Age-related Differences in the Perceptual Organization of Speech Sounds

Aging is associated with a decline in the ability to understand what a person is saying in the presence of other sounds. This study investigated the perceptual organization of speech in young (n=20) and older adults (n=20). Four vowels were arranged into six sequences, defined by either continuous or discontinuous first-formant transitions. Participants first made an objective response (choosing the sequence that best matched the one they just heard from a list), followed by a subjective response (indicating if they heard one or two streams of sound). There were significant interactions between age and sequence-type for both objective and subjective responses, respectively. These results suggest that aging affects the ability to perceptually organize speech-sounds and the ability to perceive sequential streaming of speech. These findings are discussed within the context of further enriching what is known about auditory scene analysis, cognitive aging, and sequential streaming.MAS

Pitch Processing Experience: Comparison of Musicians and Tone-language Speakers on Measures Auditory Processing and Executive Function

Psychophysiological evidence supports an association between music and speech such that experience in one domain is related to processing in the other. Musicianship has been associated with benefits to auditory processing and executive function. It is unclear, however, whether pitch processing experience in nonmusical contexts, namely speaking a tone language, has comparable associations with auditory processing and executive function. The present investigation aimed to clarify this association, with the overarching goal of better understanding how two different types of pitch processing are linked to perceptual and cognitive processing. If pitch-processing experience gained via musicianship or tone-language use shapes perceptual and cognitive processes in similar ways, then musicians and tone-language speakers (nonmusicians) should outperform controls without music training or tone-language experience. This hypothesis was tested in a series of experiments that measured behavioural and neural responses of tone-language speakers and musicians on tasks of perception (pitch discrimination, pitch encoding, i.e., representation of pitch-relevant information) and cognition (pitch memory, visual working memory). Collectively, the findings reveal that benefits to auditory processing are more closely associated with music training than with tone-language use. When musicians and tone-language speakers performed comparably on behavioural tasks, this occurred at the perceptual level (i.e., sound discrimination). Differential responsiveness of tone-language speakers or musicians was evident at the neural level (i.e., event-related potentials, brain-signal variability). Neither musicianship nor speaking a tone language was associated with a benefit to visual working memory. These results are discussed in relation to the respective contributions of nature and nurture to auditory processing and visual working memory in musicians and tone-language speakers.Ph.D

Learning, neural plasticity and sensitive periods: implications for language acquisition, music training and transfer across the lifespan

Sensitive periods in human development have often been proposed to explain age-related differences in the attainment of a number of skills, such as a second language and musical expertise. It is difficult to reconcile the negative consequence this traditional view entails for learning after a sensitive period with our current understanding of the brain’s ability for experience-dependent plasticity across the lifespan. What is needed is a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying auditory learning and plasticity at different points in development. Drawing on research in language development and music training, this review examines not only what we learn and when we learn it, but also how learning occurs at different ages. First, we discuss differences in the mechanism of learning and plasticity during and after a sensitive period by examining how language exposure versus training forms language-specific phonetic representations in infants and adult second language learners, respectively. Second, we examine the impact of musical training that begins at different ages on behavioural and neural indices of auditory and motor processing as well as sensorimotor integration. Third, we examine the extent to which childhood training in one auditory domain can enhance processing in another domain via the transfer of learning between shared neuro-cognitive systems. Specifically, we review evidence for a potential bi-directional transfer of skills between music and language by examining how speaking a tonal language may enhance music processing and, conversely, how early music training can enhance language processing. We conclude with a discussion of the role of attention in auditory learning for learning during and after sensitive periods and outline avenues of future research

The Joint Tactical Air Controller: cognitive modeling and augmented reality HMD design.

This paper describes the design and model based evaluation of DARSAD, an augmented reality head mounted display for the joint tactical air controller (JTAC), who manages and directs fire from air assets near the battlefield. Designs, based on 6 principles of attention, memory and information processing are produced for various phases of JTAC operations including target identification and airspace management. The different design candidates are evaluated and compared based on how they “scored” in adhering to model predictions, when those models were based on the above principles. Display designs, principles, models and the evaluation process are all described here

Brain signal variability as a window into the bidirectionality between music and language processing: moving from a linear to a nonlinear model

There is convincing empirical evidence for bidirectional transfer between music and language, such that experience in either domain can improve mental processes required by the other. This music-language relationship has been studied using linear models (e.g., comparing mean neural activity) that conceptualize brain activity as a static entity. The linear approach limits how we can understand the brain’s processing of music and language because the brain is a nonlinear system. Furthermore, there is evidence that the networks supporting music and language processing interact in a nonlinear manner. We therefore posit that the neural processing and transfer between the domains of language and music are best viewed through the lens of a nonlinear framework. Nonlinear analysis of neurophysiological activity may yield new insight into the commonalities, differences, and bidirectionality between these two cognitive domains not measurable in the local output of a cortical patch. We thus propose a novel application of brain signal variability (BSV) analysis, based on mutual information and signal entropy, to better understand the bidirectionality of music-to-language transfer in the context of a nonlinear framework. This approach will extend current methods by offering a nuanced, network-level understanding of the brain complexity involved in music-language transfer

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

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 \u27large deviant\u27 and \u27small deviant\u27 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\u27 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

Tone language speakers and musicians share enhanced perceptual and cognitive abilities for musical pitch: evidence for bidirectionality between the domains of language and music.

Psychophysiological evidence suggests that music and language are intimately coupled such that experience/training in one domain can influence processing required in the other domain. While the influence of music on language processing is now well-documented, evidence of language-to-music effects have yet to be firmly established. Here, using a cross-sectional design, we compared the performance of musicians to that of tone-language (Cantonese) speakers on tasks of auditory pitch acuity, music perception, and general cognitive ability (e.g., fluid intelligence, working memory). While musicians demonstrated superior performance on all auditory measures, comparable perceptual enhancements were observed for Cantonese participants, relative to English-speaking nonmusicians. These results provide evidence that tone-language background is associated with higher auditory perceptual performance for music listening. Musicians and Cantonese speakers also showed superior working memory capacity relative to nonmusician controls, suggesting that in addition to basic perceptual enhancements, tone-language background and music training might also be associated with enhanced general cognitive abilities. Our findings support the notion that tone language speakers and musically trained individuals have higher performance than English-speaking listeners for the perceptual-cognitive processing necessary for basic auditory as well as complex music perception. These results illustrate bidirectional influences between the domains of music and language

Using an industry-ready AR HMD on a real maintenance task: AR benefits performance on certain task steps more than others

ISMAR: The International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality 2018, Munich, Germany, 16-20 October 2018This paper presents a novel evaluation of an industry-ready HMD for delivering AR work instructions in a real-life, industrial procedure for novice users. A user study was performed to examine the potential benefits and limitations of a dynamic 3D virtual model and AR text instructions, delivered through an optical see through HMD, for training users in a new industry procedure (i.e., Yaw Motor Servicing of a wind turbine). Measures of task accuracy and completion time were used to evaluate the performance of one group of mechanical engineering students performing this procedure for the first time guided by AR compared to a second group performing it using a tablet-delivered instruction manual. Results showed AR improved accuracy but not speed of task completion. AR significantly increased accuracy on one specific task-step in the procedure, namely measurement of a thin air gap (see figure 1, left panel), but also showed limitations with other task-steps not benefitting or even being slowed down by AR (see figure 1, right panel). Findings speak to the importance of incorporating an analysis at the level of individual task steps in order to fully evaluate AR work instructions.Science Foundation IrelandInsight Research Centr

Towards Better User Studies in Computer Graphics and Vision

Online crowdsourcing platforms have made it increasingly easy to perform evaluations of algorithm outputs with survey questions like "which image is better, A or B?", leading to their proliferation in vision and graphics research papers. Results of these studies are often used as quantitative evidence in support of a paper's contributions. On the one hand we argue that, when conducted hastily as an afterthought, such studies lead to an increase of uninformative, and, potentially, misleading conclusions. On the other hand, in these same communities, user research is underutilized in driving project direction and forecasting user needs and reception. We call for increased attention to both the design and reporting of user studies in computer vision and graphics papers towards (1) improved replicability and (2) improved project direction. Together with this call, we offer an overview of methodologies from user experience research (UXR), human-computer interaction (HCI), and applied perception to increase exposure to the available methodologies and best practices. We discuss foundational user research methods (e.g., needfinding) that are presently underutilized in computer vision and graphics research, but can provide valuable project direction. We provide further pointers to the literature for readers interested in exploring other UXR methodologies. Finally, we describe broader open issues and recommendations for the research community.Comment: 18 pages of text, 6 pages of references, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Scatter plots illustrating the correspondence between expertise and behavioral measures of musical pitch ability

<p>. (A) Musical training predicts easy and difficult melody discrimination performance (left and middle panels) as well as pitch memory ability (right panel). Positive associations indicate that recall and sensitivity for pitch patterns is sharpened with continued musical training. (B) English as a Second Language (ESL) age predicts Cantonese speakers’ pitch and melody discrimination performance (left and middle panels, respectively). ESL age is associated with the percentage of L1 daily use (right panel) such that late bilinguals (i.e., higher ESL age) continue to use their native Cantonese on a more regular basis than early onset bilinguals. As with musical training, extended experience with linguistic pitch appears to improve music perception ability. Open circles denote points deemed influential observations via Cook’s D <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0060676#pone.0060676-Cook1" target="_blank">[90]</a> excluded from the regression analyses prior to least squares fitting. Stars denote uncorrected significance levels: *<i>p</i>< 0.05, **<i>p</i>< 0.01, ***<i>p</i>< 0.001. Note that given three tests per group (C, M), a Bonferroni corrected family-wise error rate of <i>α</i>  =  0.05 would require <i>p</i>< 0.0167.</p