Familiarity modulates neural tracking of sung and spoken utterances

Music is often described in the laboratory and in the classroom as a beneficial tool for memory encoding and retention, with a particularly strong effect when words are sung to familiar compared to unfamiliar melodies. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this memory benefit, especially for benefits related to familiar music are not well understood. The current study examined whether neural tracking of the slow syllable rhythms of speech and song is modulated by melody familiarity. Participants became familiar with twelve novel melodies over four days prior to MEG testing. Neural tracking of the same utterances spoken and sung revealed greater cerebro-acoustic phase coherence for sung compared to spoken utterances, but did not show an effect of familiar melody when stimuli were grouped by their assigned (trained) familiarity. However, when participant\u27s subjective ratings of perceived familiarity were used to group stimuli, a large effect of familiarity was observed. This effect was not specific to song, as it was observed in both sung and spoken utterances. Exploratory analyses revealed some in-session learning of unfamiliar and spoken utterances, with increased neural tracking for untrained stimuli by the end of the MEG testing session. Our results indicate that top-down factors like familiarity are strong modulators of neural tracking for music and language. Participants’ neural tracking was related to their perception of familiarity, which was likely driven by a combination of effects from repeated listening, stimulus-specific melodic simplicity, and individual differences. Beyond simply the acoustic features of music, top-down factors built into the music listening experience, like repetition and familiarity, play a large role in the way we attend to and encode information presented in a musical context

Nonhumans in participatory design

© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This article examines the role that nonhumans play in participatory design. Research and practice concerned with participatory design mostly focuses on human participants, however nonhumans also participate in the design process and can play a significant role in shaping the process. This article focuses on how nonhumans participate in the design process. An empirical case study is used to illustrate how humans and nonhumans assemble to form networks in order to effect a design. Nonhumans increase the level of participation in a design process. The case study reveals how nonhumans help to maintain, destroy or strengthen networks by substituting, mediating and communicating with humans and often, in doing so, making human actors more or less visible in the process. Nonhumans play a part in configuring the social. Revealing the presence and roles of nonhumans is an important means through which to increase the democracy within the design process

Sharing is caring. Thick documentation in Participatory Design

nrpages: 170status: publishe

Sharing is caring. Sharing and documenting complex participatory projects to enable generative participation

This article reflects on how sharing documentation of subjective viewpoints on complex participatory projects can contribute to end-user development in or generativity of projects. We will discuss the documentation approaches of some participatory projects that combine the development of software and hardware in a cultural, social or health context with groups of participants with an eye on generating ongoing participation. We will also describe how we, inspired by these projects, developed 1. a “thick documentation” approach, based on a collaborative mapping method called MAP-it 2. that provides a dynamic view, revealing the diverse subjective perspectives on the project; 3. that motivates different types of makers and participants to participate in documenting; 4. that aims for generativity. We evaluated our approach on these 4 goals and propose future challenges.status: publishe

Sharing is caring. Sharing and documenting complex participatory projects to enable generative participation

This article reflects on how sharing documentation of subjective viewpoints on complex participatory projects can contribute to end-user development in or generativity of projects. We will discuss the documentation approaches of some participatory projects that combine the development of software and hardware in a cultural, social or health context with groups of participants with an eye on generating ongoing participation. We will also describe how we, inspired by these projects, developed 1. a “thick documentation” approach, based on a collaborative mapping method called MAP-it 2. that provides a dynamic view, revealing the diverse subjective perspectives on the project; 3. that motivates different types of makers and participants to participate in documenting; 4. that aims for generativity. We evaluated our approach on these 4 goals and propose future challenges

Please resuscitate! How to share a project concerning self-management in diabetes to enable participants to elaborate on it after project completion

This paper discusses how we developed and shared documentation of a participatory design project ‘Bespoke design’, in which three personalised self-management tools are designed for three participants with type 1 diabetes. To generate a larger impact and prevent the project from fading out after its completion, the design team aims to enable other interested parties (designers, developers, people with diabetes, etcetera) to elaborate on the project, e.g. rework or alter the tools and ideas for new contexts. We refer to this objective as ‘generativity’ (Erikson, 1950; Zittrain, 2008; Van Osch & Avital, 2009). Documenting and sharing practices in the context of generativity is predominantly concentrated on the material aspects of a design, enabling others to remake it (Huybrechts, Storni & Schoffelen, 2014; Schoffelen & Huybrechts, 2013). However, the inclusion of immaterial aspects, in the form of meanings and viewpoints of participants on the project’s process and results (e.g. Dix, 2007; Avital, 2011; Kanstrup, 2012), can generate an additional impact. It supports an interpretative and generative discourse that can result into a wider range of variations on concepts and meanings involved, instead of merely concentrating on developing (new) self-management tools. This approach better fits the complexity of design projects in the field of health care. In this paper we evaluate Make-and-tell, a toolkit developed to support design teams to specifically document and share these immaterial viewpoints and material aspects, as used in the project ‘Bespoke Design’.status: publishe

Wat denken burgers over justitie?

Onderzoekseenheid Strafrecht, strafvordering en criminologie. Instituut voor Strafrecht. Instituut Recht en samenleving. Onderzoeksgroep Psychodiagnostiek en psychopathologie.status: publishe

Enhancing ownership in design games through documentation

In this workshop paper we present our experience with the Scenario building Game, a hands-on toolkit to playfully support interdisciplinary design teams to develop shared imaginaries for complex design projects. Specifically, we elaborate on how we try to create ownership of the process, form and output of the design game during and also after playing it, by enhancing documentation of these three elements to trigger people. Next to ownership, this documentation process also wants to stimulate (re-)use it after playing it.status: publishe

The Shanzhai City

Smart cities are often criticised as top-down and technocratic. However, initiatives that are more citizen-centric have difficulties contending with the prevalent technology-driven discourse. From a design perspective, this points towards a delicate balance between an approach that is critical enough to resist assimilation yet constructive enough to have a sustainable impact. This paper aims to explore and articulate this balance through the discussion of shanzhai, a Chinese phenomenon on the fringe of the global market economy. More particularly, we highlight three qualities of shanzhai by linking these to the case study of a smart bicycle lock, followed by a discussion in terms of their agonistic qualities. These three qualities of shanzhai, the marginalised people it caters, its hybrid aesthetic and its position in the market, could inform a design practice that critically yet constructively engages with technology in the context of smart cities.status: publishe

Participatory design and participatory making in a FabLab: challenges for users and designers

no issnstatus: publishe