performance of adolescents across cultures, there is relatively sparse qualitative research investigating the perceptions of adolescents regarding the factors influencing their engagement and performance in school. This focus…

Mathematics Teachers' Perceptions of Their Students' Mathematical Competence: Relations to Mathematics Achievement, Affect, and Engagement in Singapore and Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Areepattamannil, Shaljan; Kaur, Berinderjeet

2013-01-01

This study, drawing on data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011, examined whether mathematics teachers' perceptions of their students' mathematical competence were related to mathematics achievement, affect toward mathematics, and engagement in mathematics lessons among Grade 8 students in Singapore and…

Intra- and Interindividual Variability in the Behavioral, Affective, and Perceptual Effects of Alcohol Consumption in a Social Context.

PubMed

Franzen, Minita; Sadikaj, Gentiana; Moskowitz, Debbie S; Ostafin, Brian D; Aan Het Rot, Marije

2018-05-01

We examined the influence of interindividual differences in alcohol use on the intraindividual associations of drinking occurrence with interpersonal behaviors, affect, and perceptions of others during naturally occurring social interactions. For 14 consecutive days, 219 psychology freshmen (55% female; M age  = 20.7 years, SD = 2.18) recorded their behaviors, affect, and perceptions in social interactions soon after an interpersonal event occurred. Interpersonal behaviors and perceptions were assessed in terms of dominance-submissiveness and agreeableness-quarrelsomeness. Participants also reported the number of alcoholic drinks consumed within 3 hours of each interaction. We considered the intraindividual associations of (i) having a drinking episode and (ii) the number of drinks during an episode with behaviors, affect, and perceptions and examined interindividual differences in drinking frequency and intensity during social interactions as potential moderators of these associations. Social drinking frequency and intensity moderated the associations between drinking episode and behaviors, affect, and perceptions in social interactions. During a drinking episode, more frequent social drinkers perceived others as more dominant than less frequent social drinkers. During a drinking episode in which more alcohol was consumed than usual, more frequent social drinkers also reported behaving more dominantly and experiencing less pleasant affect. As more frequent social drinkers had different interpersonal responses to drinking than less frequent social drinkers, including when they had consumed larger amounts of alcohol than usual, our results suggest a differential susceptibility to the effects of alcohol during naturally occurring social interactions among drinkers with varying drinking frequency. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Research Society on Alcoholism.

Maximum saliency bias in binocular fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Yuhao; Stafford, Tom; Fox, Charles

2016-07-01

Subjective experience at any instant consists of a single ("unitary"), coherent interpretation of sense data rather than a "Bayesian blur" of alternatives. However, computation of Bayes-optimal actions has no role for unitary perception, instead being required to integrate over every possible action-percept pair to maximise expected utility. So what is the role of unitary coherent percepts, and how are they computed? Recent work provided objective evidence for non-Bayes-optimal, unitary coherent, perception and action in humans; and further suggested that the percept selected is not the maximum a posteriori percept but is instead affected by utility. The present study uses a binocular fusion task first to reproduce the same effect in a new domain, and second, to test multiple hypotheses about exactly how utility may affect the percept. After accounting for high experimental noise, it finds that both Bayes optimality (maximise expected utility) and the previously proposed maximum-utility hypothesis are outperformed in fitting the data by a modified maximum-salience hypothesis, using unsigned utility magnitudes in place of signed utilities in the bias function.

Threat perception after the Boston Marathon bombings: The effects of personal relevance and conceptual framing.

PubMed

Wormwood, Jolie Baumann; Lynn, Spencer K; Feldman Barrett, Lisa; Quigley, Karen S

2016-01-01

We examined how the Boston Marathon bombings affected threat perception in the Boston community. In a threat perception task, participants attempted to "shoot" armed targets and avoid shooting unarmed targets. Participants viewing images of the bombings accompanied by affectively negative music and text (e.g., "Terror Strikes Boston") made more false alarms (i.e., more errors "shooting" unarmed targets) compared to participants viewing the same images accompanied by affectively positive music and text (e.g., "Boston Strong") and participants who did not view bombing images. This difference appears to be driven by decreased sensitivity (i.e., decreased ability to distinguish guns from non-guns) as opposed to a more liberal bias (i.e., favouring the "shoot" response). Additionally, the more strongly affected the participant was by the bombings, the more their sensitivity was reduced in the negatively framed condition, suggesting that this framing was particularly detrimental to the most vulnerable individuals in the affected community.

Perception, memory and aesthetics of indeterminate art.

PubMed

Ishai, Alumit; Fairhall, Scott L; Pepperell, Robert

2007-07-12

Indeterminate art, in which familiar objects are only suggestive, invokes a perceptual conundrum as apparently detailed and vivid images resist identification. We hypothesized that compared with paintings that depict meaningful content, object recognition in indeterminate images would be delayed, and tested whether aesthetic affect depends on meaningful content. Subjects performed object recognition and judgment of aesthetic affect tasks. Response latencies were significantly longer for indeterminate images and subjects perceived recognizable objects in 24% of these paintings. Although the aesthetic affect rating of all paintings was similar, judgement latencies for the indeterminate paintings were significantly longer. A surprise memory test revealed that more representational than indeterminate paintings were remembered and that affective strength increased the probability of subsequent recall. Our results suggest that perception and memory of art depend on semantic aspects, whereas, aesthetic affect depends on formal visual features. The longer latencies associated with indeterminate paintings reflect the underlying cognitive processes that mediate object resolution. Indeterminate art works therefore comprise a rich set of stimuli with which the neural correlates of visual perception can be investigated.

The Role of Negative Affect and Physiological Regulation in maternal attribution

PubMed Central

Wang, Zhe; Deater-Deckard, Kirby; Bell, Martha Ann

2016-01-01

SYNOPSIS Objective Mothers who attribute child misbehaviors to children’s intentions, and not to situational causes, show more hostile parenting behaviors. Why are some mothers more likely than others to make more hostile attributions (i.e., high intentional attributions and low situational attributions) when confronted with child challenging behaviors? We examined the relation between mothers’ perception of child challenging behaviors and their hostile attributions of child misbehaviors, with an emphasis on how maternal negative affect and resting vagal activity moderated this relation. Design 160 mothers of 3- to 7-year-old children reported their perceptions of child problem behaviors, their attributions regarding child misbehaviors, and their temperamental negative affect. Mothers’ respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was measured during resting state. Results Maternal perceptions of child challenging behaviors were positively related to hostile maternal attributions, and this relation was strongest in mothers with high negative affect and low resting RSA. Conclusions These findings indicate the importance of considering mothers’ affective and physiological attributes when examining social-cognitive processes in parenting. PMID:27667969

Thermal perception thresholds among workers in a cold climate.

PubMed

Burström, Lage; Björ, Bodil; Nilsson, Tohr; Pettersson, Hans; Rödin, Ingemar; Wahlström, Jens

2017-10-01

To investigate whether exposure to cold could influence the thermal perception thresholds in a working population. This cross-sectional study was comprised of 251 males and females and was carried out at two mines in the northern part of Norway and Sweden. The testing included a baseline questionnaire, a clinical examination and measurements of thermal perception thresholds, on both hands, the index (Digit 2) and little (Digit 5) fingers, for heat and cold. The thermal perception thresholds were affected by age, gender and test site. The thresholds were impaired by experiences of frostbite in the fingers and the use of medication that potentially could affect neurosensory functions. No differences were found between the calculated normative values for these workers and those in other comparative investigations conducted in warmer climates. The study provided no support for the hypothesis that living and working in cold climate will lead to impaired thermal perception thresholds. Exposure to cold that had caused localized damage in the form of frostbite was shown to lead to impaired thermal perception.

Contrast affects flicker and speed perception differently

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, P.; Stone, L. S.

1997-01-01

We have previously shown that contrast affects speed perception, with lower-contrast, drifting gratings perceived as moving slower. In a recent study, we examined the implications of this result on models of speed perception that use the amplitude of the response of linear spatio-temporal filters to determine speed. In this study, we investigate whether the contrast dependence of speed can be understood within the context of models in which speed estimation is made using the temporal frequency of the response of linear spatio-temporal filters. We measured the effect of contrast on flicker perception and found that contrast manipulations produce opposite effects on perceived drift rate and perceived flicker rate, i.e., reducing contrast increases the apparent temporal frequency of counterphase modulated gratings. This finding argues that, if a temporal frequency-based algorithm underlies speed perception, either flicker and speed perception must not be based on the output of the same mechanism or contrast effects on perceived spatial frequency reconcile the disparate effects observed for perceived temporal frequency and speed.

Use of a Cutaneous Body Image (CBI) scale to evaluate self perception of body image in acne vulgaris.

PubMed

Amr, Mostafa; Kaliyadan, Feroze; Shams, Tarek

2014-01-01

Skin disorders such as acne, which have significant cosmetic implications, can affect the self-perception of cutaneous body image. There are many scales which measure self-perception of cutaneous body image. We evaluated the use of a simple Cutaneous Body Image (CBI) scale to assess self-perception of body image in a sample of young Arab patients affected with acne. A total of 70 patients with acne answered the CBI questionnaire. The CBI score was correlated with the severity of acne and acne scarring, gender, and history of retinoids use. There was no statistically significant correlation between CBI and the other parameters - gender, acne/acne scarring severity, and use of retinoids. Our study suggests that cutaneous body image perception in Arab patients with acne was not dependent on variables like gender and severity of acne or acne scarring. A simple CBI scale alone is not a sufficiently reliable tool to assess self-perception of body image in patients with acne vulgaris.

Teaching social perception skills to adolescents with autism and intellectual disabilities using video-based group instruction.

PubMed

Stauch, Tiffany A; Plavnick, Joshua B; Sankar, Sudha; Gallagher, Annie C

2018-05-17

Few interventions focus on teaching social skills to adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disabilities (ID) that are consistently used during interactions with peers ( Carter et al., 2014). The present study evaluated the effects of video-based group instruction (VGI) on the acquisition of social perception skills of five adolescents with ASD or ID in a public school setting. Social perception involves observing affective behaviors of others, discriminating relevant environmental stimuli, and differentially reinforcing the affective behavior of another person. Typically developing peers supported VGI implementation as social partners for participants. A multiple probe design across behaviors demonstrated the effectiveness of VGI for teaching social perception skills. Four of five participants acquired and maintained the targeted social perception skills, and we observed some transfer to a nontreatment setting. Results of this study suggest VGI may support the acquisition of social perception among adolescents with ASD or ID. © 2018 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

When does risk perception predict protection motivation for health threats? A person-by-situation analysis.

PubMed

Ferrer, Rebecca A; Klein, William M P; Avishai, Aya; Jones, Katelyn; Villegas, Megan; Sheeran, Paschal

2018-01-01

Although risk perception is a key concept in many health behavior theories, little research has explicitly tested when risk perception predicts motivation to take protective action against a health threat (protection motivation). The present study tackled this question by (a) adopting a multidimensional model of risk perception that comprises deliberative, affective, and experiential components (the TRIRISK model), and (b) taking a person-by-situation approach. We leveraged a highly intensive within-subjects paradigm to test features of the health threat (i.e., perceived severity) and individual differences (e.g., emotion reappraisal) as moderators of the relationship between the three types of risk perception and protection motivation in a within-subjects design. Multi-level modeling of 2968 observations (32 health threats across 94 participants) showed interactions among the TRIRISK components and moderation both by person-level and situational factors. For instance, affective risk perception better predicted protection motivation when deliberative risk perception was high, when the threat was less severe, and among participants who engage less in emotional reappraisal. These findings support the TRIRISK model and offer new insights into when risk perceptions predict protection motivation.

When does risk perception predict protection motivation for health threats? A person-by-situation analysis

PubMed Central

Klein, William M. P.; Avishai, Aya; Jones, Katelyn; Villegas, Megan; Sheeran, Paschal

2018-01-01

Although risk perception is a key concept in many health behavior theories, little research has explicitly tested when risk perception predicts motivation to take protective action against a health threat (protection motivation). The present study tackled this question by (a) adopting a multidimensional model of risk perception that comprises deliberative, affective, and experiential components (the TRIRISK model), and (b) taking a person-by-situation approach. We leveraged a highly intensive within-subjects paradigm to test features of the health threat (i.e., perceived severity) and individual differences (e.g., emotion reappraisal) as moderators of the relationship between the three types of risk perception and protection motivation in a within-subjects design. Multi-level modeling of 2968 observations (32 health threats across 94 participants) showed interactions among the TRIRISK components and moderation both by person-level and situational factors. For instance, affective risk perception better predicted protection motivation when deliberative risk perception was high, when the threat was less severe, and among participants who engage less in emotional reappraisal. These findings support the TRIRISK model and offer new insights into when risk perceptions predict protection motivation. PMID:29494705

The influence of positive affect on the components of expectancy motivation.

PubMed

Erez, Amir; Isen, Alice M

2002-12-01

The influence of positive affect on expectancy motivation was investigated in 2 studies. The results of Study 1 indicated that positive affect improved people's performance and affected their perceptions of expectancy and valence. In Study 1, in which outcomes depended on chance, positive affect did not influence people's perceptions of instrumentality. In Study 2, in which the link between performance and outcomes was specified, positive affect influenced all 3 components of expectancy motivation. Together, the results of Studies 1 and 2 indicated that positive affect interacts with task conditions in influencing motivation and that its influence on motivation occurs not through general effects, such as response bias or general activation, but rather through its influence on the cognitive processes involved in motivation.

Altered Esthetics in Primary Central Incisors: The Child's Perception.

PubMed

Soares, Fernanda Cunha; Cardoso, Mariane; Bolan, Michele

2015-01-01

This study's purpose was to determine preschool-age children's social perceptions and self-perceptions regarding altered dental esthetics. A cross-sectional study was carried out involving 431 four- to five-year-olds. The participants were shown four photographs of children with incisors exhibiting discoloration, crown fracture, missing tooth, or normal teeth. The children were asked four questions for analysis of social perceptions and two additional questions for analysis of self-perceptions. Binary logistic regression was used for the statistical analysis. Children had negative social perceptions, as a significant association was found between their negative feelings and the altered dental esthetics in children pictured in the photographs. The affected anterior incisor was indicated as the main reason for this feeling (odds ratio equals 4.68, 95 percent confidence interval [CI] equals 2.39 to 9.15). When analyzing self-perceptions, a significant association was found between negative feelings and the child's own altered dental esthetics. Children with altered esthetics felt 1.92-fold sadder than those without altered esthetics (95 percent CI equals 1.22 to 3.02). Again, the affected teeth were indicated as the main reason for this feeling (prevalence ratio equals 1.22) in comparison to reasons cited. Four- to five-year-olds have negative social perceptions and self-perceptions regarding altered dental esthetics.

Living Large: Affect Amplification in Visual Perception Predicts Emotional Reactivity to Events in Daily Life

PubMed Central

Palder, Spencer L.; Ode, Scott; Liu, Tianwei; Robinson, Michael D.

2012-01-01

It was hypothesized that affect-amplifying individuals would be more reactive to affective events in daily life. Affect amplification was quantified in terms of overestimating the font size of positive and negative, relative to neutral, words in a basic perception task. Subsequently, the same (N = 70) individuals completed a daily diary protocol in which they reported on levels of daily stressors, provocations, and social support as well as six emotion-related outcomes for 14 consecutive days. Individual differences in affect amplification moderated reactivity to daily affective events in all such analyses. For example, daily stressor levels predicted cognitive failures at high, but not low, levels of affect amplification. Affect amplification, then, appears to have widespread utility in understanding individual differences in emotional reactivity. PMID:22989107

Memory Perceptions and Memory Performance in Adulthood and Aging.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hultsch, D. F.; And Others

1985-01-01

This article reviews two questionnaires designed to measure people's perceptions of their own memories and identifies several research questions requiring further study. Results show that, in general, memory perceptions appear to be multidimensional and involve belief and affective components as well as knowledge components. (CT)

The Sound of Social Cognition: Toddlers' Understanding of How Sound Influences Others

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williamson, Rebecca A.; Brooks, Rechele; Meltzoff, Andrew N.

2015-01-01

Understanding others' perceptions is a fundamental aspect of social cognition. Children's construal of visual perception is well investigated, but there is little work on children's understanding of others' auditory perception. The current study assesses toddlers' recognition that producing different sounds can affect others…

Do aggression and rule-breaking have different interpersonal correlates? A study of antisocial behavior subtypes, negative affect, and hostile perceptions of others.

PubMed

Burt, S Alexandra; Mikolajewski, Amy J; Larson, Christine L

2009-01-01

There is mounting evidence that physical aggression and nonaggressive, rule-breaking delinquency constitute two separable though correlated subtypes of antisocial behavior. Even so, it remains unclear whether these behavioral subtypes have meaningfully different interpersonal correlates, particularly as they are subsumed within the same broad domain of antisocial behavior. To evaluate this, we examined whether hostile perceptions of others (assessed via exposure to a series of neutral unknown faces) were linked to level and type of antisocial behavior aggression vs. rule-breaking, and moreover, whether this association persisted even when also considering the common association with negative affect (as manipulated via written recollection of one's best and worst life experiences). Analyses revealed that aggression, but not rule-breaking, was uniquely tied to hostile perceptions of others. Furthermore, this association persisted over and above the common association of both hostile perceptions and aggression with negative affect (at both trait and state levels). Such results provide additional support for clinically meaningful differences between the behavioral subtypes of aggression and nonaggressive rule-breaking and for the independent role of hostile perceptions in aggressive behavior.

Exploring Factors Affecting Learner's Perception of Learning Information and Communication Technology: A HLM Analysis of a National Farmers' Training Program in Taiwan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yueh, Hsiu-Ping; Chen, Tzy-Ling; Chiu, Li-An; Lin, Wei-Chien

2013-01-01

The present study, pertaining to a national information literacy training program for both farmers and rural communities in Taiwan, explores factors that affect learners' perception of learning information and communication technology (ICT). It further analyzes effects of individual characteristics and varied training designs on learners'…

Ethical Perceptions of Accounting Students in a Portuguese University: The Influence of Individual Factors and Personal Traits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Costa, Alberto J.; Pinheiro, Margarida M.; Ribeiro, Mariana S.

2016-01-01

Our purpose is to empirically examine whether gender, age, work experience, and attendance of a course on ethics affect the ethical perceptions of Portuguese accounting students and analyze the influence of some individual factors that may affect their ethical decision-making. Additionally, we consider the degree of importance assigned to a list…

Nursing Faculty Perceptions on Teaching Critical Thinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Doris A.

2010-01-01

The perceptions of nursing faculty teaching critical thinking (CT) affective attributes and cognitive skills are described in this quantitative, descriptive study. The study sample consisted of nurse educators from the National League of Nursing database. The purpose of the study was to gain nursing faculty perception of which teaching strategies…

Do School Resources Influence the Relationship between Adolescent Financial Background and Their School Perceptions?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Summersett-Ringgold, Faith C.; Li, Kaigang; Haynie, Denise L.; Iannotti, Ronald J.

2015-01-01

Background: Socioeconomic status (SES) influences students' school perceptions and affects their performance, engagement, and personal beliefs. This study examined the effects of school population SES and school resources on the association between student SES and student perceptions. Methods: School liking, classmate social relationships, family…

Lesion-Site Affects Grammatical Gender Assignment in German: Perception and Production Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hofmann, Juliane; Kotz, Sonja A.; Marschhauser, Anke; von Cramon, D. Yves; Friederici, Angela D.

2007-01-01

Two experiments investigated phonological, derivational-morphological and semantic aspects of grammatical gender assignment in a perception and a production task in German aphasic patients and age-matched controls. The agreement of a gender indicating adjective (feminine, masculine or neuter) and a noun was evaluated during perception in…

Perception of English Intonation by English, Spanish, and Chinese Listeners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grabe, Esther; Rosner, Burton S.; Garcia-Albea, Jose E.; Zhou, Xiaolin

2003-01-01

Native language affects the perception of segmental phonetic structure, of stress, and of semantic and pragmatic effects of intonation. Similarly, native language might influence the perception of similarities and differences among intonation contours. To test this hypothesis, a cross-language experiment was conducted. An English utterance was…

EFL College Students' Perceptions of Classroom English Tests

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Nouh, Nowreyah A.; Abdul-Kareem, Muneera M.; Taqi, Hanan A.

2014-01-01

Students' perceptions of their classroom English tests play a crucial role in affecting their performance. Hence, the present study is interested in soliciting college students' perceptions of their classroom English tests to find out the reasons behind test difficulties. Participants were 585 female college students chosen randomly from all grade…

Six-month-old infants' perception of the hollow face illusion: evidence for a general convexity bias.

PubMed

Corrow, Sherryse L; Mathison, Jordan; Granrud, Carl E; Yonas, Albert

2014-01-01

Corrow, Granrud, Mathison, and Yonas (2011, Perception, 40, 1376-1383) found evidence that 6-month-old infants perceive the hollow face illusion. In the present study we asked whether 6-month-old infants perceive illusory depth reversal for a nonface object and whether infants' perception of the hollow face illusion is affected by mask orientation inversion. In experiment 1 infants viewed a concave bowl, and their reaches were recorded under monocular and binocular viewing conditions. Infants reached to the bowl as if it were convex significantly more often in the monocular than in the binocular viewing condition. These results suggest that infants perceive illusory depth reversal with a nonface stimulus and that the infant visual system has a bias to perceive objects as convex. Infants in experiment 2 viewed a concave face-like mask in upright and inverted orientations. Infants reached to the display as if it were convex more in the monocular than in the binocular condition; however, mask orientation had no effect on reaching. Previous findings that adults' perception of the hollow face illusion is affected by mask orientation inversion have been interpreted as evidence of stored-knowledge influences on perception. However, we found no evidence of such influences in infants, suggesting that their perception of this illusion may not be affected by stored knowledge, and that perceived depth reversal is not face-specific in infants.

Cultural Differences in Affect Intensity Perception in the Context of Advertising

PubMed Central

Pogosyan, Marianna; Engelmann, Jan B.

2011-01-01

Cultural differences in the perception of positive affect intensity within an advertising context were investigated among American, Japanese, and Russian participants. Participants were asked to rate the intensity of facial expressions of positive emotions, which displayed either subtle, low intensity, or salient, high intensity expressions of positive affect. In agreement with previous findings from cross-cultural psychological research, current results demonstrate both cross-cultural agreement and differences in the perception of positive affect intensity across the three cultures. Specifically, American participants perceived high arousal (HA) images as significantly less calm than participants from the other two cultures, while the Japanese participants perceived low arousal (LA) images as significantly more excited than participants from the other cultures. The underlying mechanisms of these cultural differences were further investigated through difference scores that probed for cultural differences in perception and categorization of positive emotions. Findings indicate that rating differences are due to (1) perceptual differences in the extent to which HA images were discriminated from LA images, and (2) categorization differences in the extent to which facial expressions were grouped into affect intensity categories. Specifically, American participants revealed significantly higher perceptual differentiation between arousal levels of facial expressions in high and intermediate intensity categories. Japanese participants, on the other hand, did not discriminate between high and low arousal affect categories to the same extent as did the American and Russian participants. These findings indicate the presence of cultural differences in underlying decoding mechanisms of facial expressions of positive affect intensity. Implications of these results for global advertising are discussed. PMID:22084635

Cultural differences in affect intensity perception in the context of advertising.

PubMed

Pogosyan, Marianna; Engelmann, Jan B

2011-01-01

Cultural differences in the perception of positive affect intensity within an advertising context were investigated among American, Japanese, and Russian participants. Participants were asked to rate the intensity of facial expressions of positive emotions, which displayed either subtle, low intensity, or salient, high intensity expressions of positive affect. In agreement with previous findings from cross-cultural psychological research, current results demonstrate both cross-cultural agreement and differences in the perception of positive affect intensity across the three cultures. Specifically, American participants perceived high arousal (HA) images as significantly less calm than participants from the other two cultures, while the Japanese participants perceived low arousal (LA) images as significantly more excited than participants from the other cultures. The underlying mechanisms of these cultural differences were further investigated through difference scores that probed for cultural differences in perception and categorization of positive emotions. Findings indicate that rating differences are due to (1) perceptual differences in the extent to which HA images were discriminated from LA images, and (2) categorization differences in the extent to which facial expressions were grouped into affect intensity categories. Specifically, American participants revealed significantly higher perceptual differentiation between arousal levels of facial expressions in high and intermediate intensity categories. Japanese participants, on the other hand, did not discriminate between high and low arousal affect categories to the same extent as did the American and Russian participants. These findings indicate the presence of cultural differences in underlying decoding mechanisms of facial expressions of positive affect intensity. Implications of these results for global advertising are discussed.

Core affect and the psychological construction of emotion.

PubMed

Russell, James A

2003-01-01

At the heart of emotion, mood, and any other emotionally charged event are states experienced as simply feeling good or bad, energized or enervated. These states--called core affect--influence reflexes, perception, cognition, and behavior and are influenced by many causes internal and external, but people have no direct access to these causal connections. Core affect can therefore be experienced as free-floating (mood) or can be attributed to some cause (and thereby begin an emotional episode). These basic processes spawn a broad framework that includes perception of the core-affect-altering properties of stimuli, motives, empathy, emotional meta-experience, and affect versus emotion regulation; it accounts for prototypical emotional episodes, such as fear and anger, as core affect attributed to something plus various nonemotional processes.

The Role of Neuroticism in the Maintenance of Chronic Baseline Stress Perception and Negative Affect.

PubMed

Abbasi, Irum Saeed

2016-03-04

The influence of neuroticism on stress perception and its associated negative affect is explored in a quasi-experimental repeated measure study. The study involves manipulating the stress perception and affect of high N group (n = 24) and low N group (n = 28) three times; first, through exposure to neutral stimuli; second, through exposure to a laboratory stressor; third, through exposure to positive stimuli. The results reveal that after exposure to neutral stimuli, there is a significant difference in the baseline Perceived Stress Scores (PSS) (p = .005) and Negative Affect (NA) scores (p = .001) of the two groups. During the stress task, however, both groups show a non-significant difference in the PSS (p = .200) and NA scores (p = .367). After exposure to positive stimuli, there is a significant difference in the PSS scores (p = .001), but a non-significant difference in the NA scores (p = .661) of the two groups. When compared across three conditions, the high N group report significantly higher perceived stress (p = .002), but not significantly higher negative affect (p = .123) than the low N group. Finally for both PSS and NA scores, there is no interaction between neuroticism and any of the three treatment conditions (p = .176; p = .338, respectively). This study shows that the high N group may be at risk for health disparities due to maintaining a chronic higher baseline stress perception and negative affect state under neutral conditions, than the low N group. Implications of the study are discussed.

Macroscopic brain dynamics during verbal and pictorial processing of affective stimuli.

PubMed

Keil, Andreas

2006-01-01

Emotions can be viewed as action dispositions, preparing an individual to act efficiently and successfully in situations of behavioral relevance. To initiate optimized behavior, it is essential to accurately process the perceptual elements indicative of emotional relevance. The present chapter discusses effects of affective content on neural and behavioral parameters of perception, across different information channels. Electrocortical data are presented from studies examining affective perception with pictures and words in different task contexts. As a main result, these data suggest that sensory facilitation has an important role in affective processing. Affective pictures appear to facilitate perception as a function of emotional arousal at multiple levels of visual analysis. If the discrimination between affectively arousing vs. nonarousing content relies on fine-grained differences, amplification of the cortical representation may occur as early as 60-90 ms after stimulus onset. Affectively arousing information as conveyed via visual verbal channels was not subject to such very early enhancement. However, electrocortical indices of lexical access and/or activation of semantic networks showed that affectively arousing content may enhance the formation of semantic representations during word encoding. It can be concluded that affective arousal is associated with activation of widespread networks, which act to optimize sensory processing. On the basis of prioritized sensory analysis for affectively relevant stimuli, subsequent steps such as working memory, motor preparation, and action may be adjusted to meet the adaptive requirements of the situation perceived.

Affective design identification on the development of batik convection product

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prastawa, H.; Purwaningsih, R.

2017-11-01

The affective design is increasingly applied to product development in order to meet the desires and preferences of customers. Batik is a traditional Indonesian culture containing historical and cultural values. The development of batik design is one of the efforts to strengthen the identity and superiority of Indonesia’s creative industries as well as to preserve batik as the cultural heritage of the nation. Batik product designs offered by the manufacturers do not necessarily correspond with the wishes of consumers, especially the affective values involved. Therefore it is necessary to identify consumer perceptions of convection- based batik product in the form of clothing and fabrics, especially the affective value as the consideration for the designer or manufacturer to develop design alternatives to batik convection products. This research aims to obtain information on consumer affective value, to identify the affective value perception differences among X and Y Generation and to classify affective value in the corresponding cluster of the batik products convection. This study uses Kansei engineering to determine the perception of affective design in the form of Kansei word. Cluster Analysis was used to form clusters that classify affective value of the same class. The results showed that there were 16 pairs of Kansei word which was worth as an affective consumer desire, the 3 indicators that had significant differences among X and Y Generation and 4 clusters with different characteristics.

Effects of inverting contour and features on processing for static and dynamic face perception: an MEG study.

PubMed

Miki, Kensaku; Takeshima, Yasuyuki; Watanabe, Shoko; Honda, Yukiko; Kakigi, Ryusuke

2011-04-06

We investigated the effects of inverting facial contour (hair and chin) and features (eyes, nose and mouth) on processing for static and dynamic face perception using magnetoencephalography (MEG). We used apparent motion, in which the first stimulus (S1) was replaced by a second stimulus (S2) with no interstimulus interval and subjects perceived visual motion, and presented three conditions as follows: (1) U&U: Upright contour and Upright features, (2) U&I: Upright contour and Inverted features, and (3) I&I: Inverted contour and Inverted features. In static face perception (S1 onset), the peak latency of the fusiform area's activity, which was related to static face perception, was significantly longer for U&I and I&I than for U&U in the right hemisphere and for U&I than for U&U and I&I in the left. In dynamic face perception (S2 onset), the strength (moment) of the occipitotemporal area's activity, which was related to dynamic face perception, was significantly larger for I&I than for U&U and U&I in the right hemisphere, but not the left. These results can be summarized as follows: (1) in static face perception, the activity of the right fusiform area was more affected by the inversion of features while that of the left fusiform area was more affected by the disruption of the spatial relation between the contour and features, and (2) in dynamic face perception, the activity of the right occipitotemporal area was affected by the inversion of the facial contour. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cognitive style as a factor in accounting students' perceptions of career-choice factors.

PubMed

Gul, F; Huang, A; Subramaniam, N

1992-12-01

Since prior studies of individuals' perceptions of career-choice factors have not considered the effect of cognitive styles of subjects, this study, using 68 accounting students, investigated the mediating effects of the field dependent-independent cognitive dimension on perceptions of the importance of career-choice factors. The results, in general, show that cognitive style affected individuals' perceptions of career-choice factors, suggesting that future studies of individuals' perceptions should take into account individual cognitive differences.

Individual Differences in Beat Perception Affect Gait Responses to Low- and High-Groove Music

PubMed Central

Leow, Li-Ann; Parrott, Taylor; Grahn, Jessica A.

2014-01-01

Slowed gait in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) can be improved when patients synchronize footsteps to isochronous metronome cues, but limited retention of such improvements suggest that permanent cueing regimes are needed for long-term improvements. If so, music might make permanent cueing regimes more pleasant, improving adherence; however, music cueing requires patients to synchronize movements to the “beat,” which might be difficult for patients with PD who tend to show weak beat perception. One solution may be to use high-groove music, which has high beat salience that may facilitate synchronization, and affective properties, which may improve motivation to move. As a first step to understanding how beat perception affects gait in complex neurological disorders, we examined how beat perception ability affected gait in neurotypical adults. Synchronization performance and gait parameters were assessed as healthy young adults with strong or weak beat perception synchronized to low-groove music, high-groove music, and metronome cues. High-groove music was predicted to elicit better synchronization than low-groove music, due to its higher beat salience. Two musical tempi, or rates, were used: (1) preferred tempo: beat rate matched to preferred step rate and (2) faster tempo: beat rate adjusted to 22.5% faster than preferred step rate. For both strong and weak beat-perceivers, synchronization performance was best with metronome cues, followed by high-groove music, and worst with low-groove music. In addition, high-groove music elicited longer and faster steps than low-groove music, both at preferred tempo and at faster tempo. Low-groove music was particularly detrimental to gait in weak beat-perceivers, who showed slower and shorter steps compared to uncued walking. The findings show that individual differences in beat perception affect gait when synchronizing footsteps to music, and have implications for using music in gait rehabilitation. PMID:25374521

Factors Affecting Parent-Child Relationships One Year After Positive Newborn Screening for Cystic Fibrosis or Congenital Hypothyroidism

PubMed Central

Tluczek, Audrey; Clark, Roseanne; McKechnie, Anne Chevalier; Brown, Roger L.

2014-01-01

Objective Examine factors that mediate parent-infant relationships 12 months after positive newborn screening (NBS). Method We examined effects of infant diagnosis, parents’ perceptions of child vulnerability and child attachment, parental depression and anxiety on parent-infant feeding interactions for 131 mothers and 118 fathers of 131 infants whose NBS and diagnostics confirmed cystic fibrosis (CF, n=23), congenital hypothyroidism (CH, n=35), CF carrier status (CF-C, n=38), or healthy, normal NBS (H, n=35). Results Separate composite indicator structural equation models for mothers and fathers showed neonatal diagnosis was not associated with increased anxiety or depression. In comparison to the H group, CF group parents reported higher perceptions of child vulnerability (p< 0.001, p=0.002); and CF-C group fathers viewed their children as more attached (p=0.021). High maternal perception of child vulnerability was associated with low perceptions of child attachment (p=0.001) which was associated with task-oriented feeding behavior (p=0.016, p=0.029). Parental task-oriented feeding behavior was associated with less positive (p< 0.001, p< 0.001) and more negative interactions (p< 0.001, p= 0.001) with their infants. High paternal perception of child vulnerability was associated with negative parent interactions (p< 0.001). High parental affective involvement and verbalization was associated with high infant affective expressiveness, communicative skills, and social responsiveness (mothers’ p< 0.001, fathers’ p< 0.001). High parental negative affect and/or inconsistent and intrusive behavior was associated with infant dysregulation and irritability (mothers’ p< 0.001, fathers’ p< 0.001). Conclusion The severity of conditions identified through NBS can affect parents’ perceptions of their child’s vulnerability and attachment. Infant feeding problems in the context of chronic health conditions, like CF, could represent signs of more deeply rooted concerns regarding the parent-child relationship that merit additional clinical evaluation. PMID:25493463

Instructors Who Resist "College Lite": The Neutralizing Effect of Instructor Immediacy on Students' Course-Workload Violations and Perceptions of Instructor Credibility and Affective Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mottet, Timothy P.; Parker-Raley, Jessica; Beebe, Steven A.; Cunningham, Cory

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an instructor's nonverbal immediacy behaviors and course-workload demands on student perceptions of instructor credibility and student higher-order affective learning. H1 and H2 predicted that an instructor's nonverbal immediacy behaviors would neutralize the instructor's violations of…

Task Difficulty Differentially Affects Two Measures of Processing Load: The Pupil Response during Sentence Processing and Delayed Cued Recall of the Sentences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zekveld, Adriana A.; Festen, Joost M.; Kramer, Kramera

2013-01-01

Purpose: In this study, the authors assessed the influence of masking level (29% or 71% sentence perception) and test modality on the processing load during language perception as reflected by the pupil response. In addition, the authors administered a delayed cued stimulus recall test to examine whether processing load affected the encoding of…

Preschool Children's Perceptions of the Value of Affection as Seen in Their Drawings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Günindi, Yunus

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of children in preschool education with regard to the value of affection in the pictures they draw. The study involved 199 children aged 60 months old or above. The descriptive research method was used and data were collected with the draw-and-explain technique. During the collection of the…

The ECE Pre-Service Teachers' Perception on Factors Affecting the Integration of Educational Computer Games in Two Conditions: Selecting versus Redesigning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sancar Tokmak, Hatice; Ozgelen, Sinan

2013-01-01

This case study aimed to examine early childhood education (ECE) pre-service teachers' perception on the factors affecting integration of educational computer games to their instruction in two areas: selecting and redesigning. Twenty-six ECE pre-service teachers participated in the study. The data was collected through open-ended questionnaires,…

Effect of Parkinson Disease on Emotion Perception Using the Persian Affective Voices Test.

PubMed

Saffarian, Arezoo; Shavaki, Yunes Amiri; Shahidi, Gholam Ali; Jafari, Zahra

2018-05-04

Emotion perception plays a major role in proper communication with people in different social interactions. Nonverbal affect bursts can be used to evaluate vocal emotion perception. The present study was a preliminary step to establishing the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Montreal Affective Voices (MAV) test, as well as to investigate the effect of Parkinson disease (PD) on vocal emotion perception. The short, emotional sound made by pronouncing the vowel "a" in Persian was recorded by 22 actors and actresses to develop the Persian version of the MAV, the Persian Affective Voices (PAV), for emotions of happiness, sadness, pleasure, pain, anger, disgust, fear, surprise, and neutrality. The results of the recordings of five of the actresses and five of the actors who obtained the highest score were used to generate the test. For convergent validity assessment, the correlation between the PAV and a speech prosody comprehension test was examined using a gender- and age-matched control group. To investigate the effect of the PD on emotion perception, the PAV test was performed on 28 patients with mild PD between ages 50 and 70 years. The PAV showed a high internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.80). A significant positive correlation was observed between the PAV and the speech prosody comprehension test. The test-retest reliability also showed the high repeatability of the PAV (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.815, P ≤ 0.001). A significant difference was observed between the patients with PD and the controls in all subtests. The PAV test is a useful psychometric tool for examining vocal emotion perception that can be used in both behavioral and neuroimaging studies. Copyright © 2018 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Climate change and coastal environmental risk perceptions in Florida.

PubMed

Carlton, Stuart J; Jacobson, Susan K

2013-11-30

Understanding public perceptions of climate change risks is a prerequisite for effective climate communication and adaptation. Many studies of climate risk perceptions have either analyzed a general operationalization of climate change risk or employed a case-study approach of specific adaptive processes. This study takes a different approach, examining attitudes toward 17 specific, climate-related coastal risks and cognitive, affective, and risk-specific predictors of risk perception. A survey of 558 undergraduates revealed that risks to the physical environment were a greater concern than economic or biological risks. Perceptions of greater physical environment risks were significantly associated with having more pro-environmental attitudes, being female, and being more Democratic-leaning. Perceptions of greater economic risks were significantly associated with having more negative environmental attitudes, being female, and being more Republican-leaning. Perceptions of greater biological risks were significantly associated with more positive environmental attitudes. The findings suggest that focusing on physical environment risks maybe more salient to this audience than communications about general climate change adaptation. The results demonstrate that climate change beliefs and risk perceptions are multifactorial and complex and are shaped by individuals' attitudes and basic beliefs. Climate risk communications need to apply this knowledge to better target cognitive and affective processes of specific audiences, rather than providing simple characterizations of risks. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dispositional sources of sanction perceptions: Emotionality, cognitive style, intolerance of ambiguity, and self-efficacy.

PubMed

Pickett, Justin T; Bushway, Shawn D

2015-12-01

This study contributes to efforts to identify the sources of arrest risk perceptions and ambiguity (or lack of confidence) in such perceptions. Drawing on dual-process theories of reasoning, we argue that arrest risk perceptions often represent intuitive judgments that are influenced by cognitive heuristics and dispositional attributes. Multivariate regression models are estimated with data from 3 national surveys to test 6 hypotheses about the relationships between specific dispositional attributes and perceived arrest risk and ambiguity. We find evidence that dispositional positive affect and intolerance of ambiguity are both positively related to perceived arrest risk, and are also both negatively related to ambiguity. We also find evidence that cognitive reflection and general self-efficacy are, respectively, positively and negatively associated with ambiguity. Mixed evidence emerges about whether cognitive reflection is related to risk perceptions, and about whether either dispositional negative affect or thoughtfully reflective decision making correlate with ambiguity. Taken together, the results provide partial support for each of our hypotheses, and suggest that dispositional attributes are important sources of perceptions of arrest risk as well as of ambiguity in such perceptions. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Associations Among Individuals’ Perceptions of Future Time, Individual Resources, and Subjective Well-Being in Old Age

PubMed Central

Hoppmann, Christiane A.; Infurna, Frank J.; Ram, Nilam; Gerstorf, Denis

2015-01-01

Objectives Perceptions of future time are of key interest to aging research because of their implications for subjective well-being. Interestingly, perceptions about future time are only moderately associated with age, pointing to a vast heterogeneity in future time perceptions among older adults. We examine associations between future time perceptions, age, and subjective well-being across two studies, including moderations by individual resources. Method Using data from the Berlin Aging Study (N = 516; Mage = 85 years), we link one operationalization (subjective nearness to death) and age to subjective well-being. Using Health and Retirement Study data (N = 2,596; Mage = 77 years), we examine associations of another future time perception indicator (subjective future life expectancy) and age with subjective well-being. Results Consistent across studies, perceptions of limited time left were associated with poorer subjective well-being (lower life satisfaction and positive affect; more negative affect and depressive symptoms). Importantly, individual resources moderated future time perception–subjective well-being associations with those of better health exhibiting reduced future time perception–subjective well-being associations. Discussion We discuss our findings in the context of the Model of Strength and Vulnerability Integration. PMID:26437862

Timbre Brownfield Prioritization Tool to support effective brownfield regeneration.

PubMed

Pizzol, Lisa; Zabeo, Alex; Klusáček, Petr; Giubilato, Elisa; Critto, Andrea; Frantál, Bohumil; Martinát, Standa; Kunc, Josef; Osman, Robert; Bartke, Stephan

2016-01-15

In the last decade, the regeneration of derelict or underused sites, fully or partly located in urban areas (or so called "brownfields"), has become more common, since free developable land (or so called "greenfields") has more and more become a scare and, hence, more expensive resource, especially in densely populated areas. Although the regeneration of brownfield sites can offer development potentials, the complexity of these sites requires considerable efforts to successfully complete their revitalization projects and the proper selection of promising sites is a pre-requisite to efficiently allocate the limited financial resources. The identification and analysis of success factors for brownfield sites regeneration can support investors and decision makers in selecting those sites which are the most advantageous for successful regeneration. The objective of this paper is to present the Timbre Brownfield Prioritization Tool (TBPT), developed as a web-based solution to assist stakeholders responsible for wider territories or clusters of brownfield sites (portfolios) to identify which brownfield sites should be preferably considered for redevelopment or further investigation. The prioritization approach is based on a set of success factors properly identified through a systematic stakeholder engagement procedure. Within the TBPT these success factors are integrated by means of a Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) methodology, which includes stakeholders' requalification objectives and perspectives related to the brownfield regeneration process and takes into account the three pillars of sustainability (economic, social and environmental dimensions). The tool has been applied to the South Moravia case study (Czech Republic), considering two different requalification objectives identified by local stakeholders, namely the selection of suitable locations for the development of a shopping centre and a solar power plant, respectively. The application of the TBPT to the case study showed that it is flexible and easy to adapt to different local contexts, allowing the assessors to introduce locally relevant parameters identified according to their expertise and considering the availability of local data. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Comparative Study on the Visual Perceptions of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmetoglu, Emine; Aral, Neriman; Butun Ayhan, Aynur

This study was conducted in order to (a) compare the visual perceptions of seven-year-old children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with those of normally developing children of the same age and development level and (b) determine whether the visual perceptions of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder vary with respect to gender, having received preschool education and parents` educational level. A total of 60 children, 30 with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and 30 with normal development, were assigned to the study. Data about children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and their families was collected by using a General Information Form and the visual perception of children was examined through the Frostig Developmental Test of Visual Perception. The Mann-Whitney U-test and Kruskal-Wallis variance analysis was used to determine whether there was a difference of between the visual perceptions of children with normal development and those diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and to discover whether the variables of gender, preschool education and parents` educational status affected the visual perceptions of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The results showed that there was a statistically meaningful difference between the visual perceptions of the two groups and that the visual perceptions of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were affected meaningfully by gender, preschool education and parents` educational status.

Associations Among Individuals' Perceptions of Future Time, Individual Resources, and Subjective Well-Being in Old Age.

PubMed

Hoppmann, Christiane A; Infurna, Frank J; Ram, Nilam; Gerstorf, Denis

2017-05-01

Perceptions of future time are of key interest to aging research because of their implications for subjective well-being. Interestingly, perceptions about future time are only moderately associated with age when looking at the second half of life, pointing to a vast heterogeneity in future time perceptions among older adults. We examine associations between future time perceptions, age, and subjective well-being across two studies, including moderations by individual resources. Using data from the Berlin Aging Study (N = 516; Mage = 85 years), we link one operationalization (subjective nearness to death) and age to subjective well-being. Using Health and Retirement Study data (N = 2,596; Mage = 77 years), we examine associations of another future time perception indicator (subjective future life expectancy) and age with subjective well-being. Consistent across studies, perceptions of limited time left were associated with poorer subjective well-being (lower life satisfaction and positive affect; more negative affect and depressive symptoms). Importantly, individual resources moderated future time perception-subjective well-being associations with those of better health exhibiting reduced future time perception-subjective well-being associations. We discuss our findings in the context of the Model of Strength and Vulnerability Integration. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Interoceptive Awareness, Positive Affect, and Decision Making in Major Depressive Disorder

PubMed Central

Furman, Daniella J.; Waugh, Christian E.; Bhattacharjee, Kalpa; Thompson, Renee J.; Gotlib, Ian H.

2013-01-01

Background Little work has examined the relation between interoceptive awareness and symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Existing research suggests that depressed individuals exhibit impaired heartbeat perception, though the results of this research have been equivocal. Importantly, depressed participants in these studies have had comorbid anxiety disorders, making it difficult to draw inferences about interoceptive awareness in MDD. The current study addresses this issue by assessing heartbeat perception in depressed women without current anxiety disorders and exploring the relation between interoception and perturbations in both affective intensity and decision making, components of MDD postulated to be related to bodily awareness. Methods Depressed women without concurrent anxiety disorders (n=25) and never-disordered controls (n=36) performed a heartbeat perception task. Participants completed the self-report Affect Intensity Measure (AIM), and decision-making difficulty was assessed in MDD participants using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Results Depressed women exhibited poorer heartbeat perception accuracy than did control participants. Impaired accuracy in MDD participants was associated with reduced positive affectivity and difficulty in decision making. Limitations Our sample was composed exclusively of females and was heterogeneous with respect to treatment status, thereby limiting our ability to generalize results to depressed males and to exclude the contribution of exogenous factors to the observed group differences. Conclusions Results of this study suggest that for depressed individuals without anxiety comorbidities, disrupted perception of bodily responses reduces both the experience of positive arousal and the ability to use interoceptive feedback to inform decision making. PMID:23972662

Tone Discrimination as a Window into Acoustic Perceptual Deficits in Parkinson's Disease

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Troche, Joshua; Troche, Michelle S.; Berkowitz, Rebecca; Grossman, Murray; Reilly, Jamie

2012-01-01

Purpose: Deficits in auditory perception compromise a range of linguistic processes in persons with Parkinson's disease (PD), including speech perception and sensitivity to affective and linguistic prosody. An unanswered question is whether this deficit exists not only at the level of speech perception, but also at a more pervasive level of…

EFL Proficiency in Language Learning and Learner Autonomy Perceptions of Turkish Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ünal, Süleyman; Çeliköz, Nadir; Sari, Irfan

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to determine the relationships of Turkish-English Language Teaching (ELT) learners' perceptions of learner autonomy with ELT learner's proficiency level in language learning. Particularly, the study aimed at investigating to what extent ELT learners' autonomy perceptions are affected by proficiency level of learners.…

Development of a 15-Item Scale to Measure Parental Perceptions of Their Neighborhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quigg, Robin; Gray, Andrew; Reeder, Anthony Ivor; Holt, Alec; Waters, Debra L.

2015-01-01

Socioecological theory suggests that there are a range of influences that affect the physical activity levels of children, including parents' perceptions of the neighborhood. A questionnaire instrument to quantify parental neighborhood perceptions was developed for the Location of Children's Activity in Their Environment study as a potential…

The Effects of Students' Course Perceptions on Their Domain Identification, Motivational Beliefs, and Goals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Brett D.; Tendhar, Chosang; Paretti, Marie C.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine whether students' perceptions in a first-year university engineering course affected their engineering identification, motivational beliefs, and engineering major and career goals. Based on current motivation models and theories, we hypothesized that students' perceptions of the components of the MUSIC…

How Employees' Perception of Information Technology Application and Their Knowledge Management Capacity Influence Organisational Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuo, Yen-Ku; Ye, Kung-Don

2010-01-01

This study investigates how workers' gender, work experience, designated division, and appointment affect (i) their perception of information technology (IT) within the organisation, (ii) their self-perceived capacity in knowledge management (KM), and (iii) their perception of organisational performance (OP). Furthermore, the study also examines…

Perceptions of Libraries, 2010: Context and Community. A Report to the OCLC Membership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gauder, Brad, Ed.

2011-01-01

This report is a sequel to the 2005 "Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources." This new report provides updated information and new insights into information consumers and their online habits, preferences, and perceptions. Particular attention was paid to how the current economic downturn has affected the information-seeking behaviors…

Post-"Psychological Contract" Violation: The Durability and Transferability of Employee Perceptions. The Case of TimTec.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pate, Judy; Malone, Charles

2000-01-01

Interviews with 20 employees 5 years after a factory closure explored pre- and postlayoff experiences and perceptions of current employers. The experience of the violation of the psychological contract affected perceptions of loyalty, commitment, and trust that were transferred to the current employer. (SK)

Perceptions of Women: Influence of Performance, Marital and Parental Variables.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Etaugh, Claire; Poertner, Patricia

The labor force participation of women with young children has increased dramatically in recent years, stimulating research concerning how perceptions of a woman's competence and personality are affected by her employment and family roles. Relatively little is known, however, about perceptions of women with very young children. This study explored…

Science Perceptions of Prospective Class Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ulucinar Sagir, Safak

2017-01-01

The perceptions of class teachers, who will deliver science education at the elementary school, of information and science are significant as these affect the quality of education received by children. The aim of this research is to determine perceptions of prospective class teachers of science. The sample group of the research consists of 120…

Body Mass Index Self-Perception and Weight Management Behaviors during Late Adolescence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Kyeongra; Turk, Melanie T.; Allison, Virginia L.; James, Khara A.; Chasens, Eileen

2014-01-01

Background: This study examined the relationship between actual body weight and self-perceived weight, and how perception of one's weight affects weight management behaviors among US adolescents. Methods: Adolescents ages 16-19 years with objectively-measured weight and height and self-reported perception of weight, weight-loss efforts, and…

MAT@USC Candidates and Latino English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lomeli, Cynthia Leticia

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to further understand the perceptions of MAT@USC teacher candidates and how their perceptions and previous experiences affect the educational experiences of Latino English language learners. Three questions were developed to guide this study: (1) What are the perceptions of MAT@USC candidates in selected courses…

Non-auditory factors affecting urban soundscape evaluation.

PubMed

Jeon, Jin Yong; Lee, Pyoung Jik; Hong, Joo Young; Cabrera, Densil

2011-12-01

The aim of this study is to characterize urban spaces, which combine landscape, acoustics, and lighting, and to investigate people's perceptions of urban soundscapes through quantitative and qualitative analyses. A general questionnaire survey and soundwalk were performed to investigate soundscape perception in urban spaces. Non-auditory factors (visual image, day lighting, and olfactory perceptions), as well as acoustic comfort, were selected as the main contexts that affect soundscape perception, and context preferences and overall impressions were evaluated using an 11-point numerical scale. For qualitative analysis, a semantic differential test was performed in the form of a social survey, and subjects were also asked to describe their impressions during a soundwalk. The results showed that urban soundscapes can be characterized by soundmarks, and soundscape perceptions are dominated by acoustic comfort, visual images, and day lighting, whereas reverberance in urban spaces does not yield consistent preference judgments. It is posited that the subjective evaluation of reverberance can be replaced by physical measurements. The categories extracted from the qualitative analysis revealed that spatial impressions such as openness and density emerged as some of the contexts of soundscape perception. © 2011 Acoustical Society of America

The effect of contextual sound cues on visual fidelity perception.

PubMed

Rojas, David; Cowan, Brent; Kapralos, Bill; Collins, Karen; Dubrowski, Adam

2014-01-01

Previous work has shown that sound can affect the perception of visual fidelity. Here we build upon this previous work by examining the effect of contextual sound cues (i.e., sounds that are related to the visuals) on visual fidelity perception. Results suggest that contextual sound cues do influence visual fidelity perception and, more specifically, our perception of visual fidelity increases with contextual sound cues. These results have implications for designers of multimodal virtual worlds and serious games that, with the appropriate use of contextual sounds, can reduce visual rendering requirements without a corresponding decrease in the perception of visual fidelity.

Factors that affect college students' perceptions of rape: what is the role of gender and other situational factors?

PubMed

Vandiver, Donna M; Dupalo, Jessica Rager

2013-05-01

Prior research has shown that various situational factors and behaviors can affect one's perception of whether a rape has occurred. Moreover, some hold false beliefs about rape. This can also affect one's perception of ambiguous situations. This study included the administration of a survey to 584 college students; the survey examined the prevalence of rape myths and responses to vignettes of potential rape scenarios. It was found that although the majority of this sample did not support rape myths, male students were significantly more likely than female students to support rape myths. Furthermore, approximately 20% of students did support one subscale of the rape myth scale: He didn't mean to [commit rape]. The results also revealed an interaction effect between the observer's sex and the victim's sex, suggesting a complex gender relationship.

Perceptions of employment relations and permanence in the organization: mediating effects of affective commitment in relations of psychological contract and intention to quit.

PubMed

Alcover, Carlos-María; Martínez-Iñigo, David; Chambel, Maria José

2012-06-01

Working conditions in call/contact centers influence employees' perceptions of their relations with the organization and their attitudes to work. Such perceptions can be analyzed through the psychological contract. The association between the relational/transactional orientation of the psychological contract and intention to quit the organization was examined, as well as the mediating role of affective commitment in employment relations. Data were collected from 973 employees in a cross-sectional survey. Analysis confirmed that there was a statistically significant relation between the orientation of the psychological contract and intention to quit, which was positive for transactionally oriented and negative for relationally oriented contracts. A mediating role for affective commitment was also confirmed, and a full mediating effect was reported for both orientations.

Interparental Relationship Sensitivity Leads to Adolescent Internalizing Problems: Different Genotypes, Different Pathways

PubMed Central

Schlomer, Gabriel L.; Fosco, Gregory M.; Cleveland, H. H.; Vandenbergh, David J.; Feinberg, Mark E.

2015-01-01

Several studies have established that child interparental conflict evaluations link parent relationship functioning and adolescent adjustment. Using differential susceptibility theory and its vantage sensitivity complement as their framework, the authors examined differences between adolescents who vary in the DRD4 7 repeat genotype (i.e. 7+ vs. 7−) in how both interparental conflict and positivity affect adolescents’ evaluations of interparental conflict (i.e., threat appraisals) and how these evaluations affect internalizing problems. Results from longitudinal multiple-group path models using PROSPER data (N = 452) supported the hypothesis that threat appraisals for 7+ adolescents would be more affected by perceptions of interparental positivity compared to 7− adolescents; however, threat appraisals for 7+ adolescents were also less affected by interparental conflict. Among 7− adolescents, interparental conflict perceptions were associated with higher threat appraisals, and no association was found for perceptions of positivity. For adolescents of both genotypes, higher threat was associated with greater internalizing problems. PMID:25843974

Maternal perception of fetal movements in late pregnancy is affected by type and duration of fetal movement.

PubMed

Brown, Rebecca; Higgins, Lucy E; Johnstone, Edward D; Wijekoon, Jayawan H; Heazell, Alexander E P

2016-01-01

A reduction in fetal movements has been proposed to identify pregnancies at risk of stillbirth. The utility of this approach is limited by variability in maternal perception of fetal movements. We aimed to determine the proportion of fetal movements observed by ultrasound that were maternally perceived and identify factors that affected maternal perception. During 30-min recordings, women (n = 21) depressed a trigger upon perception of a fetal movement, while an ultrasound operator recorded observed movements according to the fetal parts involved. Women perceived between 2.4% and 81.0% (median 44.8%) of movements observed on scan. Synchronous movement of the fetal trunk and limbs was more likely to be recognized than either part in isolation (60.5% versus 37.5% and 30%, respectively). The ultrasound operator judged the fetus to be moving for a significantly greater proportion of the time than mothers (median 1.5% of total recording time versus 0.7%). There was no significant relationship between the ability to perceive fetal activity and placental site, parity, amniotic fluid index or maternal body mass index. Variations in maternal perception of fetal movements may affect detection of a clinically significant reduction in fetal movements for some women.

The Effects of Perceptions of Organizational Structure on Job Involvement, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment Among Indian Police Officers.

PubMed

Lambert, Eric G; Qureshi, Hanif; Klahm, Charles; Smith, Brad; Frank, James

2017-12-01

Successful police organizations rely on involved, satisfied, and committed workers. The concepts of job involvement (i.e., connection with the job), job satisfaction (i.e., affective feeling toward the job), and organizational commitment (i.e., bond with the employing organization) have been shown to significantly affect intentions and behaviors of employees. The current study used multivariate ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis on survey results from a sample of 827 Indian police officers to explore how perceptions of work environment factors affect officers' job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Organizational support, formalization (i.e., level of codified written rules and guidelines), promotional opportunities, institutional communication (i.e., salient work information is transmitted), and input into decision-making (i.e., having a voice in the process) significantly influenced the job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment of Indian police officers. Specifically, in the multivariate analysis, perceptions of formalization and instrumental communication had a positive relationship with job involvement; perceptions of organizational support, promotional opportunities, instrumental communication, and input into decision-making had positive associations with job satisfaction; and perceptions of organizational support, formalization, promotional opportunities, instrumental communication, and input into decision-making had positive relationships with organizational commitment.

Perceptions of the motivational climate, need satisfaction, and indices of well- and ill-being among hip hop dancers.

PubMed

Quested, Eleanor; Duda, Joan L

2009-01-01

Grounded in the self-determination theoretical framework (SDT) formulated by Deci and Ryan, and specifically the basic needs mini-theory (BNT), this study examined the relationship between perceptions of the motivational climate manifested in hip hop environments, satisfaction of the three basic needs, and indicators of well- and ill-being among hip hop dancers. Fifty-nine hip hop dancers (mean age: 20.29 years) completed a questionnaire assessing the variables of interest in the study. Perceptions of a task-involving climate were positively associated with satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Perceptions of an ego-involving climate negatively predicted relatedness. Satisfaction of the need for competence was positively associated with positive affect, and negatively linked to negative affect. Competence need satisfaction significantly mediated the relationship between a perceived task-involving climate and positive and negative affective states. In sum, the findings provided partial support for the facets of SDT and BNT. The results also indicated that promoting the task-involving features of dance learning environments may be beneficial to dancers' well-being.

Gangs of Chicago: Perceptions of crime and its effect on the recreation behavior of Latino residents in urban communities

Treesearch

Monika Stodolska; Juan Carlos Acevedo; Kimberly J. Shinew

2009-01-01

Perception of safety is an important factor affecting the leisure behavior of Latinos residing in urban neighborhoods. Yet research on how fear of crime and fear of gangs in particular affect leisure of ethnic and racial minorities is underdeveloped. The objectives of this study are to examine how gangs operate in recreation spaces in Latino neighborhoods, how gangs...

Skin Color and Self-Perceptions of Immigrant and U.S.-Born Latinas: The Moderating Role of Racial Socialization and Ethnic Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Telzer, Eva H.; Vazquez Garcia, Heidie A.

2009-01-01

Research has increasingly identified race as a salient characteristic that affects one's life experiences and psychological well-being. However, little is known about how skin color affects the emotional health of Latinos. The present study examined how skin color relates to the self-perceptions of immigrant (N = 26) and U.S.-born (N = 55) Latina…

Comparison of perceptions of oral health-related quality of life in adolescents affected with ectodermal dysplasias relative to caregivers.

PubMed

Kohli, Richie; Levy, Steven; Kummet, Colleen M; Dawson, Deborah V; Stanford, Clark M

2011-01-01

The objective of this study was to assess the perceived oral health-related quality of life (OHQoL) of adolescents affected with one of the ectodermal dysplasias (EDs). Data were collected from 2003 to 2007 in a cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of individuals affected by ED (n = 35) using the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ11-14) for children and the Parent-Caregiver Perceptions Questionnaire for their caregivers. The main findings of this study were that individuals who were affected with ED in the older age group (15- to 19-year-olds) perceived more functional problems than younger individuals (11- to 14-year-olds) (p= .04). Females with ED (n = 13) perceived more emotional problems than males (n = 22; p= .01). Although caregivers tended to report slightly higher OHQoL scores (indicating worse OHQoL), no significant differences were observed between children's and parents' total OHQoL and individual domains' median scores (p > .05). Thus, the perceptions of oral health and well-being may vary by age and gender for children who have ED. Caution is warranted concerning using parents as proxies for their children when assessing the child's OHQoL. ©2011 Special Care Dentistry Association and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Parents' perceptions of autism spectrum disorder etiology and recurrence risk and effects of their perceptions on family planning: Recommendations for genetic counselors.

PubMed

Selkirk, Christina G; McCarthy Veach, Patricia; Lian, Fengqin; Schimmenti, Lisa; LeRoy, Bonnie S

2009-10-01

Knowledge about the etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) is increasing, but causes remain elusive for most cases. Genetic counselors are positioned to help families that have children with ASDs despite uncertainty regarding etiology. To determine how genetic counselors might best provide services, an anonymous survey was conducted with 255 parents whose children were diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Questions concerned: 1) their perceptions of ASD cause(s) and 2) recurrence risk, 3) whether perceived risk affected family planning decisions, 4) whether parents had received genetic services, and 5) how genetic counselors might assist families. The most prevalent perceived cause was genetic influences (72.6%). Most parents' recurrence risk perceptions were inaccurately high and significantly affected family planning. Only 10% had seen a genetic professional related to an ASD. Parents provided several suggestions for genetic counselor best practices. Findings indicate the importance of genetic counselor awareness of parent perceptions in order to best help families who have children with ASDs.

Affective and cognitive reactions to subliminal flicker from fluorescent lighting.

PubMed

Knez, Igor

2014-05-01

This study renews the classical concept of subliminal perception (Peirce & Jastrow, 1884) by investigating the impact of subliminal flicker from fluorescent lighting on affect and cognitive performance. It was predicted that low compared to high frequency lighting (latter compared to former emits non-flickering light) would evoke larger changes in affective states and also impair cognitive performance. Subjects reported high rather than low frequency lighting to be more pleasant, which, in turn, enhanced their problem solving performance. This suggests that sensory processing can take place outside of conscious awareness resulting in conscious emotional consequences; indicating a role of affect in subliminal/implicit perception, and that positive affect may facilitate cognitive task performance. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Randomized trial of the effect of contact lens wear on self-perception in children.

PubMed

Walline, Jeffrey J; Jones, Lisa A; Sinnott, Loraine; Chitkara, Monica; Coffey, Bradley; Jackson, John Mark; Manny, Ruth E; Rah, Marjorie J; Prinstein, Mitchell J

2009-03-01

To determine whether contact lens wear affects children's self-perceptions. The Adolescent and Child Health Initiative to Encourage Vision Empowerment Study was a randomized, single-masked trial conducted at five clinical centers in the United States. Subjects were 8- to 11-year-old myopic children randomly assigned to wear spectacles (n = 237) or soft contact lenses (n = 247) for 3 years. The primary endpoint was the Self-Perception Profile for Children Global Self-Worth scale. Secondary outcomes included the Physical Appearance, Athletic Competence, Scholastic Competence, Behavioral Conduct, and Social Acceptance Self-Perception Profile for Children scales. Global self-worth was not affected by contact lens wear [analysis of variance (ANOVA), difference = 0.06; 95% CI, -0.004 to 0.117]. Physical appearance (ANOVA, difference = 0.15; 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.22), athletic competence (ANOVA, difference = 0.08; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.15), and social acceptance (ANOVA, difference = 0.10; 95% CI, 0.03 to 0.17) were all greater for contact lens wearers. Although contact lens wear does not affect global self-perceptions of 8- to 11-year-old myopic children their physical appearance, athletic competence, and social acceptance self-perceptions are likely to improve with contact lens wear. Eye care practitioners should consider the social and visual benefits of contact lens wear when choosing the most appropriate vision correction modality for children as young as 8 years of age.

The Interactive Effects of Facial Expressions of Emotion and Verbal Messages on Perceptions of Affective Meaning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Friedman, Howard S.

1979-01-01

Students' perceptions of sincerity, dominance, and positivity were measured by pairing happy, angry, surprised and sad faces of teachers with teachers' comments characterized as positive or negative and dominant or submissive. Clear effects of facial-verbal combinations emerged; there were no sex differences other than in perceptions of sincerity.…

Music Piracy--Differences in the Ethical Perceptions of Business Majors and Music Business Majors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Susan Lee

2004-01-01

In this study, the author investigated the ethical perceptions of business majors and music business majors from a private university and observed whether the taking of a business ethics course affected students' perceptions regarding the ethical aspects of downloading, sharing, copying, and selling copyrighted music from Internet and non-Internet…

Being and Becoming: Teachers' Perceptions of Sex-Roles and Actions toward their Male and Female Pupils.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evans, Terry D.

1982-01-01

Discusses the changes in sex roles which elementary teachers in Victoria, Australia, perceived to have occurred during the past decade and how such perceptions affected them and their teaching of male and female pupils. Interviews and observation methods were used. Results showed differences between male and female teachers' perceptions of…

Inclusive Education in Spain: How Do Skills, Resources, and Supports Affect Regular Education Teachers' Perceptions of Inclusion?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiner, Esther; Cardona, Maria Cristina

2013-01-01

This study examined regular education teachers' perceptions of inclusion in elementary and secondary schools in Spain and how these perceptions may differ depending on teaching experience, skills, and the availability of resources and supports. Stratified random sampling procedures were used to draw a representative sample of 336 general education…

A Study of Teachers' Perceptions of School-Level Factors Affecting Transition Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lazaroff, Kurt Charles

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore teacher perceptions of providing transition services to high school students with special needs and to understand the variables that act as facilitators or barriers to providing those services. A qualitative research method was used to understand the perceptions of school personnel of transition services in…

Fusing a Reversed and Informal Learning Scheme and Space: Student Perceptions of Active Learning in Physical Chemistry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donnelly, Julie; Hernández, Florencio E.

2018-01-01

Physical chemistry students often have negative perceptions and low expectations for success in physical chemistry, attitudes that likely affect their performance in the course. Despite the results of several studies indicating increased positive perception of physical chemistry when active learning strategies are used, a recent survey of faculty…

Perceptions of Retirement Affect Career Commitment: The Mediating Role of Retirement System Satisfaction for Two Teacher Age Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Justin L.; Conley, Sharon; You, Sukkyung

2015-01-01

This study investigated a sample of California elementary, intermediate, and high school employed teachers (N = 247) to assess the effects of retirement perceptions on career commitment among teachers who are in different age groupings. Using path analysis, the influence of five retirement perceptions variables was examined: concerns about…

The Development of the Mealings, Demuth, Dillon, and Buchholz Classroom Speech Perception Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mealings, Kiri T.; Demuth, Katherine; Buchholz, Jörg; Dillon, Harvey

2015-01-01

Purpose: Open-plan classroom styles are increasingly being adopted in Australia despite evidence that their high intrusive noise levels adversely affect learning. The aim of this study was to develop a new Australian speech perception task (the Mealings, Demuth, Dillon, and Buchholz Classroom Speech Perception Test) and use it in an open-plan…

The Relationship between Teacher Perceptions of Pupil Attractiveness and Academic Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hansen, Kirstine

2016-01-01

There is an established literature that suggests teacher perceptions of pupils affect how they interact with them, how they teach them and how they rate their ability and behaviour. Evidence also indicates that a teacher's perception of a child is often based on ascriptive characteristics such as gender, ethnicity and socio-economic background…

Native Speaker Dichotomy: Stakeholders' Preferences and Perceptions of Native and Non-Native Speaking English Language Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atamturk, Nurdan; Atamturk, Hakan; Dimililer, Celen

2018-01-01

Addressing the perceptions and the preferences of the upper-secondary school students, teachers, parents and administrators of the native speaking (NS) and non-native speaking (NNS) English teachers as well as investigating the variables affecting these preferences and perceptions, this study explores whether or not the native speaker myth is…

Role Perceptions and Job Stress among Special Education School Principals: Do They Differ from Principals of Regular Schools?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gaziel, Haim Henry; Cohen-Azaria, Yael; Ermenc, Klara Skubic

2012-01-01

The objective of the present study was to compare principals' perceptions of their leadership roles in regular (Dovno, 1999) versus special education (Zaretzky, Faircloth & Moreau, 2005) schools, and how these perceptions affect feelings of job stress (Friedman, 2001; Margalit, 1999). We predicted that regular school principals would differ in…

A parametric model and estimation techniques for the inharmonicity and tuning of the piano.

PubMed

Rigaud, François; David, Bertrand; Daudet, Laurent

2013-05-01

Inharmonicity of piano tones is an essential property of their timbre that strongly influences the tuning, leading to the so-called octave stretching. It is proposed in this paper to jointly model the inharmonicity and tuning of pianos on the whole compass. While using a small number of parameters, these models are able to reflect both the specificities of instrument design and tuner's practice. An estimation algorithm is derived that can run either on a set of isolated note recordings, but also on chord recordings, assuming that the played notes are known. It is applied to extract parameters highlighting some tuner's choices on different piano types and to propose tuning curves for out-of-tune pianos or piano synthesizers.

Music, Mechanism, and the "Sonic Turn" in Physical Diagnosis.

PubMed

Pesic, Peter

2016-04-01

The sonic diagnostic techniques of percussion and mediate auscultation advocated by Leopold von Auenbrugger and R. T. H. Laennec developed within larger musical contexts of practice, notation, and epistemology. Earlier, François-Nicolas Marquet proposed a musical notation of pulse that connected felt pulsation with heard music. Though contemporary vitalists rejected Marquet's work, mechanists such as Albrecht von Haller included it into the larger discourse about the physiological manifestations of bodily fluids and fibers. Educated in that mechanistic physiology, Auenbrugger used musical vocabulary to present his work on thoracic percussion; Laennec's musical experience shaped his exploration of the new timbres involved in mediate auscultation. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Associations between thin slice ratings of affect and rapport and perceived patient-centeredness in primary care: Comparison of audio and video recordings.

PubMed

Henry, Stephen G; Penner, Louis A; Eggly, Susan

2017-06-01

To investigate associations between ratings of "thin slices" from recorded clinic visits and perceived patient-centeredness; to compare ratings from video recordings (sound and images) versus audio recordings (sound only). We analyzed 133 video-recorded primary care visits and patient perceptions of patient-centeredness. Observers rated thirty-second thin slices on variables assessing patient affect, physician affect, and patient-physician rapport. Video and audio ratings were collected independently. In multivariable analyses, ratings of physician positive affect (but not patient positive affect) were significantly positively associated with perceived patient-centeredness using both video and audio thin slices. Patient-physician rapport was significantly positively associated with perceived patient-centeredness using audio, but not video thin slices. Ratings from video and audio thin slices were highly correlated and had similar underlying factor structures. Physician (but not patient) positive affect is significantly associated with perceptions of patient-centeredness and can be measured reliably using either video or audio thin slices. Additional studies are needed to determine whether ratings of patient-physician rapport are associated with perceived patient-centeredness. Observer ratings of physician positive affect have a meaningful positive association with patients' perceptions of patient-centeredness. Patients appear to be highly attuned to physician positive affect during patient-physician interactions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Intrapersonal Variability in Negative Affect as a Moderator of Accuracy and Bias in Interpersonal Perception.

PubMed

Sadikaj, Gentiana; Moskowitz, D S; Zuroff, David C

2015-08-01

High intrapersonal variability has frequently been found to be related to poor personal and interpersonal outcomes. Little research has examined processes by which intrapersonal variability influences outcomes. This study explored the relation of intrapersonal variability in negative affect (negative affect flux) to accuracy and bias in the perception of a romantic partner's quarrelsome behavior. A sample of 93 cohabiting couples participated in a study using an event-contingent recording (ECR) methodology in which they reported their negative affect, quarrelsome behavior, and perception of their partner's quarrelsome behavior in interactions with each other during a 20-day period. Negative affect flux was operationalized as the within-person standard deviation of negative affect scores across couple interactions. Findings suggested that participants were both accurate in tracking changes in their partner's quarrelsome behavior and biased in assuming their partner's quarrelsome behavior mirrored their own quarrelsome behavior. Negative affect flux moderated both accuracy and bias of assumed similarity such that participants with higher flux manifested both greater tracking accuracy and larger bias of assumed similarity. Negative affect flux may be related to enhanced vigilance to close others' negative behavior, which may explain higher tracking accuracy and propensity to rely on a person's own negative behavior as a means of judging others' negative behavior. These processes may augment these individuals' negative interpersonal behavior, enhance cycles of negative social interactions, and lead to poor intrapersonal and interpersonal outcomes.

Pain patients' experiences of validation and invalidation from physicians before and after multimodal pain rehabilitation: Associations with pain, negative affectivity, and treatment outcome.

PubMed

Edlund, Sara M; Wurm, Matilda; Holländare, Fredrik; Linton, Steven J; Fruzzetti, Alan E; Tillfors, Maria

2017-10-01

Validating and invalidating responses play an important role in communication with pain patients, for example regarding emotion regulation and adherence to treatment. However, it is unclear how patients' perceptions of validation and invalidation relate to patient characteristics and treatment outcome. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of subgroups based on pain patients' perceptions of validation and invalidation from their physicians. The stability of these perceptions and differences between subgroups regarding pain, pain interference, negative affectivity and treatment outcome were also explored. A total of 108 pain patients answered questionnaires regarding perceived validation and invalidation, pain severity, pain interference, and negative affectivity before and after pain rehabilitation treatment. Two cluster analyses using perceived validation and invalidation were performed, one on pre-scores and one on post-scores. The stability of patient perceptions from pre- to post-treatment was investigated, and clusters were compared on pain severity, pain interference, and negative affectivity. Finally, the connection between perceived validation and invalidation and treatment outcome was explored. Three clusters emerged both before and after treatment: (1) low validation and heightened invalidation, (2) moderate validation and invalidation, and (3) high validation and low invalidation. Perceptions of validation and invalidation were generally stable over time, although there were individuals whose perceptions changed. When compared to the other two clusters, the low validation/heightened invalidation cluster displayed significantly higher levels of pain interference and negative affectivity post-treatment but not pre-treatment. The whole sample significantly improved on pain interference and depression, but treatment outcome was independent of cluster. Unexpectedly, differences between clusters on pain interference and negative affectivity were only found post-treatment. This appeared to be due to the pre- and post-heightened invalidation clusters not containing the same individuals. Therefore, additional analyses were conducted to investigate the individuals who changed clusters. Results showed that patients scoring high on negative affectivity ended up in the heightened invalidation cluster post-treatment. Taken together, most patients felt understood when communicating with their rehabilitation physician. However, a smaller group of patients experienced the opposite: low levels of validation and heightened levels of invalidation. This group stood out as more problematic, reporting greater pain interference and negative affectivity when compared to the other groups after treatment. Patient perceptions were typically stable over time, but some individuals changed cluster, and these movements seemed to be related to negative affectivity and pain interference. These results do not support a connection between perceived validation and invalidation from physicians (meeting the patients pre- and post-treatment) and treatment outcome. Overall, our results suggest that there is a connection between negative affectivity and pain interference in the patients, and perceived validation and invalidation from the physicians. In clinical practice, it is important to pay attention to comorbid psychological problems and level of pain interference, since these factors may negatively influence effective communication. A focus on decreasing invalidating responses and/or increasing validating responses might be particularly important for patients with high levels of psychological problems and pain interference. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Attitudes and perceptions about prairie dogs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lamb, Berton Lee; Reading, Richard P.; Andelt, William F.; Hoogland, John L.

2006-01-01

We sometimes get the impression that all ranchers and farmers of the western United States hate prairie dogs, and that people everywhere else love them. This generality contains elements of truth, but better documentation of attitudes and perceptions is paramount for good conservation. In this chapter we examine attitudes and perceptions about prairie dogs, and how state and federal actions affect these viewpoints. We also investigate how wildlife managers might respond to attitudes and perceptions about prairie dogs.

Are we on the same page? Staff nurse and manager perceptions of work environment, quality of care and anticipated nurse turnover.

PubMed

Gormley, Denise K

2011-01-01

The purpose was to examine differences in perceptions of work environment and quality of care between nurse managers and staff nurses, and the relationship between nurses' perceptions of the work environment and intention to leave. It is important for managers to understand how staff nurses perceive the work environment as these perceptions may affect nurses' intention to leave the organization. Few studies have examined the perceptions of nurses compared with nurse manager/directors regarding the organizational influences on intention to leave. This study was a cross-sectional, non-experimental design. A total of 336 nurses and managers participated from two Midwestern hospitals. Participants completed the Perceived Nurse Work Environment Scale (PNWE), Anticipated Turnover Scale (ATS), and a researcher developed perception of quality scale. Data were analysed for descriptive statistics, Analysis of Variance, and Pearson's correlation. Significant differences were found between nurses and managers on perceptions of work environment. Managers rated work environment higher than staff on all subscales. Work environment was related to anticipated turnover. Managers and staff nurses are 'not on the same page' in perceptions of work environment. Nurse managers need to understand the organizational influences that may affect nurses' intention to leave. Strategies to improve the work environment are necessary to meet the needs of the staff nurse. © 2010 The Author. Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Air quality perception of pedestrians in an urban outdoor Mediterranean environment: A field survey approach.

PubMed

Pantavou, Katerina; Lykoudis, Spyridon; Psiloglou, Basil

2017-01-01

Perception plays a significant role on people's response to preventive measures. In the view of public awareness, the aim of this study was to explore factors that affect air quality perception and to reveal its potential patterns. Air quality perception of individuals, in terms of dust and overall air quality, was examined in relation to air pollutants concentrations, meteorological variables, personal characteristics as well as their thermal sensation and health condition. The data used were obtained from environmental measurements, in situ and from stations, and questionnaire surveys conducted in an outdoor urban Mediterranean area, Athens, Greece. The participants were asked to report their air quality perception and thermal sensation based on predefined scales. A thermal index, Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET), was estimated to obtain an objective measure of thermal sensation. Particulate matter (PM 10 ) and nitrogen oxide (NO) were associated with dust perception. Nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and carbon monoxide (CO) were associated to air quality perception. Age, area of residence, health symptoms and thermal sensation also affected the perception of air quality. Dusty or poor air quality conditions were more likely to be reported when pollutants' concentrations were increased. Younger people, participants residing in the city center, experiencing health symptoms or warm thermal sensation showed a trend towards reporting more unfavorable air quality conditions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Speech perception in older adults: the importance of speech-specific cognitive abilities.

PubMed

Sommers, M S

1997-05-01

To provide a critical evaluation of studies examining the contribution of changes in language-specific cognitive abilities to the speech perception difficulties of older adults. A review of the literature on aging and speech perception. The research considered in the present review suggests that age-related changes in absolute sensitivity is the principal factor affecting older listeners' speech perception in quiet. However, under less favorable listening conditions, changes in a number of speech-specific cognitive abilities can also affect spoken language processing in older people. Clinically, these findings suggest that hearing aids, which have been the traditional treatment for improving speech perception in older adults, are likely to offer considerable benefit in quiet listening situations because the amplification they provide can serve to compensate for age-related hearing losses. However, such devices may be less beneficial in more natural environments, (e.g., noisy backgrounds, multiple talkers, reverberant rooms) because they are less effective for improving speech perception difficulties that result from age-related cognitive declines. It is suggested that an integrative approach to designing test batteries that can assess both sensory and cognitive abilities needed for processing spoken language offers the most promising approach for developing therapeutic interventions to improve speech perception in older adults.

[Perceptions and adaptation strategies of herders in desert steppe of Inner Mongolia to climate change].

PubMed

Han, Ying; Hou, Xiang-yang

2011-04-01

Desert steppe is very vulnerable to climate change. The herders caring for their livestock in such a natural environment have to face the challenges of rapid climate change. In this paper, a household-level questionnaire was conducted in the Suniteyou District of Inner Mongolia, China, aimed to analyze the herders' perceptions and adaptation strategies to climate change, extreme climate events in particular. In this Steppe where precipitation is rare and meteorological disasters are frequent, drought is the main extreme climate event with the broadest affecting area, the highest affecting degree, and the greatest frequency. The sensitivity of the herders to drought is far higher than that to other extreme climate events, and also, the perceptions to drought induce the herders having deep perceptions to the extreme climate events such as strong wing, dust storm, and heavy snow. Relative to the perceptions to long-term climate change, the perceptions to short-term climate change are more deep and precise. The herders can estimate the long-term climate change trend according to their perceptions to the latest 10 years climate change. They attribute the poor livestock health and the reduced forage yield greatly to climate change. Yet, the herders are inexperienced in implementing efficient adaptation strategies. Generally, their adaptation measures are quite simplex and rather passive.

How hard they hit? Perception, adaptation and public health implications of heat waves in urban and peri-urban Pakistan.

PubMed

Rauf, Sara; Bakhsh, Khuda; Abbas, Azhar; Hassan, Sarfraz; Ali, Asghar; Kächele, Harald

2017-04-01

Heat waves threaten human health given the fast changing climatic scenarios in the recent past. Adaptation to heat waves would take place when people perceive their impacts based on their knowledge. The present study examines perception level and its determinants resulting in adaptation to heat waves in Pakistan. The study used cross-sectional data from urban and peri-urban respondents of Faisalabad District. The study employs a health belief model to assess risk perception among the respondents. Logistic model is used to determine factors affecting level of knowledge, perception and adaptation to heat waves. Around 30% of peri-urban respondents have a low level of knowledge about the fatal impacts of heat waves. Risk perception of heat waves is very low among urban (57%) and peri-urban (66%) respondents. Households' knowledge on heat waves is significantly related to age, gender, education, wealth and access to health services. Determinants of perception include knowledge of heat waves, age and joint effect of marital status and knowledge while income level, family size, urban/peri-urban background, perceived barriers, perceived benefits and cues to action significantly affect adaptation to heat waves. To reduce deadly health impacts, mass awareness campaigns are needed to build perception and improve adaptation to heat waves.

Nutrition communication: consumer perceptions and predicting intentions.

PubMed

Dean, Moira; Lähteenmäki, Liisa; Shepherd, Richard

2011-02-01

Health claims on food products, which aim at informing the public about the health benefits of the product, represent one type of nutrition communication; the use of these is regulated by the European Union. This paper provides an overview of the research on health claims, including consumers' perceptions of such claims and their intention to buy products that carry health-related claims. This is followed by a discussion on the results from some recent studies investigating public perceptions and willingness to use products with health claims. In these studies, claims are presented in the form of messages of different lengths, types, framing, with and without qualifying words and symbols. They also investigate how perceptions and intentions are affected by individual needs and product characteristics. Results show that adding health claims to products does increase their perceived healthiness. Claim structure was found to make a difference to perceptions, but its influence depended on the level of relevance, familiarity and individuals' need for information. Further, the type of health benefit proposed and the base product used also affected perceptions of healthiness. The paper concludes that while healthiness perceptions relating to products with health claims may vary between men and women, old and young and between countries, the main factor influencing perceived healthiness and intention to buy a product with health claim is personal relevance.

A cross-language study of perception of lexical stress in English.

PubMed

Yu, Vickie Y; Andruski, Jean E

2010-08-01

This study investigates the question of whether language background affects the perception of lexical stress in English. Thirty native English speakers and 30 native Chinese learners of English participated in a stressed-syllable identification task and a discrimination task involving three types of stimuli (real words/pseudowords/hums). The results show that both language groups were able to identify and discriminate stress patterns. Lexical and segmental information affected the English and Chinese speakers in varying degrees. English and Chinese speakers showed different response patterns to trochaic vs. iambic stress across the three types of stimuli. An acoustic analysis revealed that two language groups used different acoustic cues to process lexical stress. The findings suggest that the different degrees of lexical and segmental effects can be explained by language background, which in turn supports the hypothesis that language background affects the perception of lexical stress in English.

Law enforcement officers' risk perceptions toward on-duty motor-vehicle events.

PubMed

Tiesman, Hope M; Heick, Rebecca J; Konda, Srinivas; Hendricks, Scott

Motor-vehicle-related events (MVEs) are the leading cause of on-duty death for law enforcement officers, yet little is known about how officers view this significant job hazard. The purpose of this paper is to explore officers' motor-vehicle risk perception and examine how prior on-duty MVEs and the death or injury of a fellow officer influences this perception. A state-wide random sample of 136 law enforcement agencies was drawn using publically accessible databases, stratified on type and size of agency. In total, 60 agencies agreed to participate and a cross-sectional questionnaire was distributed to 1,466 officers. Using six-point Likert scales, composite scores for motor-vehicle and intentional violence risk perception were derived. A linear regression multivariable model was used to examine factors affecting motor-vehicle risk perception. Motor-vehicle risk perception scores were significantly higher than intentional violence scores. A prior on-duty motor-vehicle crash, prior roadside incident, or knowledge of fellow officer's injury or death from a MVE significantly increased motor-vehicle risk perception scores. After controlling for potential confounders though, only prior on-duty crashes and roadside incidents impacted motor-vehicle risk perception. The study comprised primarily small, rural agencies and generalizability may be limited. Also, although the data were collected anonymously, reporting and response biases may affect these findings. This study involved a large and diverse cohort of officers and explored motor-vehicle risk perception. A better understanding of officers' risk perceptions will assist in the development and implementation of occupational injury prevention programs, training, and policy.

[The effects of subliminal and supraliminal presentation of trait-related words on person perception].

PubMed

Mori, T; Sakamoto, A

1997-12-01

The present experiment was conducted to investigate how prior information affects subsequent person perception and when perceivers can control such an effect. One of three types of trait related words (i.e., hostility-related, friendliness-related, and neutral words) was subliminally or supraliminally presented to subjects, and subsequently, subjects rated the impression of four targets: a hostile person, a friendly person, a neutral person and themselves. Although results did not show that supraliminally presented words affected targets' impressions, they showed that the impressions sometimes varied with the valence of subliminally presented words regardless of targets' valence. The mechanism and controllability of priming effects in person perception were discussed.

Gender Differences in Students' Perceptions of Information Technology as a Career

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Theda; Allen, Alesha

2006-01-01

This paper reports on an investigation into first year students' perceptions of IT as a career. There are many stereotypes of the typical IT professional. These stereotypes are often depicted in the media and affect students' perceptions of the career and whether they should study IT or not. An exploratory study into male and female first year…

Teacher Perceptions and Use of Data-Driven Instruction: A Qualitative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melucci, Laura

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine how teacher perceptions of data and use of data-driven instruction affect student performance in English language arts (ELA). This study investigated teachers' perceptions of using data in the classroom and what supports they need to do so. The goal of the research was to increase the level of knowledge…

Measuring the Reader Self-Perceptions of Adolescents: Introducing the RSPS2

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henk, William A.; Marinak, Barbara A.; Melnick, Steven A.

2013-01-01

This paper introduces a new affective instrument for assessing the reader self-perceptions of students in grades seven through ten. The Reader Self-Perception Scale 2 (RSPS2) builds upon its predecessor, the RSPS, a tool that measures the reading efficacy beliefs of children in grades four through six. New items were created for the RSPS2 to…

A Leader's Understanding: Faculty Perception of Academic Quality and Effective Implementation of Online Modality in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyers, Jayson

2017-01-01

The study's purpose was to examine attitudes and perceptions of full-time faculty within colleges and universities that segregate or integrate the online modality. In examining the faculty attitudes, this research provided an understanding about how structure of an online strategy within an institution may affect the perceptions or support of…

Student and Faculty Perceptions of Service Quality: The Moderating Role of the Institutional Aspects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duževic, Ines; Ceh Casni, Anita

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore key attributes of service quality in the Croatian higher education system. In particular, the study aims to compare student and faculty perceptions of service quality and to identify institutional aspects that may affect the perceptions of these two customers. Principal component analysis is used to define…

The Effects of Positive Portrayals of Black Television Characters on Black Children's Racial Attitudes, Self-Perception, and Racial Identification.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bonvillain, Jocelyn F.; Huston, Aletha C.

Children's perceptions and attitudes about racial groups are often affected by the information they receive from the view of their parents, their peers, their schools, and the mass media. A study was designed to examine the effects of positive portrayals of black television characters on black children's racial attitudes, self-perception, and…

Learners' Perceptions of the Benefits of Voice Tool-Based Tasks on Their Spoken Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilches, Astrid

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate learners' perceptions of the benefits of tasks using voice tools to reinforce their oral skills. Additionally, this study seeks to determine what aspects of task design affected the students' perceptions. Beginner learners aged 18 to 36 with little or no experience in the use of technological tools for…

Teachers' Perceptions of School Principals' Leadership Styles and Parental Involvement--The Case of the Arab Education System in Israel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arar, Khalid; Abramovitz, Ruth; Daod, Saeda; Awad, Yasir; Khalil, Mahmood

2016-01-01

This study deals with teachers' perceptions of principals' leadership style as it affects parental involvement (PI) in the special context of the Arab education system in Israel. Contemporary perceptions of education within the Western individualist society, including in the majority society in Israel, regard the full spectrum of PI, ranging from…

Forest landscape assessment: the effects of pre-experience education on public perception of scenic beauty

Treesearch

Chad D. Pierskalla; Kevin E. Saunders; David W. McGill; David A. Smaldone

2008-01-01

Aldo Leopold argued for a type of "ecological aesthetic," where perceptions of natural landscape beauty are tied to an understanding of the natural process of forests. The purpose of this study is to examine how education affects perceptions of scenic beauty. Thirty-two students were assigned to four groups, with each group participating in a different...

Dynamic facial expressions evoke distinct activation in the face perception network: a connectivity analysis study.

PubMed

Foley, Elaine; Rippon, Gina; Thai, Ngoc Jade; Longe, Olivia; Senior, Carl

2012-02-01

Very little is known about the neural structures involved in the perception of realistic dynamic facial expressions. In the present study, a unique set of naturalistic dynamic facial emotional expressions was created. Through fMRI and connectivity analysis, a dynamic face perception network was identified, which is demonstrated to extend Haxby et al.'s [Haxby, J. V., Hoffman, E. A., & Gobbini, M. I. The distributed human neural system for face perception. Trends in Cognitive Science, 4, 223-233, 2000] distributed neural system for face perception. This network includes early visual regions, such as the inferior occipital gyrus, which is identified as insensitive to motion or affect but sensitive to the visual stimulus, the STS, identified as specifically sensitive to motion, and the amygdala, recruited to process affect. Measures of effective connectivity between these regions revealed that dynamic facial stimuli were associated with specific increases in connectivity between early visual regions, such as the inferior occipital gyrus and the STS, along with coupling between the STS and the amygdala, as well as the inferior frontal gyrus. These findings support the presence of a distributed network of cortical regions that mediate the perception of different dynamic facial expressions.

Enhanced Sensitivity to Subphonemic Segments in Dyslexia: A New Instance of Allophonic Perception

PubMed Central

Serniclaes, Willy; Seck, M’ballo

2018-01-01

Although dyslexia can be individuated in many different ways, it has only three discernable sources: a visual deficit that affects the perception of letters, a phonological deficit that affects the perception of speech sounds, and an audio-visual deficit that disturbs the association of letters with speech sounds. However, the very nature of each of these core deficits remains debatable. The phonological deficit in dyslexia, which is generally attributed to a deficit of phonological awareness, might result from a specific mode of speech perception characterized by the use of allophonic (i.e., subphonemic) units. Here we will summarize the available evidence and present new data in support of the “allophonic theory” of dyslexia. Previous studies have shown that the dyslexia deficit in the categorical perception of phonemic features (e.g., the voicing contrast between /t/ and /d/) is due to the enhanced sensitivity to allophonic features (e.g., the difference between two variants of /d/). Another consequence of allophonic perception is that it should also give rise to an enhanced sensitivity to allophonic segments, such as those that take place within a consonant cluster. This latter prediction is validated by the data presented in this paper. PMID:29587419

Method and simulation to study 3D crosstalk perception

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khaustova, Dar'ya; Blondé, Laurent; Huynh-Thu, Quan; Vienne, Cyril; Doyen, Didier

2012-03-01

To various degrees, all modern 3DTV displays suffer from crosstalk, which can lead to a decrease of both visual quality and visual comfort, and also affect perception of depth. In the absence of a perfect 3D display technology, crosstalk has to be taken into account when studying perception of 3D stereoscopic content. In order to improve 3D presentation systems and understand how to efficiently eliminate crosstalk, it is necessary to understand its impact on human perception. In this paper, we present a practical method to study the perception of crosstalk. The approach consists of four steps: (1) physical measurements of a 3DTV, (2) building of a crosstalk surface based on those measurements and representing specifically the behavior of that 3TV, (3) manipulation of the crosstalk function and application on reference images to produce test images degraded by crosstalk in various ways, and (4) psychophysical tests. Our approach allows both a realistic representation of the behavior of a 3DTV and the easy manipulation of its resulting crosstalk in order to conduct psycho-visual experiments. Our approach can be used in all studies requiring the understanding of how crosstalk affects perception of stereoscopic content and how it can be corrected efficiently.

Voluntary movement affects simultaneous perception of auditory and tactile stimuli presented to a non-moving body part.

PubMed

Hao, Qiao; Ora, Hiroki; Ogawa, Ken-Ichiro; Ogata, Taiki; Miyake, Yoshihiro

2016-09-13

The simultaneous perception of multimodal sensory information has a crucial role for effective reactions to the external environment. Voluntary movements are known to occasionally affect simultaneous perception of auditory and tactile stimuli presented to the moving body part. However, little is known about spatial limits on the effect of voluntary movements on simultaneous perception, especially when tactile stimuli are presented to a non-moving body part. We examined the effect of voluntary movement on the simultaneous perception of auditory and tactile stimuli presented to the non-moving body part. We considered the possible mechanism using a temporal order judgement task under three experimental conditions: voluntary movement, where participants voluntarily moved their right index finger and judged the temporal order of auditory and tactile stimuli presented to their non-moving left index finger; passive movement; and no movement. During voluntary movement, the auditory stimulus needed to be presented before the tactile stimulus so that they were perceived as occurring simultaneously. This subjective simultaneity differed significantly from the passive movement and no movement conditions. This finding indicates that the effect of voluntary movement on simultaneous perception of auditory and tactile stimuli extends to the non-moving body part.

Evidence for distinct mechanisms underlying attentional priming and sensory memory for bistable perception.

PubMed

Brinkhuis, M A B; Kristjánsson, Á; Brascamp, J W

2015-08-01

Attentional selection in visual search paradigms and perceptual selection in bistable perception paradigms show functional similarities. For example, both are sensitive to trial history: They are biased toward previously selected targets or interpretations. We investigated whether priming by target selection in visual search and sensory memory for bistable perception are related. We did this by presenting two trial types to observers. We presented either ambiguous spheres that rotated over a central axis and could be perceived as rotating in one of two directions, or search displays in which the unambiguously rotating target and distractor spheres closely resembled the two possible interpretations of the ambiguous stimulus. We interleaved both trial types within experiments, to see whether priming by target selection during search trials would affect the perceptual outcome of bistable perception and, conversely, whether sensory memory during bistable perception would affect target selection times during search. Whereas we found intertrial repetition effects among consecutive search trials and among consecutive bistable trials, we did not find cross-paradigm effects. Thus, even though we could ascertain that our experiments robustly elicited processes of both search priming and sensory memory for bistable perception, these same experiments revealed no interaction between the two.

The influence of context on distinct facial expressions of disgust.

PubMed

Reschke, Peter J; Walle, Eric A; Knothe, Jennifer M; Lopez, Lukas D

2018-06-11

Face perception is susceptible to contextual influence and perceived physical similarities between emotion cues. However, studies often use structurally homogeneous facial expressions, making it difficult to explore how within-emotion variability in facial configuration affects emotion perception. This study examined the influence of context on the emotional perception of categorically identical, yet physically distinct, facial expressions of disgust. Participants categorized two perceptually distinct disgust facial expressions, "closed" (i.e., scrunched nose, closed mouth) and "open" (i.e., scrunched nose, open mouth, protruding tongue), that were embedded in contexts comprising emotion postures and scenes. Results demonstrated that the effect of nonfacial elements was significantly stronger for "open" disgust facial expressions than "closed" disgust facial expressions. These findings provide support that physical similarity within discrete categories of facial expressions is mutable and plays an important role in affective face perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Body ownership promotes visual awareness.

PubMed

van der Hoort, Björn; Reingardt, Maria; Ehrsson, H Henrik

2017-08-17

The sense of ownership of one's body is important for survival, e.g., in defending the body against a threat. However, in addition to affecting behavior, it also affects perception of the world. In the case of visuospatial perception, it has been shown that the sense of ownership causes external space to be perceptually scaled according to the size of the body. Here, we investigated the effect of ownership on another fundamental aspect of visual perception: visual awareness. In two binocular rivalry experiments, we manipulated the sense of ownership of a stranger's hand through visuotactile stimulation while that hand was one of the rival stimuli. The results show that ownership, but not mere visuotactile stimulation, increases the dominance of the hand percept. This effect is due to a combination of longer perceptual dominance durations and shorter suppression durations. Together, these results suggest that the sense of body ownership promotes visual awareness.

When environmental action does not activate concern: the case of impaired water quality in two rural watersheds.

PubMed

Stough-Hunter, Anjel; Lekies, Kristi S; Donnermeyer, Joseph F

2014-12-01

Little research has considered how residents' perceptions of their local environment may interact with efforts to increase environmental concern, particularly in areas in need of remediation. This study examined the process by which local environmental action may affect environmental concern. A model was presented for exploring the effects of community-based watershed organizations (CWOs) on environmental concern that also incorporates existing perceptions of the local environment. Survey data were collected from area residents in two watersheds in southwestern Pennsylvania, USA, an area affected by abandoned mine drainage. The findings suggest that residents' perceptions of local water quality and importance of improving water quality are important predictors of level of environmental concern and desire for action; however, in this case, having an active or inactive CWO did not influence these perceptions. The implications of these findings raise important questions concerning strategies and policy making around environmental remediation at the local level.

Body ownership promotes visual awareness

PubMed Central

Reingardt, Maria; Ehrsson, H Henrik

2017-01-01

The sense of ownership of one’s body is important for survival, e.g., in defending the body against a threat. However, in addition to affecting behavior, it also affects perception of the world. In the case of visuospatial perception, it has been shown that the sense of ownership causes external space to be perceptually scaled according to the size of the body. Here, we investigated the effect of ownership on another fundamental aspect of visual perception: visual awareness. In two binocular rivalry experiments, we manipulated the sense of ownership of a stranger’s hand through visuotactile stimulation while that hand was one of the rival stimuli. The results show that ownership, but not mere visuotactile stimulation, increases the dominance of the hand percept. This effect is due to a combination of longer perceptual dominance durations and shorter suppression durations. Together, these results suggest that the sense of body ownership promotes visual awareness. PMID:28826500

How does trust affect acceptance of a nuclear power plant (NPP): A survey among people living with Qinshan NPP in China

PubMed Central

Feldman, Marcus W.

2017-01-01

It is difficult to know whether different dimensions of trust have different effects on local residents’ acceptance of nuclear power plants (NPPs). In previous research such trust has been considered as a single dimensional concept. This paper divides trust into goodwill trust and competence trust, and we explore the ways in which trust affects acceptance of NPPs through structural equation modeling. A survey of 491 people was conducted in Haiyan County, China, where the Qinshan nuclear power plant is located. We find that goodwill trust is significantly correlated with competence trust, and each can indirectly promote residents’ acceptance of NPPs but by different paths. Goodwill trust improves acceptance of NPPs by decreasing risk perception, while competence trust improves acceptance of NPPs by increasing benefit perception. However, the associations between goodwill trust and benefit perception, competence trust and risk perception, are not significant. PMID:29176852

How does trust affect acceptance of a nuclear power plant (NPP): A survey among people living with Qinshan NPP in China.

PubMed

Xiao, Qunying; Liu, Huijun; Feldman, Marcus W

2017-01-01

It is difficult to know whether different dimensions of trust have different effects on local residents' acceptance of nuclear power plants (NPPs). In previous research such trust has been considered as a single dimensional concept. This paper divides trust into goodwill trust and competence trust, and we explore the ways in which trust affects acceptance of NPPs through structural equation modeling. A survey of 491 people was conducted in Haiyan County, China, where the Qinshan nuclear power plant is located. We find that goodwill trust is significantly correlated with competence trust, and each can indirectly promote residents' acceptance of NPPs but by different paths. Goodwill trust improves acceptance of NPPs by decreasing risk perception, while competence trust improves acceptance of NPPs by increasing benefit perception. However, the associations between goodwill trust and benefit perception, competence trust and risk perception, are not significant.

The Relative Salience of Daily and Enduring Influences on Off-Job Reactions to Work Stress.

PubMed

Calderwood, Charles; Ackerman, Phillip L

2016-12-01

Work stress is an important determinant of employee health and wellness. The occupational health community is recognizing that one contributor to these relationships may be the presence of negative off-job reactivity to work, which we argue involves continued thoughts directed towards work (cognitive reactivity), continued negative mood stemming from work (affective reactivity), and the alteration of post-work behaviours in response to work factors (behavioural reactivity). We explored the relative contributions of daily work stressors, affective traits, and subjective job stress perceptions to negative off-job reactivity. These relationships were evaluated in a study of hospital nurses (n = 75), who completed trait measures and then provided self-assessments of daily work stress and off-job reactions for four work days. The results of several multilevel analyses indicated that a main-effects model best described the data when predicting cognitive, affective, and behavioural reactivity from daily work stressors, affective traits, and subjective job stress perceptions. A series of multilevel dominance analyses revealed that subjective job stress perceptions dominated the prediction of behavioural reactivity, while trait negative affect dominated the prediction of affective reactivity. Theoretical implications and the relative salience of daily and enduring contributors to negative off-job reactivity are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Lexical and affective prosody in children with high-functioning autism.

PubMed

Grossman, Ruth B; Bemis, Rhyannon H; Plesa Skwerer, Daniela; Tager-Flusberg, Helen

2010-06-01

To investigate the perception and production of lexical stress and processing of affective prosody in adolescents with high-functioning autism (HFA). We hypothesized preserved processing of lexical and affective prosody but atypical lexical prosody production. Sixteen children with HFA and 15 typically developing (TD) peers participated in 3 experiments that examined the following: (a) perception of affective prosody (Experiment 1), (b) lexical stress perception (Experiment 2), and (c) lexical stress production (Experiment 3). In Experiment 1, participants labeled sad, happy, and neutral spoken sentences that were low-pass filtered, to eliminate verbal content. In Experiment 2, participants disambiguated word meanings based on lexical stress (HOTdog vs. hot DOG). In Experiment 3, participants produced these words in a sentence completion task. Productions were analyzed with acoustic measures. Accuracy levels showed no group differences. Participants with HFA could determine affect from filtered sentences and disambiguate words on the basis of lexical stress. They produced appropriately differentiated lexical stress patterns but demonstrated atypically long productions, indicating reduced ability in natural prosody production. Children with HFA were as capable as their TD peers in receptive tasks of lexical stress and affective prosody. Prosody productions were atypically long, despite accurate differentiation of lexical stress patterns. Future research should use larger samples and spontaneous versus elicited productions.

Perception of the material properties of wood based on vision, audition, and touch.

PubMed

Fujisaki, Waka; Tokita, Midori; Kariya, Kenji

2015-04-01

Most research on the multimodal perception of material properties has investigated the perception of material properties of two modalities such as vision-touch, vision-audition, audition-touch, and vision-action. Here, we investigated whether the same affective classifications of materials can be found in three different modalities of vision, audition, and touch, using wood as the target object. Fifty participants took part in an experiment involving the three modalities of vision, audition, and touch, in isolation. Twenty-two different wood types including genuine, processed, and fake were perceptually evaluated using a questionnaire consisting of twenty-three items (12 perceptual and 11 affective). The results demonstrated that evaluations of the affective properties of wood were similar in all three modalities. The elements of "expensiveness, sturdiness, rareness, interestingness, and sophisticatedness" and "pleasantness, relaxed feelings, and liked-disliked" were separately grouped for all three senses. Our results suggest that the affective material properties of wood are at least partly represented in a supramodal fashion. Our results also suggest an association between perceptual and affective properties, which will be a useful tool not only in science, but also in applied fields. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Effects of loneliness on illness perception in persons with a chronic disease.

PubMed

Özkan Tuncay, Fatma; Fertelli, Tülay; Mollaoğlu, Mukadder

2018-04-01

To determine the effects of loneliness on illness perception in persons with a chronic disease. How an illness is perceived not only affects all dimensions of a person's life but also plays an important role in his/her coping with the complications and consequences of the disease. One of the factors that influence the illness perception is loneliness. The study is a descriptive study. The study sample included 206 individuals over the 18 years of age, conscious, having had a chronic illness at least 1 year, having no communication problems and agreeing to participate in the study after being informed about the study. Data were collected with the Personal Information Form, the Illness Perception Questionnaire and the University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale. The forms were administered to the participants in an unoccupied patient room, and the data were collected through face-to-face interviews. The results of the study revealed that individuals with a chronic disease perceived emotional symptoms accompanying the disease more intensely that they accepted their disease was a chronic one and that their personal control and treatment control of the disease were at a middle level. The mean score the participants obtained from the University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale was 38.49 ± 11.15. There was a significant negative correlation between this mean score and the mean scores obtained from the following subscales consequences, treatment control, illness perception and emotional representations. In this study, it was concluded that the participants perceived their loneliness level as moderate and that their illness perception was negatively affected as their loneliness levels increased. The knowledge of clinical nurses about perception of patients with chronic illnesses and conditions affecting that perception will enhance compliance with the illness management or treatment strategies. Clinical nurses should observe residents closely for signs of depression and loneliness and support their sense of coherence to reduce emotional and social loneliness. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Analysis of Factors Affecting Women of Childbearing Age to Screen Using Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid.

PubMed

Sidabutar, Sondang; Martini, Santi; Wahyuni, Chatarina Umbul

2017-02-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate patient factors such as knowledge, attitude, motivation, perception, socio-economic status and travel time to health facilities and assess how these factors affected patients' decision to pursue cervical cancer screening with visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA). A total of 80 women of childbearing age who visited Kenjeran and Balongsari Public Health Centers for health assessments were involved in this study. Patients who agreed to participate in the study underwent a verbal questionnaire to evaluate various factors. Bivariate analysis concluded that knowledge, attitude, motivation, perception, socioeconomic status, and travel time to health facilities were significantly different between women who received VIA screening and women who did not receive VIA screening ( p < 0.05). The factors of knowledge, attitudes, motivation, perception, socio-economic status, and the travel time to health facilities accounted for 2.920-fold, 2.043-fold, 3.704-fold, 2.965-fold, 3.198-fold and 2.386-fold possibility, respectively, of patients to pursue cervical cancer screening with VIA. Multivariate analysis showed that perception, socio-economic status, and travel time to health facilities were the most important factors influencing whether or not women pursued VIA screening. Knowledge, attitude, motivation, perception, socio-economic status, and travel time to health facilities appears to affect women's' decision to pursue cervical cancer screening with VIA, with the largest intake being the motivational factor.

Community Perception of Water Quality in a Mining-Affected Area: A Case Study for the Certej Catchment in the Apuseni Mountains in Romania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dogaru, Diana; Zobrist, Jürg; Balteanu, Dan; Popescu, Claudia; Sima, Mihaela; Amini, Manouchehr; Yang, Hong

2009-06-01

Mining-contaminated sites and the affected communities at risk are important issues on the agenda of both researchers and policy makers, particularly in the former communist block countries in Eastern Europe. Integrated analyses and expert based assessments concerning mining affected areas are important in providing solid policy guidelines for environmental and social risk management and mitigation. Based on a survey for 103 households conducted in a former mining site in the Certej Catchment of the Apuseni Mountains, western Romania, this study assesses local communities’ perceptions on the quality of water in their living area. Logistic regression was used to examine peoples’ perception on the quality of the main river water and of the drinking water based on several predictors relating to social and economic conditions. The results from the perception analysis were then compared with the measurements of heavy metal contamination of the main river and drinking water undertaken in the same study area. The findings indicate that perception and measurement results for the water quality in the Certej Catchment are convergent, suggesting an obvious risk that mining activities pose on the surface water. However, the perception on drinking water quality was little predicted by the regression model and does not seem to be so much related to mining as to other explanatory factors, such as special mineralogy of rock and soils or improper water treatment infrastructure, facts suggested by the measurements of the contaminants. Discussion about the implications of these joint findings for risk mitigation policies completes this article.

Community perception of water quality in a mining-affected area: a case study for the Certej catchment in the Apuseni Mountains in Romania.

PubMed

Dogaru, Diana; Zobrist, Jürg; Balteanu, Dan; Popescu, Claudia; Sima, Mihaela; Amini, Manouchehr; Yang, Hong

2009-06-01

Mining-contaminated sites and the affected communities at risk are important issues on the agenda of both researchers and policy makers, particularly in the former communist block countries in Eastern Europe. Integrated analyses and expert based assessments concerning mining affected areas are important in providing solid policy guidelines for environmental and social risk management and mitigation. Based on a survey for 103 households conducted in a former mining site in the Certej Catchment of the Apuseni Mountains, western Romania, this study assesses local communities' perceptions on the quality of water in their living area. Logistic regression was used to examine peoples' perception on the quality of the main river water and of the drinking water based on several predictors relating to social and economic conditions. The results from the perception analysis were then compared with the measurements of heavy metal contamination of the main river and drinking water undertaken in the same study area. The findings indicate that perception and measurement results for the water quality in the Certej Catchment are convergent, suggesting an obvious risk that mining activities pose on the surface water. However, the perception on drinking water quality was little predicted by the regression model and does not seem to be so much related to mining as to other explanatory factors, such as special mineralogy of rock and soils or improper water treatment infrastructure, facts suggested by the measurements of the contaminants. Discussion about the implications of these joint findings for risk mitigation policies completes this article.

Effects of uncertainty, transmission type, driver age and gender on brake reaction and movement time.

PubMed

Warshawsky-Livne, Lora; Shinar, David

2002-01-01

Braking time (BT) is a critical component in safe driving, and various approaches have been applied to minimize it. This study analyzed the components of BT in order to assess the effects of age, gender, vehicle transmission type, and event uncertainty, on its two primary components, perception-reaction time and brake-movement time. Perception-reaction time and brake-movement time were measured at the onset of lights for 72 subjects in a simulator. The six experimental conditions were three levels of uncertainty conditions (none, some, and some + false alarms) and two types of transmission (manual and automatic). The 72 subjects, half male and half female, were further divided into three age groups (mean of 23, 30, and 62 years). Each subject had 10 trials in each of the three levels of uncertainty conditions. Transmission type did not significantly affect either perception-reaction time or brake-movement time. Perception-reaction time increased significantly from 0.32 to 0.42 s (P < .05) as uncertainty increased but brake-movement time did not change. Perception-reaction time increased (from 0.35 to 0.43 s) with age but brake-movement time did not change with age. Gender did not affect perception-reaction time but did affect brake-movement time (males 0.19 s vs. females 0.16 s). At 90 km/h, a car travels 0.25 m in 0.01 s. Consequently, even such small effects multiplied by millions of vehicle-kilometers can contribute to significant savings in lives and damages.

Disentangling beat perception from sequential learning and examining the influence of attention and musical abilities on ERP responses to rhythm.

PubMed

Bouwer, Fleur L; Werner, Carola M; Knetemann, Myrthe; Honing, Henkjan

2016-05-01

Beat perception is the ability to perceive temporal regularity in musical rhythm. When a beat is perceived, predictions about upcoming events can be generated. These predictions can influence processing of subsequent rhythmic events. However, statistical learning of the order of sounds in a sequence can also affect processing of rhythmic events and must be differentiated from beat perception. In the current study, using EEG, we examined the effects of attention and musical abilities on beat perception. To ensure we measured beat perception and not absolute perception of temporal intervals, we used alternating loud and soft tones to create a rhythm with two hierarchical metrical levels. To control for sequential learning of the order of the different sounds, we used temporally regular (isochronous) and jittered rhythmic sequences. The order of sounds was identical in both conditions, but only the regular condition allowed for the perception of a beat. Unexpected intensity decrements were introduced on the beat and offbeat. In the regular condition, both beat perception and sequential learning were expected to enhance detection of these deviants on the beat. In the jittered condition, only sequential learning was expected to affect processing of the deviants. ERP responses to deviants were larger on the beat than offbeat in both conditions. Importantly, this difference was larger in the regular condition than in the jittered condition, suggesting that beat perception influenced responses to rhythmic events in addition to sequential learning. The influence of beat perception was present both with and without attention directed at the rhythm. Moreover, beat perception as measured with ERPs correlated with musical abilities, but only when attention was directed at the stimuli. Our study shows that beat perception is possible when attention is not directed at a rhythm. In addition, our results suggest that attention may mediate the influence of musical abilities on beat perception. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

When does Subliminal Affective Image Priming Influence the Ability of Schizophrenic Patients to Perceive Face Emotions?

PubMed Central

Vaina, Lucia M.; Rana, Kunjan D.; Cotos, Ionela; Li-Yang, Chen; Huang, Melissa A.; Podea, Delia

2014-01-01

Background Deficits in face emotion perception are among the most pervasive aspects of schizophrenia impairments which strongly affects interpersonal communication and social skills. Material/Methods Schizophrenic patients (PSZ) and healthy control subjects (HCS) performed 2 psychophysical tasks. One, the SAFFIMAP test, was designed to determine the impact of subliminally presented affective or neutral images on the accuracy of face-expression (angry or neutral) perception. In the second test, FEP, subjects saw pictures of face-expression and were asked to rate them as angry, happy, or neutral. The following clinical scales were used to determine the acute symptoms in PSZ: Positive and Negative Syndrome (PANSS), Young Mania Rating (YMRS), Hamilton Depression (HAM-D), and Hamilton Anxiety (HAM-A). Results On the SAFFIMAP test, different from the HCS group, the PSZ group tended to categorize the neutral expression of test faces as angry and their response to the test-face expression was not influenced by the affective content of the primes. In PSZ, the PANSS-positive score was significantly correlated with correct perception of angry faces for aggressive or pleasant primes. YMRS scores were strongly correlated with PSZ’s tendency to recognize angry face expressions when the prime was a pleasant or a neutral image. The HAM-D score was positively correlated with categorizing the test-faces as neutral, regardless of the affective content of the prime or of the test-face expression (angry or neutral). Conclusions Despite its exploratory nature, this study provides the first evidence that conscious perception and categorization of facial emotions (neutral or angry) in PSZ is directly affected by their positive or negative symptoms of the disease as defined by their individual scores on the clinical diagnostic scales. PMID:25537115

When does subliminal affective image priming influence the ability of schizophrenic patients to perceive face emotions?

PubMed

Vaina, Lucia Maria; Rana, Kunjan D; Cotos, Ionela; Li-Yang, Chen; Huang, Melissa A; Podea, Delia

2014-12-24

Deficits in face emotion perception are among the most pervasive aspects of schizophrenia impairments which strongly affects interpersonal communication and social skills. Schizophrenic patients (PSZ) and healthy control subjects (HCS) performed 2 psychophysical tasks. One, the SAFFIMAP test, was designed to determine the impact of subliminally presented affective or neutral images on the accuracy of face-expression (angry or neutral) perception. In the second test, FEP, subjects saw pictures of face-expression and were asked to rate them as angry, happy, or neutral. The following clinical scales were used to determine the acute symptoms in PSZ: Positive and Negative Syndrome (PANSS), Young Mania Rating (YMRS), Hamilton Depression (HAM-D), and Hamilton Anxiety (HAM-A). On the SAFFIMAP test, different from the HCS group, the PSZ group tended to categorize the neutral expression of test faces as angry and their response to the test-face expression was not influenced by the affective content of the primes. In PSZ, the PANSS-positive score was significantly correlated with correct perception of angry faces for aggressive or pleasant primes. YMRS scores were strongly correlated with PSZ's tendency to recognize angry face expressions when the prime was a pleasant or a neutral image. The HAM-D score was positively correlated with categorizing the test-faces as neutral, regardless of the affective content of the prime or of the test-face expression (angry or neutral). Despite its exploratory nature, this study provides the first evidence that conscious perception and categorization of facial emotions (neutral or angry) in PSZ is directly affected by their positive or negative symptoms of the disease as defined by their individual scores on the clinical diagnostic scales.

Affect, risk perception, and the use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes: a population study of U.S. adults.

PubMed

Popova, Lucy; Owusu, Daniel; Weaver, Scott R; Kemp, Catherine B; Mertz, C K; Pechacek, Terry F; Slovic, Paul

2018-03-22

Tobacco companies argue that the decision to smoke is made by well-informed rational adults who have considered all the risks and benefits of smoking. Yet in promoting their products, the tobacco industry frequently relies on affect, portraying their products as part of a desirable lifestyle. Research examining the roles of affect and perceived risks in smoking has been scant and non-existent for novel tobacco products, such as electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). We examined the relationship between affect, perceived risk, and current use for cigarettes and e-cigarettes in 2015 in a nationally representative sample of 5398 U.S. adults who were aware of e-cigarettes. Participants held various affective associations with tobacco products, and affect towards cigarettes was more negative than affect towards e-cigarettes. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), affect towards cigarettes and e-cigarettes was associated with cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use respectively, and these associations were both direct and partially mediated by risk perceptions towards smoking and e-cigarette use. More positive affect towards cigarettes or e-cigarettes was associated with lower perceived risks, which in turn was associated with higher odds of being a current cigarette or e-cigarette user. In developing models explaining tobacco use behavior, or in creating public communication campaigns aimed at curbing tobacco use, it is useful to focus not only on the reason based predictors, such as perceptions of risks and benefits, but also on affective predictors. Educational efforts aimed at further smoking reductions should highlight and reinforce negative images and associations with cigarettes.

Perceptions of Burnout, Its Prevention, and Its Effect on Patient Care as Described by Oncology Nurses in the Hospital Setting
.

PubMed

Russell, Kimberly

2016-01-01

To identify overall perceptions of burnout within the inpatient oncology nursing population, how they perceived that burnout affected the care they provided, and how they perceived that burnout could be decreased.
. A quantitative descriptive study using questionnaires to describe perceptions of burnout.
. A university-affiliated hospital using inpatient oncology nurses from three nursing units at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian in Pennsylvania.
. A convenience sample of 61 nurses. 
. Two instruments were used to investigate various aspects about perceptions of burnout among inpatient oncology nurses. Nurses participated on an anonymous voluntary basis by completing these instruments. 
. Perceived burnout, perception of how burnout affects care provided to patients, and strategies to relieve burnout.
. Inpatient oncology nurses report a moderate level of perceived burnout. In addition, this nursing population perceived that this burnout had a negative impact on the care they provided. Nurses believed they experienced burnout because of increased nurse-patient ratios and skipped or shortened lunches or breaks. However, they perceived that burnout could be prevented when adequate resources, collaboration, teamwork, and the support of family and friends existed. 
. As a result of the level of care needed by inpatients with cancer, the association between burnout experienced by nurses and how it can affect care is important to recognize. One such association identified was that a relationship existed between the nurses' interactions with patients' family, friends, or visitors and increased perceptions of burnout and depersonalization. As a result, nurses can experience increased burnout and act in a manner that lacks compassion because of emotional detachment.
. With extremely ill inpatients with cancer, nurses need to be able to manage high levels of demands from patients and their family members to provide quality and compassionate care. Nurses reported that they experience burnout because of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization as a result of missed, shortened, or skipped breaks and lunches. This perception can affect the nurse's ability to perform physically and mentally, resulting in negative effects on nurse-patient relationships.

The effect of social stress on chronic pain perception in female and male mice.

PubMed

Aghajani, Marjan; Vaez Mahdavi, Mohammad Reza; Khalili Najafabadi, Mohsen; Ghazanfari, Tooba

2012-01-01

The current investigations on social stress primarily point to the negative health consequences of being in a stressful social hierarchy. The repetitive nature of such stressors seems to affect behavioral response to pain both in rodents and humans. Moreover, a large discrepancy in the possibility of social stresses affecting pain perception in the two genders exists. The present study examined the effect of chronic social stress on nociceptive responses of both sexes by implementing of food deprivation, food intake inequality and unstable social status (cage-mate change every 3 days) for a period of 14 days in 96 Balb/c mice. In this regard we injected 20 µl formalin 2% into the plantar surface of hind paw at the end of stress period and scored pain behaviors of all subjects, then serum concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines were measured. Our results showed that there was significant difference in chronic phase of formalin test following implementation of food deprivation and inequality (P<0.05) as compared to control group, so that pain perception was decreased considerably and this decline in inequality exposed subjects was well above isolated ones (P<0.05); whereas unstable social situation did not affect pain perception. Moreover, IL-1 and IL-6 concentrations in serum of stressed mice of both genders were well above control group (p<0.05). Finally, despite chronic pain perception in control and unstable male subjects was larger than females; the decrease of chronic pain perception in male stressed animals (poverty and inequality experienced subjects) was much more than stressed females. These results revealed that although food deprivation and social inequality can induce hypoalgesia, some socioeconomic situations like social instability don't affect pain sensation, whereas there were similar increases of proinflammatory cytokines level in all socially stressed subjects. In addition, males display larger hypoalgesic responses to inequality as compared with females.

Singers' and Nonsingers' Perception of Vocal Vibrato.

PubMed

Reddy, A Anita; Subramanian, Uma

2015-09-01

Vibrato, a small, nevertheless an important component in the singing voice is known to enrich the overall singing voice quality. However, in the perception of overall performance, it is often neglected. Singing performance is often appreciated by a mixed audience of those who love music, but not necessarily sing and other singers who may or may not be teachers of singing. The objectives of the present study were aimed at investigating singers' and nonsingers' perception of vocal vibrato and its effect on the ratings of singer's overall performance. Prerecorded audio samples of the chorus of a hymn (How Great Thou Art) as sung by 10 singers (both men and women) were played via a speaker to two groups of judges which consisted of three experienced singers and three experienced nonsingers. The singer judges (SJs) were vocal instructors in Western classical, music theater, pop, and contemporary styles. Seven parameters (presence of vibrato, rate, extent, conspicuousness, quality, periodicity, and type) related to vibrato were evaluated through auditory perception by these two groups of judges on a rating scale developed specifically for the study, and one parameter evaluated singer's overall performance. Cohen's Kappa statistical analysis was used for inter-rater reliability within groups. Nonsinger judges (NSJs) within the group showed varied ratings as did SJs, yet SJs did have higher agreement than NSJs. Chi-square analysis was used across groups. Both groups were distinct from each other in their perception of vibrato. Ratings of singer's overall performance were not affected for NSJs, but certainly affected for SJ. It could not be concluded that ratings on singer's overall performance was affected as a result of vibrato. Since vibrato is often over-ridden by the singer's voice. But a rare occasion can arise where a vibrato may not sound pleasant and can affect the listener's perception of the singer's performance. Often a feedback from listeners would help monitor singers' performance. Copyright © 2015 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

To what extent do Gestalt grouping principles influence tactile perception?

PubMed

Gallace, Alberto; Spence, Charles

2011-07-01

Since their formulation by the Gestalt movement more than a century ago, the principles of perceptual grouping have primarily been investigated in the visual modality and, to a lesser extent, in the auditory modality. The present review addresses the question of whether the same grouping principles also affect the perception of tactile stimuli. Although, to date, only a few studies have explicitly investigated the existence of Gestalt grouping principles in the tactile modality, we argue that many more studies have indirectly provided evidence relevant to this topic. Reviewing this body of research, we argue that similar principles to those reported previously in visual and auditory studies also govern the perceptual grouping of tactile stimuli. In particular, we highlight evidence showing that the principles of proximity, similarity, common fate, good continuation, and closure affect tactile perception in both unimodal and crossmodal settings. We also highlight that the grouping of tactile stimuli is often affected by visual and auditory information that happen to be presented simultaneously. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and applied benefits that might pertain to the further study of Gestalt principles operating in both unisensory and multisensory tactile perception.

Examining the relationship between affect and implicit associations: implications for risk perception.

PubMed

Dohle, Simone; Keller, Carmen; Siegrist, Michael

2010-07-01

It has been suggested that affect may play an important role in risk perception. Slovic et al. argued that people make use of the "affect heuristic" when assessing risks because it is easier and more efficient to rely on spontaneous affective reactions than to analyze all available information. In the present studies, a single category implicit association test (SC-IAT) to measure associations evoked by different hazards was employed. In the first study, we tested the extent to which the SC-IAT corresponds to the theoretical construct of affect in a risk framework. Specifically, we found that the SC-IAT correlates with other explicit measures that claim to measure affect, as well as with a measure of trust, but not with a measure that captures a different construct (subjective knowledge). In the second study, we addressed the question of whether hazards that vary along the dread dimension of the psychometric paradigm also differ in the affect they evoke. The results of the SC-IAT indicated that a high-dread hazard (nuclear power) elicits negative associations. Moreover, the high-dread hazard evoked more negative associations than a medium-dread hazard (hydroelectric power). In contrast, a nondread hazard (home appliances) led to positive associations. The results of our study highlight the importance of affect in shaping attitudes and opinions toward risks. The results further suggest that implicit measures may provide valuable insight into people's risk perception above and beyond explicit measures.

Direct Evidence for the Economy of Action: Glucose and the Perception of Geographical Slant

PubMed Central

Schnall, Simone; Zadra, Jonathan R.; Proffitt, Dennis R.

2012-01-01

When locomoting in a physically challenging environment, the body draws upon available energy reserves to accommodate increased metabolic demand. Ingested glucose supplements the body’s energy resources, whereas non-caloric sweetener does not. Two experiments demonstrate that participants who had consumed a glucose-containing drink perceived a hills slant to be less steep than did participants who had consumed a drink containing non-caloric sweetener. The glucose manipulation influenced participants’ explicit awareness of hill slant but, as predicted, it did not affect a visually-guided action of orienting a tilting palmboard to be parallel to the hill. Measured individual differences in factors related to bioenergetic state such as fatigue, sleep quality, fitness, mood, and stress also affected perception such that lower energetic states were associated with steeper perceptions of hill slant. This research shows that the perception of the environment’s spatial layout is influenced by the energetic resources available for locomotion within it. Our findings are consistent with the view that spatial perceptions are influenced by bioenergetic factors. PMID:20514996

Reactions to psychological contract breaches and organizational citizenship behaviours: An experimental manipulation of severity.

PubMed

Atkinson, Theresa P; Matthews, Russell A; Henderson, Alexandra A; Spitzmueller, Christiane

2018-01-30

Grounded in affective events theory, we investigated the effects of experimentally manipulated psychological contract breaches on participants' feelings of violation, subsequent perceptions of psychological contract strength, and organizational citizenship behaviours in a sample of working adults. Results support previous findings that pre-existing relational psychological contract strength interacts with severity of unmet promises or expectations. Specifically, individuals with high relational contracts who experience low severity of unmet promises/expectations have the lowest breach perceptions, whereas individuals with high relational contracts who experience more severe levels unmet promises/expectations experience the highest level of breach perceptions. Results also support the concept of a breach spiral in that prior perceptions of breach led to an increased likelihood of subsequent perceptions of breach following the experimental manipulation. Furthermore, consistent with affective events theory, results support the argument that a psychological contract breach's effect on specific organizational citizenship behaviours is mediated by feelings of violation and the reassessment of relational contracts. These effects were present even after controlling for the direct effects of the manipulated severity of unmet promises/expectations. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Factors Affecting Prepharmacy Students' Perceptions of the Professional Role of Pharmacists

PubMed Central

Plake, Kimberly S.; Newton, Gail D.; Mason, Holly L.

2010-01-01

Objective To assess prepharmacy students' perceptions of the professional role of pharmacists prior to enrollment in pharmacy school, and the association between perceptions and student demographics. Methods A 58-question survey instrument regarding pharmacists' roles, work experiences, and demographics was developed and administered to students (N = 127) enrolled in an organic chemistry laboratory experience at Purdue University. Results Theory of planned behavior subscales (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control) were influenced by students' grade point average, gender, and application to pharmacy school, while unpaid work experience affected professional commitment. Students evaluated work experience related to their pharmacy studies more positively than non-pharmacy-related areas in the theory of planned behavior subscales. Conclusions Evaluating students' perceptions may be beneficial in helping pharmacy educators design their curricula, as well as allowing admissions committees to select the most qualified students to promote the development of positive perceptions toward the professional role of pharmacists. Grade point average (GPA) and application to pharmacy school were associated with significant differences for the theory of planned behavior and professional commitment subscales. PMID:21301595

Tourism sector preparedness in zones with a high seismic risk: Case study of the Capital Region of Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lihui, W.; Wang, D.

2017-12-01

Japan is a country highly vulnerable to natural disasters, especially earthquakes. Tourism, as a strategic industry in Japan, is especially vulnerable to destructive earthquake disasters owing to the characteristics of vulnerability, sensitivity and substitutability. Here we aim to provide theoretical understanding of the perception and responses of tourism managers towards damaging disasters in tourism destinations with high seismic risks. We conducted surveys among the mangers of tourism businesses in the capital area of Japan in 2014 and applied structural equation modeling techniques to empirically test the proposed model with four latent variables, which are risk perception, threat knowledge, disaster preparedness and earthquake preparedness. Our results show that threat knowledge affects risk perception and disaster preparedness positively. In addition, disaster preparedness positively affects earthquake preparedness. However, the proposed paths from risk perception to disaster preparedness, risk perception to earthquake preparedness, and threat knowledge to earthquake preparedness were not statistically significant. Our results may provide references for policymakers in promoting crisis planning in tourism destination with high seismic risks.

Trends and correlates of the public’s perception of healthcare systems in the European Union: a multilevel analysis of Eurobarometer survey data from 2009 to 2013

PubMed Central

AlSaud, AlJohara M; Taddese, Henock B; Filippidis, Filippos T

2018-01-01

Objective The aim of the study is to assess trends in public perceptions of health systems in 27 European Union (EU) member states following the financial crisis (2009–2013), in order to discuss observed changes in the context of the financial crisis. Design Repeated cross-sectional studies. Setting 27 EU countries. Participants EU citizens aged 15 years and older. Methods The study mainly uses the Eurobarometer Social Climate Survey, conducted annually between 2009 and 2013, thereby analysing 116 706 observations. A multilevel logistic regression was carried out to analyse trends over time and the factors associated with citizens’ perceptions of their healthcare systems. Results Europeans generally exhibit positive perceptions of their national healthcare systems, 64.0% (95% CI 63.6% to 64.4%). However, we observed a significant drop in positive perceptions in the years following the crisis, especially within countries most affected by the crisis. Concerning fiscal characteristics, wealthier countries and those dedicating higher proportion of their national income to health were more likely to maintain positive perceptions. At the individual level, perceptions of healthcare systems were significantly associated with respondents’ self-perceptions of their social status, financial capacity and overall satisfaction in life. Conclusions Our finding confirms previous observations that citizens’ perceptions of their healthcare systems may reflect their overall prospects within the broader socioeconomic systems they live in; which have in turn been affected by the financial crisis and the policy measures instituted in response. PMID:29317413

A cognitive-perceptual model of symptom perception in males and females: the roles of negative affect, selective attention, health anxiety and psychological job demands.

PubMed

Goodwin, Laura; Fairclough, Stephen H; Poole, Helen M

2013-06-01

Kolk et al.'s model of symptom perception underlines the effects of trait negative affect, selective attention and external stressors. The current study tested this model in 263 males and 498 females from an occupational sample. Trait negative affect was associated with symptom reporting in females only, and selective attention and psychological job demands were associated with symptom reporting in both genders. Health anxiety was associated with symptom reporting in males only. Future studies might consider the inclusion of selective attention, which was more strongly associated with symptom reporting than negative affect. Psychological job demands appear to influence symptom reporting in both males and females.

Reduced sensitivity for visual textures affects judgments of shape-from-shading and step-climbing behaviour in older adults.

PubMed

Schofield, Andrew J; Curzon-Jones, Benjamin; Hollands, Mark A

2017-02-01

Falls on stairs are a major hazard for older adults. Visual decline in normal ageing can affect step-climbing ability, altering gait and reducing toe clearance. Here we show that a loss of fine-grained visual information associated with age can affect the perception of surface undulations in patterned surfaces. We go on to show that such cues affect the limb trajectories of young adults, but due to their lack of sensitivity, not that of older adults. Interestingly neither the perceived height of a step nor conscious awareness is altered by our visual manipulation, but stepping behaviour is, suggesting that the influence of shape perception on stepping behaviour is via the unconscious, action-centred, dorsal visual pathway.

Consumer risk perceptions toward agricultural biotechnology, self-protection, and food demand: the case of milk in the United States.

PubMed

Zepeda, Lydia; Douthitt, Robin; You, So-Ye

2003-10-01

This study is an econometric systems approach to modeling the factors and linkages affecting risk perceptions toward agricultural biotechnology, self-protection actions, and food demand. This model is applied to milk in the United States, but it can be adapted to other products as well as other categories of risk perceptions. The contribution of this formulation is the ability to examine how explanatory factors influence risk perceptions and whether they translate into behavior and ultimately what impact this has on aggregate markets. Hadden's outrage factors on heightening risk perceptions are among the factors examined. In particular, the article examines the role of labeling as a means of permitting informed consent to mitigate outrage factors. The effects of attitudinal, economic, and demographic factors on risk perceptions are also explored, as well as the linkage between risk perceptions, consumer behavior, and food demand. Because risk perceptions and self-protection actions are categorical variables and demand is a continuous variable, the model is estimated as a two-stage mixed system with a covariance correction procedure suggested by Amemiya. The findings indicate that it is the availability of labeling, not the price difference, between that labeled milk and milk produced with recombinant bovine Somatotropin (rbST) that significantly affects consumer's selection of rbST-free milk. The results indicate that greater availability of labeled milk would not only significantly increase the proportion of consumers who purchased labeled milk, its availability would also reduce the perception of risk associated with rbST, whether consumers purchase it or not. In other words, availability of rbST-free milk translates into lower risk perceptions toward milk produced with rbST.

Law enforcement officers’ risk perceptions toward on-duty motor-vehicle events

PubMed Central

Tiesman, Hope M.; Heick, Rebecca J.; Konda, Srinivas; Hendricks, Scott

2015-01-01

Purpose Motor-vehicle-related events (MVEs) are the leading cause of on-duty death for law enforcement officers, yet little is known about how officers view this significant job hazard. The purpose of this paper is to explore officers’ motor-vehicle risk perception and examine how prior on-duty MVEs and the death or injury of a fellow officer influences this perception. Design/methodology/approach A state-wide random sample of 136 law enforcement agencies was drawn using publically accessible databases, stratified on type and size of agency. In total, 60 agencies agreed to participate and a cross-sectional questionnaire was distributed to 1,466 officers. Using six-point Likert scales, composite scores for motor-vehicle and intentional violence risk perception were derived. A linear regression multivariable model was used to examine factors affecting motor-vehicle risk perception. Findings Motor-vehicle risk perception scores were significantly higher than intentional violence scores. A prior on-duty motor-vehicle crash, prior roadside incident, or knowledge of fellow officer’s injury or death from a MVE significantly increased motor-vehicle risk perception scores. After controlling for potential confounders though, only prior on-duty crashes and roadside incidents impacted motor-vehicle risk perception. Research limitations/implications The study comprised primarily small, rural agencies and generalizability may be limited. Also, although the data were collected anonymously, reporting and response biases may affect these findings. Originality/value This study involved a large and diverse cohort of officers and explored motor-vehicle risk perception. A better understanding of officers’ risk perceptions will assist in the development and implementation of occupational injury prevention programs, training, and policy. PMID:26380563

A research on motion design for APP's loading pages based on time perception

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Huai; Hu, Xiaoyun

2018-04-01

Due to restrictions caused by objective reasons like network bandwidth, hardware performance and etc., waiting is still an inevitable phenomenon that appears in our using mobile-terminal products. Relevant researches show that users' feelings in a waiting scenario can affect their evaluations on the whole product and services the product provides. With the development of user experience and inter-facial design subjects, the role of motion effect in the interface design has attracted more and more scholars' attention. In the current studies, the research theory of motion design in a waiting scenario is imperfect. This article will use the basic theory and experimental research methods of cognitive psychology to explore the motion design's impact on user's time perception when users are waiting for loading APP pages. Firstly, the article analyzes the factors that affect waiting experience of loading APP pages based on the theory of time perception, and then discusses motion design's impact on the level of time-perception when loading pages and its design strategy. Moreover, by the operation analysis of existing loading motion designs, the article classifies the existing loading motions and designs an experiment to verify the impact of different types of motions on the user's time perception. The result shows that the waiting time perception of mobile's terminals' APPs is related to the loading motion types, the combination type of loading motions can effectively shorten the waiting time perception as it scores a higher mean value in the length of time perception.

Seeing is Believing? An Examination of Perceptions of Local Weather Conditions and Climate Change Among Residents in the U.S. Gulf Coast.

PubMed

Shao, Wanyun; Goidel, Kirby

2016-11-01

What role do objective weather conditions play in coastal residents' perceptions of local climate shifts and how do these perceptions affect attitudes toward climate change? While scholars have increasingly investigated the role of weather and climate conditions on climate-related attitudes and behaviors, they typically assume that residents accurately perceive shifts in local climate patterns. We directly test this assumption using the largest and most comprehensive survey of Gulf Coast residents conducted to date supplemented with monthly temperature data from the U.S. Historical Climatology Network and extreme weather events data from National Climatic Data Center. We find objective conditions have limited explanatory power in determining perceptions of local climate patterns. Only the 15- and 19-year hurricane trends and decadal summer temperature trend have some effects on perceptions of these weather conditions, while the decadal trend of total number of extreme weather events and 15- and 19-year winter temperature trends are correlated with belief in climate change. Partisan affiliation, in contrast, plays a powerful role affecting individual perceptions of changing patterns of air temperatures, flooding, droughts, and hurricanes, as well as belief in the existence of climate change and concern for future consequences. At least when it comes to changing local conditions, "seeing is not believing." Political orientations rather than local conditions drive perceptions of local weather conditions and these perceptions-rather than objectively measured weather conditions-influence climate-related attitudes. © 2016 Society for Risk Analysis.

Middle East respiratory syndrome risk perception among students at a university in South Korea, 2015.

PubMed

Yang, Seongwoo; Cho, Sung-Il

2017-06-01

The 2015 Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in South Korea was a serious threat to public health, and was exacerbated by the inappropriate responses of major institutions and the public. This study examined the sources of confusion during the MERS outbreak and identified the factors that can affect people's behavior. An online survey of the risk perception of university students in South Korea was performed after the epidemic had peaked. The questionnaire addressed the major social determinants in South Korea during the MERS epidemic. The analysis included data from 1,470 subjects who provided complete answers. The students had 53.5% of the essential knowledge about MERS. Women showed higher risk perception than men, and trust in the media was positively associated with risk perception (P < .001). Additionally, risk perception was positively associated with overreaction by the public (odds ratio, 2.80; 95% confidence interval, 2.17-3.60; P < .001). These findings suggest that media content affected the public's perception of MERS risk and that perception of a high level of risk led to overreaction. Risk perception was associated with most of the social factors examined and overreaction by the public. Therefore, providing accurate information and data to the public, establishing trust, and facilitating the development of an attitude will all be important in future crises. Copyright © 2017 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Music induces universal emotion-related psychophysiological responses: comparing Canadian listeners to Congolese Pygmies.

PubMed

Egermann, Hauke; Fernando, Nathalie; Chuen, Lorraine; McAdams, Stephen

2014-01-01

Subjective and psychophysiological emotional responses to music from two different cultures were compared within these two cultures. Two identical experiments were conducted: the first in the Congolese rainforest with an isolated population of Mebenzélé Pygmies without any exposure to Western music and culture, the second with a group of Western music listeners, with no experience with Congolese music. Forty Pygmies and 40 Canadians listened in pairs to 19 music excerpts of 29-99 s in duration in random order (eight from the Pygmy population and 11 Western instrumental excerpts). For both groups, emotion components were continuously measured: subjective feeling (using a two- dimensional valence and arousal rating interface), peripheral physiological activation, and facial expression. While Pygmy music was rated as positive and arousing by Pygmies, ratings of Western music by Westerners covered the range from arousing to calming and from positive to negative. Comparing psychophysiological responses to emotional qualities of Pygmy music across participant groups showed no similarities. However, Western stimuli, rated as high and low arousing by Canadians, created similar responses in both participant groups (with high arousal associated with increases in subjective and physiological activation). Several low-level acoustical features of the music presented (tempo, pitch, and timbre) were shown to affect subjective and physiological arousal similarly in both cultures. Results suggest that while the subjective dimension of emotional valence might be mediated by cultural learning, changes in arousal might involve a more basic, universal response to low-level acoustical characteristics of music.

The Effects of Oncologist Implicit Racial Bias in Racially Discordant Oncology Interactions

PubMed Central

Dovidio, John F.; Gonzalez, Richard; Albrecht, Terrance L.; Chapman, Robert; Foster, Tanina; Harper, Felicity W.K.; Hagiwara, Nao; Hamel, Lauren M.; Shields, Anthony F.; Gadgeel, Shirish; Simon, Michael S.; Griggs, Jennifer J.; Eggly, Susan

2016-01-01

Purpose Health providers’ implicit racial bias negatively affects communication and patient reactions to many medical interactions. However, its effects on racially discordant oncology interactions are largely unknown. Thus, we examined whether oncologist implicit racial bias has similar effects in oncology interactions. We further investigated whether oncologist implicit bias negatively affects patients’ perceptions of recommended treatments (i.e., degree of confidence, expected difficulty). We predicted oncologist implicit bias would negatively affect communication, patient reactions to interactions, and, indirectly, patient perceptions of recommended treatments. Methods Participants were 18 non-black medical oncologists and 112 black patients. Oncologists completed an implicit racial bias measure several weeks before video-recorded treatment discussions with new patients. Observers rated oncologist communication and recorded interaction length of time and amount of time oncologists and patients spoke. Following interactions, patients answered questions about oncologists’ patient-centeredness and difficulty remembering contents of the interaction, distress, trust, and treatment perceptions. Results As predicted, oncologists higher in implicit racial bias had shorter interactions, and patients and observers rated these oncologists’ communication as less patient-centered and supportive. Higher implicit bias also was associated with more patient difficulty remembering contents of the interaction. In addition, oncologist implicit bias indirectly predicted less patient confidence in recommended treatments, and greater perceived difficulty completing them, through its impact on oncologists’ communication (as rated by both patients and observers). Conclusion Oncologist implicit racial bias is negatively associated with oncologist communication, patients’ reactions to racially discordant oncology interactions, and patient perceptions of recommended treatments. These perceptions could subsequently directly affect patient-treatment decisions. Thus, implicit racial bias is a likely source of racial treatment disparities and must be addressed in oncology training and practice. PMID:27325865

The Effects of Oncologist Implicit Racial Bias in Racially Discordant Oncology Interactions.

PubMed

Penner, Louis A; Dovidio, John F; Gonzalez, Richard; Albrecht, Terrance L; Chapman, Robert; Foster, Tanina; Harper, Felicity W K; Hagiwara, Nao; Hamel, Lauren M; Shields, Anthony F; Gadgeel, Shirish; Simon, Michael S; Griggs, Jennifer J; Eggly, Susan

2016-08-20

Health providers' implicit racial bias negatively affects communication and patient reactions to many medical interactions. However, its effects on racially discordant oncology interactions are largely unknown. Thus, we examined whether oncologist implicit racial bias has similar effects in oncology interactions. We further investigated whether oncologist implicit bias negatively affects patients' perceptions of recommended treatments (i.e., degree of confidence, expected difficulty). We predicted oncologist implicit bias would negatively affect communication, patient reactions to interactions, and, indirectly, patient perceptions of recommended treatments. Participants were 18 non-black medical oncologists and 112 black patients. Oncologists completed an implicit racial bias measure several weeks before video-recorded treatment discussions with new patients. Observers rated oncologist communication and recorded interaction length of time and amount of time oncologists and patients spoke. Following interactions, patients answered questions about oncologists' patient-centeredness and difficulty remembering contents of the interaction, distress, trust, and treatment perceptions. As predicted, oncologists higher in implicit racial bias had shorter interactions, and patients and observers rated these oncologists' communication as less patient-centered and supportive. Higher implicit bias also was associated with more patient difficulty remembering contents of the interaction. In addition, oncologist implicit bias indirectly predicted less patient confidence in recommended treatments, and greater perceived difficulty completing them, through its impact on oncologists' communication (as rated by both patients and observers). Oncologist implicit racial bias is negatively associated with oncologist communication, patients' reactions to racially discordant oncology interactions, and patient perceptions of recommended treatments. These perceptions could subsequently directly affect patient-treatment decisions. Thus, implicit racial bias is a likely source of racial treatment disparities and must be addressed in oncology training and practice. © 2016 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Perceptions of Institutional Climate.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shultz, Eileen L.; And Others

A study was conducted at Kutztown University (Pennsylvania) to examine issues affecting women in higher education. Areas addressed in the study include aspirations for advancement, perceptions of family support, perceived institutional support, perceived barriers to advancement, and networks perceived to support faculty. Data were solicited…

Labeling, Attention and Perception, A Developmental Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sagi, Abraham

1979-01-01

Findings of this Israeli study suggest that perception is affected by lables, learning, and selective attention; that these effects are determined developmentally; and that as age increases, the effects of verbal cues diminish, while the effects of perceptual cues increase. (Author/DLS)

The perception of emotion and focus prosody with varying acoustic cues in cochlear implant simulations with varying filter slopes

PubMed Central

van de Velde, Daan J.; Schiller, Niels O.; van Heuven, Vincent J.; Levelt, Claartje C.; van Ginkel, Joost; Beers, Mieke; Briaire, Jeroen J.; Frijns, Johan H. M.

2017-01-01

This study aimed to find the optimal filter slope for cochlear implant simulations (vocoding) by testing the effect of a wide range of slopes on the discrimination of emotional and linguistic (focus) prosody, with varying availability of F0 and duration cues. Forty normally hearing participants judged if (non-)vocoded sentences were pronounced with happy or sad emotion, or with adjectival or nominal focus. Sentences were recorded as natural stimuli and manipulated to contain only emotion- or focus-relevant segmental duration or F0 information or both, and then noise-vocoded with 5, 20, 80, 120, and 160 dB/octave filter slopes. Performance increased with steeper slopes, but only up to 120 dB/octave, with bigger effects for emotion than for focus perception. For emotion, results with both cues most closely resembled results with F0, while for focus results with both cues most closely resembled those with duration, showing emotion perception relies primarily on F0, and focus perception on duration. This suggests that filter slopes affect focus perception less than emotion perception because for emotion, F0 is both more informative and more affected. The performance increase until extreme filter slope values suggests that much performance improvement in prosody perception is still to be gained for CI users. PMID:28599540

Are vegans the same as vegetarians? The effect of diet on perceptions of masculinity.

PubMed

Thomas, Margaret A

2016-02-01

Food and food consumption matters in interpersonal interactions. Foods consumed can affect how a person is perceived by others in terms of morality, likeability, and gender. Food consumption can be used as a strategy for gendered presentation, either in terms of what foods are consumed or in the amount of food consumed. Finally, foods themselves are associated with gender. Previous research (Browarnik, 2012; Ruby & Heine, 2011) shows inconsistent patterns in the association between vegetarianism and masculinity. The current research conceptually replicates and extends this research by including the explicit label of vegetarian. The four studies in this article provide increased information about the effects of diet on gendered perceptions. Study 1 shows that vegetarian and omnivorous targets are rated equally in terms of masculinity. Study 2 shows that perceptions of vegetarians and vegans are similar, though comparing this research with past research indicates that perceptions of vegetarians are more variable. Study 3 shows that veganism leads perceptions of decreased masculinity relative to omnivores. Finally, Study 4 tests one possible mechanism for the results of Study 3, that it is the choice to be vegan that impacts perceptions of gender. Implications include increased knowledge about how meatless diets can affect the perceptions of gender in others. Multiple directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Music Training and Education Slow the Deterioration of Music Perception Produced by Presbycusis in the Elderly

PubMed Central

Moreno-Gómez, Felipe N.; Véliz, Guillermo; Rojas, Marcos; Martínez, Cristián; Olmedo, Rubén; Panussis, Felipe; Dagnino-Subiabre, Alexies; Delgado, Carolina; Delano, Paul H.

2017-01-01

The perception of music depends on the normal function of the peripheral and central auditory system. Aged subjects without hearing loss have altered music perception, including pitch and temporal features. Presbycusis or age-related hearing loss is a frequent condition in elderly people, produced by neurodegenerative processes that affect the cochlear receptor cells and brain circuits involved in auditory perception. Clinically, presbycusis patients have bilateral high-frequency hearing loss and deteriorated speech intelligibility. Music impairments in presbycusis subjects can be attributed to the normal aging processes and to presbycusis neuropathological changes. However, whether presbycusis further impairs music perception remains controversial. Here, we developed a computerized version of the Montreal battery of evaluation of amusia (MBEA) and assessed music perception in 175 Chilean adults aged between 18 and 90 years without hearing complaints and in symptomatic presbycusis patients. We give normative data for MBEA performance in a Latin-American population, showing age and educational effects. In addition, we found that symptomatic presbycusis was the most relevant factor determining global MBEA accuracy in aged subjects. Moreover, we show that melodic impairments in presbycusis individuals were diminished by music training, while the performance in temporal tasks were affected by the educational level and music training. We conclude that music training and education are important factors as they can slow the deterioration of music perception produced by age-related hearing loss. PMID:28579956

Visual processing and social cognition in schizophrenia: relationships among eye movements, biological motion perception, and empathy.

PubMed

Matsumoto, Yukiko; Takahashi, Hideyuki; Murai, Toshiya; Takahashi, Hidehiko

2015-01-01

Schizophrenia patients have impairments at several levels of cognition including visual attention (eye movements), perception, and social cognition. However, it remains unclear how lower-level cognitive deficits influence higher-level cognition. To elucidate the hierarchical path linking deficient cognitions, we focused on biological motion perception, which is involved in both the early stage of visual perception (attention) and higher social cognition, and is impaired in schizophrenia. Seventeen schizophrenia patients and 18 healthy controls participated in the study. Using point-light walker stimuli, we examined eye movements during biological motion perception in schizophrenia. We assessed relationships among eye movements, biological motion perception and empathy. In the biological motion detection task, schizophrenia patients showed lower accuracy and fixated longer than healthy controls. As opposed to controls, patients exhibiting longer fixation durations and fewer numbers of fixations demonstrated higher accuracy. Additionally, in the patient group, the correlations between accuracy and affective empathy index and between eye movement index and affective empathy index were significant. The altered gaze patterns in patients indicate that top-down attention compensates for impaired bottom-up attention. Furthermore, aberrant eye movements might lead to deficits in biological motion perception and finally link to social cognitive impairments. The current findings merit further investigation for understanding the mechanism of social cognitive training and its development. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd and the Japan Neuroscience Society. All rights reserved.

Music Training and Education Slow the Deterioration of Music Perception Produced by Presbycusis in the Elderly.

PubMed

Moreno-Gómez, Felipe N; Véliz, Guillermo; Rojas, Marcos; Martínez, Cristián; Olmedo, Rubén; Panussis, Felipe; Dagnino-Subiabre, Alexies; Delgado, Carolina; Delano, Paul H

2017-01-01

The perception of music depends on the normal function of the peripheral and central auditory system. Aged subjects without hearing loss have altered music perception, including pitch and temporal features. Presbycusis or age-related hearing loss is a frequent condition in elderly people, produced by neurodegenerative processes that affect the cochlear receptor cells and brain circuits involved in auditory perception. Clinically, presbycusis patients have bilateral high-frequency hearing loss and deteriorated speech intelligibility. Music impairments in presbycusis subjects can be attributed to the normal aging processes and to presbycusis neuropathological changes. However, whether presbycusis further impairs music perception remains controversial. Here, we developed a computerized version of the Montreal battery of evaluation of amusia (MBEA) and assessed music perception in 175 Chilean adults aged between 18 and 90 years without hearing complaints and in symptomatic presbycusis patients. We give normative data for MBEA performance in a Latin-American population, showing age and educational effects. In addition, we found that symptomatic presbycusis was the most relevant factor determining global MBEA accuracy in aged subjects. Moreover, we show that melodic impairments in presbycusis individuals were diminished by music training, while the performance in temporal tasks were affected by the educational level and music training. We conclude that music training and education are important factors as they can slow the deterioration of music perception produced by age-related hearing loss.

Effect of technology on aging perception.

PubMed

Juárez, Ma Rodrigo; González, Víctor M; Favela, Jesús

2018-06-01

Technology can assist older adults to maintain an active lifestyle. To better understand the effect that technology has on aging perception, we conducted two studies. In the first study, through supraliminal priming, we analyzed the effects of aging- and technology-related stimuli on age estimation. In the second study, we conducted a technological intervention with a group of elders who used four interactive devices and analyzed effects on perceived aging. Results showed that technology-related stimuli did not affect estimated age. From the second study, we generated a sociotechnical model that explains the processes connecting technology use with successful aging. We concluded that the use of technology affects aging perception, although it depends on whether the elder people have a proactive attitude toward their aging process a priori.

Relationships between High School Chemistry Students' Perceptions of a Constructivist Learning Environment and their STEM Career Expectations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wild, Andrew

2015-09-01

Considerable attention has been devoted to factors affecting the persistence of women and historically underrepresented ethnic groups in their science education trajectories. The literature has focused more on structural factors that affect longitudinal outcomes rather than classroom experiences. This exploratory survey study described relationships among high school chemistry students' perceptions of a constructivist learning environment (CLE) and STEM career expectations. The sample included 693 students from 7 public high schools within the San Francisco Bay Area. Students' perceptions of a CLE predicted their expectations of entering a science career, but not engineering, computer, health, or mathematics-related careers. When all groups of students perceived the learning environment as more constructivist, they were more likely to expect science careers.

Peers and teachers as sources of relatedness perceptions, motivation, and affective responses in physical education.

PubMed

Cox, Anne; Duncheon, Nicole; McDavid, Lindley

2009-12-01

Research has demonstrated the importance of relatedness perceptions to self-determined motivation in physical education. Therefore, studies have begun to examine the social factors contributing to feelings of relatedness. The purpose of this study was to examine teacher (perceived emotional support) and peer (acceptance, friendship quality) relationship variables to feelings of relatedness, motivation, and affective responses in junior high physical education students (N = 411). Results revealed that perceived relatedness mediated the relationship between variables and self-determined motivation and related directly to the amount of enjoyment and worry students experienced. These findings demonstrate that relationships with both teachers and peers are important for students' relatedness perceptions, motivation, enjoyment, and worry in physical education.

Psychosocial and cultural factors affecting the perceived risk of genetically modified food: an overview of the literature.

PubMed

Finucane, Melissa L; Holup, Joan L

2005-04-01

The rapid globalization of the world economy has increased the need for an astute understanding of cultural differences in perceptions, values, and ways of thinking about new food technologies. In this paper, we describe how socio-psychological and cultural factors may affect public perceptions of the risk of genetically modified (GM) food. We present psychological, sociological, and anthropological research on risk perception as a framework for understanding cross-national differences in reactions to GM food. Differences in the cultural values and circumstances of people in the US, European countries, and the developing world are examined. The implications of cultural theory for risk communication and decision making about GM food are discussed and directions for future research highlighted.

The effect of pathological narcissism on interpersonal and affective processes in social interactions.

PubMed

Wright, Aidan G C; Stepp, Stephanie D; Scott, Lori N; Hallquist, Michael N; Beeney, Joseph E; Lazarus, Sophie A; Pilkonis, Paul A

2017-10-01

Narcissism has significant interpersonal costs, yet little research has examined behavioral and affective patterns characteristic of narcissism in naturalistic settings. Here we studied the effect of narcissistic features on the dynamic processes of interpersonal behavior and affect in daily life. We used interpersonal theory to generate transactional models of social interaction (i.e., linkages among perceptions of others' behavior, affect, and one's own behavior) predicted to be characteristic of narcissism. Psychiatric outpatients (N = 102) completed clinical interviews and a 21-day ecological momentary assessment protocol using smartphones. After social interactions (N = 5,781), participants reported on perceptions of their interaction partner's behavior (scored along the dimensions of dominant-submissive and affiliative-quarrelsome), their own affect, and their own behavior. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to examine dynamic links among behavior and affect across interactions, and the role of narcissism in moderating these links. Results showed that perceptions of others' dominance did not predict dominant behavior, but did predict quarrelsome behavior, and this link was potentiated by narcissism. Furthermore, the link between others' dominance and one's own quarrelsome behavior was mediated by negative affect. Moderated mediation was also found: Narcissism amplified the link between ratings of others' dominance and one's own quarrelsomeness and negative affect. Narcissism did not moderate the link between other dominance and own dominance, nor the link between other affiliation and own affiliation. These results suggest that narcissism is associated with specific interpersonal and affective processes, such that sensitivity to others' dominance triggers antagonistic behavior in daily life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Not explicit but implicit memory is influenced by individual perception style

PubMed Central

Tsushima, Yoshiaki

2018-01-01

Not only explicit but also implicit memory has considerable influence on our daily life. However, it is still unclear whether explicit and implicit memories are sensitive to individual differences. Here, we investigated how individual perception style (global or local) correlates with implicit and explicit memory. As a result, we found that not explicit but implicit memory was affected by the perception style: local perception style people more greatly used implicit memory than global perception style people. These results help us to make the new effective application adapting to individual perception style and understand some clinical symptoms such as autistic spectrum disorder. Furthermore, this finding might give us new insight of memory involving consciousness and unconsciousness as well as relationship between implicit/explicit memory and individual perception style. PMID:29370212

Not explicit but implicit memory is influenced by individual perception style.

PubMed

Hine, Kyoko; Tsushima, Yoshiaki

2018-01-01

Not only explicit but also implicit memory has considerable influence on our daily life. However, it is still unclear whether explicit and implicit memories are sensitive to individual differences. Here, we investigated how individual perception style (global or local) correlates with implicit and explicit memory. As a result, we found that not explicit but implicit memory was affected by the perception style: local perception style people more greatly used implicit memory than global perception style people. These results help us to make the new effective application adapting to individual perception style and understand some clinical symptoms such as autistic spectrum disorder. Furthermore, this finding might give us new insight of memory involving consciousness and unconsciousness as well as relationship between implicit/explicit memory and individual perception style.

Hearts and Minds: The Priority of Affective versus Cognitive Factors in Person Perception.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edwards, Kari; Hippel, William von

1995-01-01

In two experiments, affect-based and cognition-based attitudes toward a person were induced by varying sequence of affective and cognitive information presented to subjects while holding content constant. Results indicated affect-based attitudes were most effectively changed by affective persuasive appeals, whether these appeals were produced by…

Explicit (semantic) memory for music in patients with mild cognitive impairment and early-stage Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Kerer, Manuela; Marksteiner, Josef; Hinterhuber, Hartmann; Mazzola, Guerino; Kemmler, Georg; Bliem, Harald R; Weiss, Elisabeth M

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: Explicit memory for music was investigated by using a new test with 24 existing and 3 newly composed pieces. Ten patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 10 patients with early stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD) were compared with 23 healthy subjects, in terms of verbal memory of music by the identification of familiar music excerpts and the discrimination of distortion and original timbre of musical excerpts. MCI and Alzheimer's patients showed significantly poorer performances in tasks requiring verbal memory of musical excerpts than the healthy participants. For discrimination of musical excerpts, MCI and AD patients surprisingly performed significantly better than the healthy comparison subjects. Our results support the notion of a specialized memory system for music.

The music instinct: the evolutionary basis of musicality.

PubMed

Mithen, Steven

2009-07-01

Why does music pervade our lives and those of all known human beings living today and in the recent past? Why do we feel compelled to engage in musical activity, or at least simply enjoy listening to music even if we choose not to actively participate? I argue that this is because musicality--communication using variations in pitch, rhythm, dynamics and timbre, by a combination of the voice, body (as in dance), and material culture--was essential to the lives of our pre-linguistic hominin ancestors. As a consequence we have inherited a desire to engage with music, even if this has no adaptive benefit for us today as a species whose communication system is dominated by spoken language. In this article I provide a summary of the arguments to support this view.

The effects of learning on event-related potential correlates of musical expectancy.

PubMed

Carrión, Ricardo E; Bly, Benjamin Martin

2008-09-01

Musical processing studies have shown that unexpected endings in familiar musical sequences produce extended latencies of the P300 component. The present study sought to identify event-related potential (ERP) correlates of musical expectancy by entraining participants with rule-governed chord sequences and testing whether unexpected endings created similar responses. Two experiments were conducted in which participants performed grammaticality classifications without training (Experiment 1) and with training (Experiment 2). In both experiments, deviant chords differing in instrumental timbre elicited a MMN/P3a waveform complex. Violations related to learned patterns elicited an early right anterior negativity and P3b. Latency and amplitude of peak components were modulated by the physical characteristics of the chords, expectations due to prior knowledge of musical harmony, and contextually defined expectations developed through entrainment.

The role of age in the perceptions of politics--job performance relationship: a three-study constructive replication.

PubMed

Treadway, Darren C; Ferris, Gerald R; Hochwarter, Wayne; Perrewé, Pamela; Witt, L A; Goodman, Joseph M

2005-09-01

This research examined the interaction of organizational politics perceptions and employee age on job performance in 3 studies. On the basis of conservation of resources theory, the authors predicted that perceptions of politics would demonstrate their most detrimental effects on job performance for older workers. Results across the 3 studies provided strong support for the hypothesis that increases in politics perceptions are associated with decreases in job performance for older employees and that perceptions of politics do not affect younger employees' performance. Implications of these results, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright 2005 APA, all rights reserved.

Don't know responses to cognitive and affective risk perception measures: Exploring prevalence and socio-demographic moderators.

PubMed

Janssen, Eva; Verduyn, Philippe; Waters, Erika A

2018-05-01

Many people report uncertainty when appraising their risk of cancer and other diseases, but prior research about the topic has focused solely on cognitive risk perceptions. We investigated uncertainty related to cognitive and affective risk questions. We also explored whether any differences in uncertainty between cognitive and affective questions varied in magnitude by item-specific or socio-demographic characteristics. Secondary analysis of data collected for a 2 × 2 × 3 full-factorial risk communication experiment (N = 835) that was embedded within an online survey. We investigated the frequency of 'don't know' responses (DKR) to eight perceived risk items that varied according to whether they assessed (1) cognitive versus affective perceived risk, (2) absolute versus comparative risk, and (3) colon cancer versus 'any exercise-related diseases'. Socio-demographics were as follows: sex, age, education, family history, and numeracy. We analysed the data using multilevel logistic regression. The odds of DKR were lower for affective than cognitive perceived risk (OR = 0.64, p < .001). This difference occurred for absolute but not comparative risk perceptions (interaction effect, p = .004), but no interactions for disease type or demographic characteristics were found (ps > .05). Lower uncertainty for affective (vs. cognitive) absolute perceived risk items is consistent with research stating: (1) Risk perceptions are grounded in people's feelings about a hazard, and (2) feelings are easier for people to access than facts. Including affective perceived risk items in health behaviour surveys may reduce missing data and improve data quality. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Many people report that they don't know their risk (i.e., risk uncertainty). Evidence is growing for the importance of feelings of risk in explaining health behaviour. Feelings are easier for people to access than facts. What does this study add? Don't know responding is higher for absolute cognitive than absolute affective risk questions. This difference does not vary in magnitude by demographic characteristics. Affective perceived risk questions in surveys may reduce missing data and improve data quality. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

Instrumental textural perception of food and comparative biomaterials

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Texture is an important food quality attribute affecting consumer acceptance. Consumers characterize texture as either crispy or crunchy, and the moisture content and internal structure of the products are significant factors in its perception. Exposing an extruded corn snack (ECS), an extruded biod...