8 research outputs found

    Early Detection and Intervention in Audiology

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    "Early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) is the gold standard for any practising audiologist, and for families of infants and children with hearing impairment. Yet EHDI remains a significant challenge for Africa, and various initiatives are in place to address this gap in transferring policy into practice within the southern African context. Early Detection and Intervention in Audiology: An African Perspective aims to address the diversity of factors in southern Africa that presents unique challenges to teaching and research in this field. The South African government’s heightened focus on increasing access to health care, which includes ongoing Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes, makes this an opportune time for establishing and documenting evidence-based research for current undergraduate and postgraduate students. Detailed case studies pay careful attention to contextual relevance and responsiveness to both identification and intervention in hearing impairment. With diverse contributions from local and international experts, but always with an African perspective, this textbook will be an essential resource for students, researchers and practitioners.

    Amplifying Actions - Towards Enactive Sound Design

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    Recently, artists and designers have begun to use digital technologies in order to stimulate bodily interaction, while scientists keep revealing new findings about sensorimotor contingencies, changing the way in which we understand human knowledge. However, implicit knowledge generated in artistic projects can become difficult to transfer and scientific research frequently remains isolated due to specific disciplinary languages and methodologies. By mutually enriching holistic creative approaches and highly specific scientific ways of working, this doctoral dissertation aims to set the foundation for Enactive Sound Design. It is focused on sound that engages sensorimotor experience that has been neglected within the existing design practices. The premise is that such a foundation can be best developed if grounded in transdisciplinary methods that bring together scientific and design approaches. The methodology adopted to achieve this goal is practice-based and supported by theoretical research and project analysis. Three different methodologies were formulated and evaluated during this doctoral study, based on a convergence of existing methods from design, psychology and human-computer interaction. First, a basic design approach was used to engage in a reflective creation process and to extend the existing work on interaction gestalt through hands-on activities. Second, psychophysical experiments were carried out and adapted to suit the needed shift from reception-based tests to a performance-based quantitative evaluation. Last, a set of participatory workshops were developed and conducted, within which the enactive sound exercises were iteratively tested through direct and participatory observation, questionnaires and interviews. A foundation for Enactive Sound Design developed in this dissertation includes novel methods that have been generated by extensive explorations into the fertile ground between basic design education, psychophysical experiments and participatory design. Combining creative practices with traditional task analysis further developed this basic design approach. The results were a number of abstract sonic artefacts conceptualised as the experimental apparatuses that can allow psychologists to study enactive sound experience. Furthermore, a collaboration between designers and scientists on a psychophysical study produced a new methodology for the evaluation of sensorimotor performance with tangible sound interfaces.These performance experiments have revealed that sonic feedback can support enactive learning. Finally, participatory workshops resulted in a number of novel methods focused on a holistic perspective fostered through a subjective experience of self-producing sound. They indicated the influence that such an approach may have on both artists and scientists in the future. The role of designer, as a scientific collaborator within psychological research and as a facilitator of participatory workshops, has been evaluated. Thus, this dissertation recommends a number of collaborative methods and strategies that can help designers to understand and reflectively create enactive sound objects. It is hoped that the examples of successful collaborations between designers and scientists presented in this thesis will encourage further projects and connections between different disciplines, with the final goal of creating a more engaging and a more aware sonic future.European Commission 6th Framework and European Science Foundation (COST Action

    Technisch unterstĂĽtzte Reduktion des Stotterns (TURS): Die sofortige und langfristige Wirkung von modifiziertem auditivem Feedback (MAF) auf das chronische Stottern

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    Abstract: Immediate effect study Purpose: The immediate effects of altered auditory feedback (AAF) and a placebo condition on clinical attributes of stuttering during scripted as well as spontaneous speech are investigated herein. The primary purpose is the extension of the evidence-base of the impact of AAF on the clinical characteristics of stuttering. Method: Two commercially available AAF devices were used to create the delayed auditory feedback (DAF) and frequency altered feedback (FAF) effects. The participants consisted of thirty German-speaking people who stutter (PWS), aged 18 to 68 (M = 36.5; SD = 15.2). Each subject produced four sets of oral readings, three sets of monologs and three sets of dialogs. The participants were exposed to different experimental conditions (No device, Placebo, active AAF using Device A, and active AAF using Device B) while producing the speech samples. The recordings were then electronically analyzed to detect changes in select features of stuttering; frequency, duration, speech rate, articulation rate and core behaviors. The occurrence of these variables was examined across all speech samples collected within the four experimental conditions. Results: A statistically significant difference in the frequency of stuttered syllables (%SS) was found while using both devices (p = .000). Although individual reactions varied widely, the most notable reductions in %SS occurred within the reading (M = 2.33, SD = 3.75) and monolog (M = 2.26, SD = 3.32) samples. Thus, active AAF settings had the least impact on speech fluency during conversational speech (M = 1.49, SD = 2.71). During the placebo condition (no active AAF parameters), the subject group also experienced a statistically significant decline in %SS (p = .028). Conclusion: This result indicates that the effects of AAF alone may not be the sole reason for fluency enhancements experienced when using a portable speech aid. Abstract: longitudinal trail Purpose: The effects of a portable altered auditory feedback (AAF) device on the severity of stuttering over a three-month period were investigated. The main goal was to examine the usage behavior and fluency-enhancements displayed during extended device utilization. Method: Qualitative data on implementation environments, utilization patterns and user satisfaction were collected weekly from a group of seven adults (M = 45.3; SD = 11.4) who stutter. For the analysis of quantitative changes in stuttering severity, speech samples were collected in person at the beginning and end of the trial period. Two phone conversations throughout the study provided additional conversational samples. Results: Individual responses were quite diverse within both quantitative and qualitative measures. Group analysis revealed that conversational speech was overall significantly more fluent when a device was used. The percentage of stuttered syllables was significantly lower z = -2.201, p = .028, r = -0.18 upon first using AAF (with device: Mdn = 1.53; without device: Mdn = 3.53) and during the personal conversation at the end of three months (with device: Mdn = 1.89; without device: Mdn = 3.97). However, during the two mid-trial phone conversations during which a device was used (T2 & T3), stuttering frequency remained largely unaltered T2: z = -.943, p = .345 (Mdn = 3.87); T3: z = -1.57, p = .116 (Mdn = 3.00). The analysis of weekly questionnaires and user diaries revealed that the device was most commonly used in familiar environments (63% at home). On average, the speech aid was utilized four to five times a week, with an overall satisfaction rate of 42%. Conclusion: Some meaningful conclusions for clinical work with clients wishing to use AAF can be drawn from these results. While AAF has its limits in reducing stuttering, ability to use a device may be optimized if usage is acquired in a guided clinical process.Hintergrund/Background: Das modifizierte auditive Feedback (MAF) in Form von tragbaren technischen Sprechhilfen ermöglicht es Stotternden seit zirka einem Jahrzehnt diese Technologie mobil in alltagsnahen Situationen einzusetzen. Auch, wenn eine Verbesserung der Sprechflüssigkeit durch die Anwendung von MAF in verschiedenen Studien belegt wurde, so ist es nach wie vor schwierig vorherzusagen, ob und inwieweit ein Betroffener in alltäglichen Sprechsituationen von einem solchen Gerät profitieren wird. Fragestellung/Ziele/Aims Die beiden in diesem Artikel vorgestellten Studien setzten sich daher zum Ziel, die spezifische Wirkung zwei verschiedener MAF Geräte genauer einzugrenzen. Zum einen werden die sofortigen Effekte dieser technischen Sprechhilfen auf klinische Indikatoren des Stotterschweregrades (z.B. Kernsymptome, Prozentsatz gestotterter Silben, Sprechgeschwindigkeit etc.) erforscht. Zum anderen hat sich diese Forschungsarbeit zum Ziel gesetzt die Langzeiteffekte einer Gerätenutzung im Alltag zu erfassen. Methodik/Methods Im Rahmen der Querschnittstudie wurde der Effekt verschiedener MAF Kombinationsgeräte auf den Redefluss von 30 Erwachsenen im Alter zwischen 18-68 Jahren (M = 36.5; SD = 15.2), die an chronischem Stottern leiden, erfasst. Von jedem Probanden wurden 10 Sprechbeispiele gesammelt (4x vorstrukturierte Sprache, 6x Spontansprache). Während der Datenerhebung wurden jeweils 3 Sprechsituationen ohne Einfluss eines MAF Gerätes aufgenommen. Ein Sprechbeispiel wurde unter Einfluss einer Placebokondition erhoben und 6 Sprechproben unter Einwirkung verschiedener Kombinationsgeräte. In der darauf folgenden Längsschnittstudie erhielten sechs der 30 Probanden die Möglichkeit eine technische Sprechhilfe für einen Zeitraum von drei Monaten im Alltag einzusetzen. Die Wirkung dieser kontinuierlichen Gerätenutzung bezüglich quantitativer und qualitativer Störungsgrößen wurde im Anschluss evaluiert. Ergebnisse/Results In der Datenauswertung zeigte sich eine statistisch signifikante Minderung des Prozentsatzes gestotterter Silben unter Verwendung beider Geräte (p = .000) in allen erhobenen Sprechbeispielen. Auch während der Placeboeinstellung zeigten die Probanden mit deutlicher Symptomatik (SSI-4, Riley 2009, Schweregrade mittelschwer-sehr schwer) eine statistisch signifikante Ausweitung des flüssigen Sprechanteils (p = .024). Die kontinuierliche Nutzung einer Sprechhilfe im Rahmen der 3-monatigen Längsschnittstudie zeigte ebenfalls, sowohl zu Beginn als auch zum Ende der Studienzeit, eine statistisch signifikante Reduktion der Stottersymptomatik. Der subjektive Eindruck der Studienteilnehmer bezüglich der Gerätenutzung war äußerst heterogen. Schlussfolgerungen/Diskussion Die Gruppeneffekte zeigen, dass eine technische Sprechhilfe sowohl unmittelbare als auch langfristige Verbesserungen des Redeflusses bewirken kann. Jedoch nahmen die Probanden die Nutzung der Geräte sehr unterschiedlich wahr. Ob der Einzelne von einem derartigen Gerät profitiert, muss individuell entschieden werden. Eine ausführliche Probenutzung in verschiedenen kommunikativen Umfeldern und Kontexten scheint eine sinnvolle Grundlage vor dem Erwerb eines Gerätes darzustellen

    Comparaison et combinaison de rendus visuels et sonores pour la conception d'interfaces homme-machine (des facteurs humains aux stratégies de présentation à base de distorsion.)

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    Bien que de plus en plus de données sonores et audiovisuelles soient disponibles, la majorité des interfaces qui permettent d y accéder reposent uniquement sur une présentation visuelle. De nombreuses techniques de visualisation ont déjà été proposées utilisant une présentation simultanée de plusieurs documents et des distorsions permettant de mettre en relief l information plus pertinente. Nous proposons de définir des équivalents auditifs pour la présentation de plusieurs fichiers sonores en concurrence, et de combiner de façon optimale les stratégies audio et visuelles pour la présentation de documents multimédia. Afin d adapter au mieux ces stratégies à l utilisateur, nous avons dirigé nos recherches sur l étude des processus perceptifs et attentionnels impliqués dans l écoute et l observation d objets audiovisuels concurrents, en insistant sur les interactions entre les deux modalités.Exploitant les paramètres de taille visuelle et de volume sonore, nous avons étendu le concept de lentille grossissante, utilisée dans les méthodes focus+contexte visuelles, aux modalités auditive et audiovisuelle. A partir de ce concept, une application de navigation dans une collection de documents vidéo a été développée. Nous avons comparé notre outil à un autre mode de rendu dit de Pan&Zoom à travers une étude d utilisabilité. Les résultats, en particulier subjectifs, encouragent à poursuivre vers des stratégies de présentation multimodales associant un rendu audio aux rendus visuels déjà disponibles.Une seconde étude a concerné l identification de sons d environnement en milieu bruité en présence d un contexte visuel. Le bruit simule la présence de plusieurs sources sonores simultanées telles qu on pourrait les retrouver dans une interface où les documents audio et audiovisuels sont présentés ensemble. Les résultats de cette expérience ont confirmé l avantage de la multimodalité en condition de dégradation. De plus, au-delà des buts premiers de la thèse, l étude a confirmé l importance de la congruence sémantique entre les composantes visuelle et sonore pour la reconnaissance d objets et a permis d approfondir les connaissances sur la perception auditive des sons d environnement.Finalement, nous nous sommes intéressée aux processus attentionnels impliqués dans la recherche d un objet parmi plusieurs, en particulier au phénomène de pop-out par lequel un objet saillant attire l attention automatiquement. En visuel, un objet net attire l attention au milieu d objets flous et certaines stratégies de présentation visuelle exploitent déjà ce paramètre visuel. Nous avons alors étendu la notion de flou aux modalités auditives et audiovisuelles par analogie. Une série d expériences perceptives a confirmé qu un objet net parmi des objets flous attire l attention, quelle que soit la modalité. Les processus de recherche et d identification sont alors accélérés quand l indice de netteté correspond à la cible, mais ralentis quand il s agit d un distracteur, mettant ainsi en avant un phénomène de guidage involontaire. Concernant l interaction intermodale, la combinaison redondante des flous audio et visuel s est révélée encore plus efficace qu une présentation unimodale. Les résultats indiquent aussi qu une combinaison optimale n implique pas d appliquer obligatoirement une distorsion sur les deux modalités.Although more and more sound and audiovisual data are available, the majority of access interfaces are solely based on a visual presentation. Many visualization techniques have been proposed that use simultaneous presentation of multiple documents and distortions to highlight the most relevant information. We propose to define equivalent audio technique for the presentation of several competing sound files, and optimally combine such audio and visual presentation strategies for multimedia documents. To better adapt these strategies to the user, we studied attentional and perceptual processes involved in listening and watching simultaneous audio-visual objects, focusing on the interactions between the two modalities.Combining visual size and sound level parameters, we extended the visual concept of magnifying lens to auditory and audiovisual modalities. Exploiting this concept, a navigation application in a video collection has been developed. We compared our tool with another rendering mode called Pan & Zoom through a usability study. Results, especially subjective results, encourage further research to develop multimodal presentation strategies by combining an audio rendering to the visual renderings already available.A second study concerned the identification of environmental sounds in a noisy environment in the presence of a visual context. The noise simulated the presence of multiple competing sounds as would be observed in an interface where several multimedia documents are presented together. The experimental results confirmed the multimodality advantage in condition of audio degradation. Moreover, beyond the primary goals of the thesis, this study confirms the importance of the semantic congruency between visual and auditory components for object recognition and provides deeper knowledge about the auditory perception of environmental sounds.Finally, we investigated attentional processes involved in the search of a specific object among many, especially the pop-out phenomenon whereby a salient object automatically attracts attention. In vision, an sharp object attracts attention among blurred objects and some visual strategies already exploit this parameter to display the information. We extended by analogy the concept of visual blur to auditory and audiovisual modalities. A serie of experiments confirmed that a perceptual object among blurred objects attracts attention, regardless of the modality. The identification and search process is then accelerated when the sharpness parameter is applied to the target, but slow when it is applied to a distractor. These results highlight an involuntary attraction effect. Concerning the crossmodal interaction, a redundant combination of audio and visual blur proved to be more effective than a unimodal presentation. Results also indicate that optimal combination does not necessarily require a distortion of both modalities.PARIS11-SCD-Bib. électronique (914719901) / SudocSudocFranceF

    Decoding neuronal patterns resulting from visual responses to animations: 'lddball' paradigms based in stimuli animation.

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    As principais características das desordens do espectro autista incluem a ocorrência de défices de interacção social e de comunicação, assim como de um repertório de actividades, comportamentos e interesses marcadamente restritos e estereotipados. Os objectivos desta tese passam pela criação e validação de um novo tipo de paradigmas de potenciais evocados de tipo 'oddball' (baseados em eventos raros imersos noutros mais frequentes) usando estímulos tridimensionais (3D) como forma de dissecar as redes cognitivas subjacentes à atenção a estímulos animados de complexidade e significado social crescente. Esta dissertação apresenta cinco diferentes paradigmas 'oddball', tendo como estímulos base objectos simples ou modelos 3D de seres humanos. Três paradigmas são paradigmas do tipo clássico em que os estímulos “piscam”. Os outros dois estímulos baseiam-se na animação de modelos 3D de seres humanos como foco de atenção. Os resultados comprovam que objectos ou modelos 3D conseguem gerar uma resposta P300, semelhante à observada em paradigmas clássicos, e que a animação de modelos visuais humanos pode ser usada do ponto de vista metodológico em estudos de foco de atenção

    Early Detection and Intervention in Audiology

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    "Early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) is the gold standard for any practising audiologist, and for families of infants and children with hearing impairment. Yet EHDI remains a significant challenge for Africa, and various initiatives are in place to address this gap in transferring policy into practice within the southern African context. Early Detection and Intervention in Audiology: An African Perspective aims to address the diversity of factors in southern Africa that presents unique challenges to teaching and research in this field. The South African government’s heightened focus on increasing access to health care, which includes ongoing Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes, makes this an opportune time for establishing and documenting evidence-based research for current undergraduate and postgraduate students. Detailed case studies pay careful attention to contextual relevance and responsiveness to both identification and intervention in hearing impairment. With diverse contributions from local and international experts, but always with an African perspective, this textbook will be an essential resource for students, researchers and practitioners.
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