Utilizing Digital Literacy in the Creative Writing Classroom

This paper will examine contemporary approaches to utilizing the pre-existing skills and knowledge of students in order to reconceptualize the process and reception of writing. Using social media platforms in the Creative Writing classroom presents a range of possibilities for experimenting with character, voice, structure, tone and world-building. This paper will share examples and exercises from a range of resources, and discuss ways of using the technical, formal, and cross-platform innovations of online applications to extend lessons beyond the classroom. Consideration will also be given to the problems inherent in using social media platforms for storytelling

Humans discriminate individual large-billed crows and individual cats by their respective vocalizations

Previous research has shown that human adults can easily discriminate two individual zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) by their signature songs, struggle to discriminate two individual rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) by their calls, and are unable to discriminate two individual dogs (Canis familiaris) by their barks. The purpose of the present experiment was to examine whether acoustic discrimination of individual non-primate heterospecifics is limited to species producing stereotyped signature songs, or whether it is possible with the vocalizations of other species as well. This was tested here with the calls of individual large-billed crows (Corvus macrorhynchos) and the meows of individual domestic cats (Felis catus) using a forced-choice Same-Different Paradigm. Results show a high discrimination accuracy without prior training, although the scores obtained here for both species were lower than those in the zebra finch discrimination task. Discrimination accuracy of cat voices decreased when mean pitch was equalized between individuals, but was still possible without this cue. The removal of formant frequencies did not influence the discrimination, and there was no significant performance improvement across trials. These experiments suggest that individual acoustic discrimination is possible not only with species producing signature songs, but also with unlearned vocalizations of both birds and non-human mammals

Error in the Superior Temporal Gyrus? A Systematic Review and Activation Likelihood Estimation Meta-Analysis of Speech Production Studies

Evidence for perceptual processing in models of speech production is often drawn from investigations in which the sound of a talker's voice is altered in real time to induce “errors.” Methods of acoustic manipulation vary but are assumed to engage the same neural network and psychological processes. This paper aims to review fMRI and PET studies of altered auditory feedback and assess the strength of the evidence these studies provide for a speech error correction mechanism. Studies included were functional neuroimaging studies of speech production in neurotypical adult humans, using natural speech errors or one of three predefined speech manipulation techniques (frequency altered feedback, delayed auditory feedback, and masked auditory feedback). Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria. In a systematic review, we evaluated whether each study (1) used an ecologically valid speech production task, (2) controlled for auditory activation caused by hearing the perturbation, (3) statistically controlled for multiple comparisons, and (4) measured behavioral compensation correlating with perturbation. None of the studies met all four criteria. We then conducted an activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of brain coordinates from 16 studies that reported brain responses to manipulated over unmanipulated speech feedback, using the GingerALE toolbox. These foci clustered in bilateral superior temporal gyri, anterior to cortical fields typically linked to error correction. Within the limits of our analysis, we conclude that existing neuroimaging evidence is insufficient to determine whether error monitoring occurs in the posterior superior temporal gyrus regions proposed by models of speech production

A mist that rises from the sea

In my research through practice I am writing a creative memoir about memory and loss. It focuses on the life and death of my brother, and is set over a single month after his funeral. Each of the twenty-four chapters, mirroring the 24 years of my brother’s life, explore a particular theme that sheds light on our relationship. I draw on my own childhood as well as local myths, texts, stories, history, beliefs and traditions to show how identity and experience are complicated by context and surroundings. My aim is to use both the form and content of the work to create a working demonstration of the theory that the past is never lost, that it does not disappear and that, whatever we might forget, something always remains. I am focusing upon the following research questions: How can the process and perspective of the grieving mind, suspended between past and future, be represented in a narrative? How much is a person’s identity contained within the history of the places they lived in and the objects they treasured? How can biography be brought to life using the tools and techniques characteristic of literary fiction? What responsibilities do we have in bringing the dead back to life in writing? My original contribution to knowledge is to create new insights on how we come to measure or understand a life, as well as to explore the process of how the grieving mind comes to terms with the death of someone close. In addition to my creative project, I have created an annotated index that explores the theory and practice behind the creation of a personal history within a literary text

The role of the superior temporal gyrus in auditory feedback control of speech

Modern, biologically plausible models of speech production suggest that the superior temporal gyrus (STG) acts as a feedback monitor during speech production. This thesis investigates the role of the STG during speech production in three groups that have been hypothesized to use auditory feedback in differing ways: typical speakers, people who stammer, and a stroke patient. Because accurate speech production in most conversational settings can be accomplished without recourse to checking auditory feedback, it is necessary to introduce an external ‘error’, or feedback perturbation, to ensure that feedback control is being used. Here, masking noise was used as an ecologically valid perturbation that reliably prompts vocal adaptation. An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis showed that feedback perturbation is generally associated with bilateral STG activation. This was supported by a lesion study of a patient with left-sided stroke that suggested a link between temporal cortex infarct and an abnormal response to feedback perturbation. However, a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of typical speakers’ behavioural and neural responses to different types of masking noise found that activation in the STG was driven not by the availability of auditory feedback, but by the informational content of the masker. Finally, an fMRI study of people who stutter— whose disfluency is hypothesized to arise from an overreliance on auditory feedback— found that STG activation was greatest in fluency-enhancing conditions, rather than during stuttering. In sum, while there is some evidence that the STG acts as a feedback monitor, this is limited to a subset of situations that involve auditory feedback. It is likely that feedback monitoring is not as central to speech communication as the previous literature might indicate. It is suggested that the concept of auditory ‘error’ should be reformulated to acknowledge different types of speech goals—acoustic, semantic, or phonemic

Humans discriminate individual large-billed crows and individual cats by their respective vocalizations

Previous research has shown that human adults can easily discriminate two individual zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) by their signature songs, struggle to discriminate two individual rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) by their calls, and are unable to discriminate two individual dogs (Canis familiaris) by their barks. The purpose of the present experiment was to examine whether acoustic discrimination of individual non-primate heterospecifics is limited to species producing stereotyped signature songs, or whether it is possible with the vocalizations of other species as well. This was tested here with the calls of individual large-billed crows (Corvus macrorhynchos) and the meows of individual domestic cats (Felis catus) using a forced-choice Same-Different Paradigm. Results show a high discrimination accuracy without prior training, although the scores obtained here for both species were lower than those in the zebra finch discrimination task. Discrimination accuracy of cat voices decreased when mean pitch was equalized between individuals, but was still possible without this cue. The removal of formant frequencies did not influence the discrimination, and there was no significant performance improvement across trials. These experiments suggest that individual acoustic discrimination is possible not only with species producing signature songs, but also with unlearned vocalizations of both birds and non-human mammals

HTLV-1 Integration into Transcriptionally Active Genomic Regions Is Associated with Proviral Expression and with HAM/TSP

Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) causes leukaemia or chronic inflammatory disease in ∼5% of infected hosts. The level of proviral expression of HTLV-1 differs significantly among infected people, even at the same proviral load (proportion of infected mononuclear cells in the circulation). A high level of expression of the HTLV-1 provirus is associated with a high proviral load and a high risk of the inflammatory disease of the central nervous system known as HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). But the factors that control the rate of HTLV-1 proviral expression remain unknown. Here we show that proviral integration sites of HTLV-1 in vivo are not randomly distributed within the human genome but are associated with transcriptionally active regions. Comparison of proviral integration sites between individuals with high and low levels of proviral expression, and between provirus-expressing and provirus non-expressing cells from within an individual, demonstrated that frequent integration into transcription units was associated with an increased rate of proviral expression. An increased frequency of integration sites in transcription units in individuals with high proviral expression was also associated with the inflammatory disease HAM/TSP. By comparing the distribution of integration sites in human lymphocytes infected in short-term cell culture with those from persistent infection in vivo, we infer the action of two selective forces that shape the distribution of integration sites in vivo: positive selection for cells containing proviral integration sites in transcriptionally active regions of the genome, and negative selection against cells with proviral integration sites within transcription units