Effects of energetic masking and informational masking on the perception of Cantonese tones in monosyllabic words

This study aimed to examine the effects of energetic masking and informational masking on Cantonese tone perception, the differential pattern that noise affects perception of the six Cantonese lexical tones, and the factors determining the effectiveness of masking on pitch perception. Four types of noise, including ten-talker babble, two-male-talker babble, two-female-talker babble, and speech-shaped noise, were used to represent conditions involving various amounts of energetic masking and informational masking. Two signal-to-noise ratios were employed for each type of noise. A quiet condition served as control. Twenty university students (8 male and 12 female) participated in the study. Each participant listened to and repeated Cantonese monosyllabic words in quiet and noise conditions respectively and the experimenter recorded the tones. The result showed that (1) Cantonese tone perception was largely prone to the combined effect of energetic masking and informational masking and it was more adversely affected by energetic masking than informational masking; (2) the effect of noise was more significant on contour tones than level tones, suggesting that, in noisy environment, noise exerted a larger effect on perception of pitch change than that of pitch level; (3) the masking effect of babble noise on pitch perception increased with the number of masker talkers.published_or_final_versionSpeech and Hearing SciencesBachelorBachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Science

台灣大專甲組棒球選手運動經紀人需求之研究

[[abstract]]　　對台灣而言棒球運動是國球，也是一項台灣精神的象徵。在台灣優秀的業餘棒球選手大都來自於傳統的大專棒球名校。他們有部份成為國家隊的成員，也是未來職業棒球隊所鎖定的目標。本研究旨在探討台灣大專甲組棒球選手對於運動經紀人的需求狀況，透過問卷在校園或是球場進行調查，共回收239份有效問卷進行分析，並利用描述性統計量、獨立樣本t檢定、單因子變異數分析及雪費法事後比較來進行評估。研究結果如下：1.大部分台灣大專甲組棒球選手對於運動經紀人的服務有需求的存在。2.而且大專甲組棒球選手們認為透過運動經紀人的協助，能夠有較好生涯發展、更成功的協商、更好的財務規劃及更好的合約。本研究結果有助於運動經紀人與大專甲組棒球隊教練確認大專甲組棒球選手對於運動經紀人的需求，並給予適時的服務及輔導。 　　Baseball is unique among other sports in Taiwan, because it has become a ”symbol of the Taiwanese spirit and Taiwan's national sport”. In Taiwan, most competent amateur baseball players are college graduates or undergraduates. Some elite collegiate baseball players also become national team members. Most of them join professional baseball team in the future. This study focuses on the degree of demand for sports agent services by elite collegiate baseball players in Taiwan. Data were collected from a field investigation carried out on campuses and ball diamonds. A total of 239 questionnaires were gathered for data analysis. Descriptive statistics, Independent Sample t-testing and one-way ANOVA testing with Scheffe post hoc comparisons are used to assess degree of demand by elite collegiate baseball players for sport agent services. The results are as follows: the means and standard deviations show that most elite collegiate baseball players tend to need sports agent services. Such players perceived sports agent services as leading to greater career opportunities, more successful negotiations, and better financial plans and contracts. There were significant differences in degree of demand for sports agent services related to the variables of willingness to become professional baseball players. The findings should be useful for sports agents and collegiate team managers to enhance the degree of demand for sports agent services by elite collegiate baseball players