Verbal and modality-specific coding in inter- and intra-modal matching among children and adults

RTs for correct tactual-to-visual and visual-to-visual matches were required of 20 children and 20 adults to sensory-specific and to nonsensory-specific materials in each of two experiments. Two-way analyses of variance indicated significant effects of group, modality, and their interaction. A single-factor, repeated-measures design indicated significant effects of modality only for adults. Developmental differences in the intra- and intermodal processing are suggested.     

Consistency of individual exponents in cross-modal matching

An important question about individual differences in the exponent of the psychophysical power law is how they should be interpreted. The differences may reflect permanent characteristics of individuals, and it has been argued that, if this is so, the range of these differences is so great as to identify the class of data as exceptional among the physical and biological sciences. Cited as evidence of such permanence has been the correlation between individual exponents obtained on two separate occasions. In a previous paper, we showed that increasing the time interval between occasions reduced the correlation to a nonsignificant level; we argued, therefore, that obtained individual differences in exponents, even though large, depended upon the operation of factors only incidentally associated with the particular observer. In a series of new studies of session-to-session correlation between individual exponents, we provide evidence that: (1) our original finding for magnitude estimates of visual size is repeatable, with the correlation dropping to nearly zero after 1 week; (2) when judged line length is matched to brightness, a delay of I week is sufficient to produce a nonsignificant correlation; (3) in contrast, magnitude estimates of loudness yield significant correlations after a week’s delay; (4) but, when moduli are arbitrarily changed between sessions by the experimenter, these correlations for magnitude estimates of loudness drop to a nonsignificant level, even for a zero-delay condition. We conclude that, whereas in some scaling tasks the passage of time alone between sessions is sufficient to disrupt what appears to be the mnemonic basis for session-to-session correlation, in other (less familiar) tasks, more positive interference (in the form of a modulus change) is needed to achieve the same end. The evidence is consistent with the belief that enduring characteristics of the observer contribute only a small portion of the variability in individual power law exponents.     

Lingual vibrotactile and auditory cross-modal matching: frequency effects

5 subjects matched pairs of auditory and vibrotactile stimuli on intensity, making judgments of suprathreshold magnitudes. Slope values for the 100-Hz cross-modal lingual vibrotactile stimulus-standard frequency condition were steeper than those for 250- or 400-Hz conditions. Slope values became steeper at about 25- to 30-dB SL, so frequency seems an important parameter to control in such research.     

Specific temporal-lobe signs and enhanced delayed cross-modal matching performance

Structural damage to the amygdala severely retards delayed cross-modal (tactile-to-sight) matching in primates. Conversely, we hypothesized that people who display signs suggestive of specific temporal lobe lability should show enhanced delayed cross-modal matching performance. The hypothesis was supported. In a single experiment involving 25 subjects, significant negative correlations obtained between the numbers of errors on the cross-modal matching task and numbers of affirmative responses within clusters of items that contained themes of meaningfulness, religious beliefs or ictal, complex partial epileptic (limbic) states. On the other hand, the numbers of errors were not significantly correlated with either clusters of control items or items that are presumed to reflect the function of other temporal-lobe structures. Both matching and questionnaire data were collected under double-blind conditions.     

Intraindividual consistencies in cross-modal matching across several continua

To determine the relationship between individual exponents for cross-modal stimulus matches for both directions of matching, and to assess the transitivity of individual exponents, subjects were asked to adjust both the judgment and criterion stimuli. Experiment 1 involved four continua paired in 12 ordered combinations; Experiment 2 involved five continua and 20 ordered combinations. Two subjects served in each experiment. The individual exponent of the power function for matches of A to B was close to the inverse of the exponent for matches of B to A, but there was systematic deviation, indicating the presence of a small regression effect. Transitivity of individual exponents was determined by forming ratios of exponents from matches involving other continuum pairs to predict obtained exponents; the means of the distribution of deviations of obtained from predicted values was ?.02 log units, and the standard deviation was .15 log units, indicating that, on the average, predicted values were close to obtained exponents—that is, transitivity of exponents holds for individuals.     

The cross-modal matching of brightness to loudness by children

According to Stevens' explanation of cross-modal matching, the recruitment-like effects of masking seen in intramodal loudness judgements should be reflected in a brightness-to-loudness matching task. In an experiment with child observers, this failed to occur. The results are explicable in terms of category mediation of the cross-modal, but not the intramodal, task. In support of this account, it is shown that cross-modal judgements are unaffected by explicit category mediation. However, intramodal judgements, explicitly mediated in the same way, produce a pattern of results similar to those obtained in the cross-modal task. The experiments suggest that cross-modal matching does not provide a useful test of loudness recruitment in the bilaterally hearing impaired.     

Auditory psychophysical scaling exposure effects: magnitude estimation and cross-modal matching

The purpose of the present study was to investigate possible effects of exposure upon suprathreshold psychological responses when auditory magnitude estimation and cross-modal matching with audition as the standard are conducted within the same experiment. Four groups of 10 subjects each whose over-all age range was 18 to 23 yr. were employed. During the cross-modal matching task the Groups 1 and 2 subjects adjusted a vibrotactile stimulus presented to the dorsal surface of the tongue and the Groups 3 and 4 subjects adjusted a vibrotactile stimulus presented to the thenar eminence of the right hand to match binaurally presented auditory stimuli. The magnitude-estimation task was conducted before the cross-modal matching task for Groups 1 and 3 and the cross-modal matching task was conducted before the magnitude-estimation task for Groups 2 and 4. The psychophysical methods of magnitude estimation and cross-modal matching showed no effect of one upon the other when used in the same experiment.     

Hearing a face: cross-modal speaker matching using isolated visible speech

An experiment was performed to test whether cross-modal speaker matches could be made using isolated visible speech movement information. Visible speech movements were isolated using a point-light technique. In five conditions, subjects were asked to match a voice to one of two (unimodal) speaking point-light faces on the basis of speaker identity. Two of these conditions were designed to maintain the idiosyncratic speech dynamics of the speakers, whereas three of the conditions deleted or distorted the dynamics in various ways. Some of these conditions also equated video frames across dynamically correct and distorted movements. The results revealed generally better matching performance in the conditions that maintained the correct speech dynamics than in those conditions that did not, despite containing exactly the same video frames. The results suggest that visible speech movements themselves can support cross-modal speaker matching.     

Construction of haptic stimulus patterns for use in cross-modal and intramodal matching tasks

A technique for the construction of haptic stimulus patterns to be used in conjunction with auditory and visual patterns in cross-modal and intramodal matching tasks is described. Special attention is paid to the control of confounding influences arising from the spatiotemporal and the active-passive contrasts.     

Relations between anger expression and cardiovascular reactivity: reconciling inconsistent findings through a matching hypothesis

Previous psychophysiological research has demonstrated that both anger expression and anger suppression are related to cardiovascular responses, but in an inconsistent fashion. The present study tested the following hypotheses: (a) that the influence of anger expression style on psychophysiological responses would be limited to Ss exposed to an anger instigation, and (b) that the specific pattern of psychophysiological responses would vary as a function of whether Ss were induced to use their preferred vs. nonpreferred mode of anger expression style in response to the instigation. Seventy-eight male college undergraduates were randomly assigned to work on a task with either an annoying or a pleasant confederate and subsequently to write either a negative or a positive evaluation of the confederate. Blood pressure was measured intermittently and heart rate continuously throughout task performance and a subsequent 15-min rest period. Ss' preferred method of anger expression had been previously assessed by a self-report questionnaire. Systolic blood pressure results generally were consistent with the hypotheses. Implications of the findings for the etiology of cardiovascular diseases are discussed.     

Children's scales of length and loudness: A developmental application of cross-modal matching

The cross-modal matching techniques that have produced scales of sensory magnitude for a variety of perceptual continua in adults were used to construct similar scales in children. Subjects were adults and children 4, 6, 8, and 12 years old. Their task was, first, to match the loudness of a 1000-Hz tone to various visual lengths, and, second, to match the length of a white tape to various loudnesses of the tone. Almost all subjects were able to perform the matching tasks; the average precision of older subjects (12 and Adult) was somewhat greater, but in each of the younger age groups a majority of subjects performed with a precision that equaled that of older subjects. The exponent of the power function that relates length and loudness does not change with age. The scale factor does change, in a way that suggests either that a given sound intensity seems softer, or, more probable, that a given length seems longer, to younger children. The success of cross-modal matching with subjects as young as 4 years means that it is possible to investigate not only single perceptual scales but also intermodal organization in young children.     

A method of construction of auditory stimulus patterns for use in cross-modal and intramodal matching tests

Techniques for constructing auditory stimulus patterns in tests of cross-modal and intramodal matching ability are discussed. An example of a set of tests is given, and the method of construction for the auditory stimuli is described.     

Effect of stimulus pulse duration and interstimulus interval on cross-modal matching of auditory and lingual vibrotactile stimuli

Cross-modal matching functions for eight intensity levels of a 1000-Hz auditory stimulus and a 250-Hz lingual vibrotactile stimulus were obtained for two groups of subjects. Group 1 adjusted the vibrotactile stimulus to match the auditory stimulus, and Group 2 adjusted the auditory stimulus to match the vibrotactile stimulus. Stimulus-pulse durations and interstimulus intervals were varied over six experimental conditions for both groups. The variations in stimulus-pulse durations and interstimulus intervals had no appreciable effect on mean matching-function exponents for the two groups. A possible regression effect consistent with data from other psychophysical scaling studies was noted for matching functions of the two stimuli.     

Lingual vibrotactile/auditory magnitude estimation and cross-modal matching: comparison of suprathreshold responses in men and women

The purpose of this study was to investigate the response patterns of men and women to suprathreshold lingual-vibrotactile and auditory stimulation. The psychophysical methods of magnitude estimation and cross-modal matching were used on a group of 10 men (M age = 19.6 yr.) and 10 women (M age = 20.2 yr.). Analysis showed that the men and women performed differently on the magnitude-estimation tasks and similarly on the cross-modal matching tasks. These results suggested that sex differences on suprathreshold psychophysical scaling may be related to the way men and women use numbers as opposed to possible differences in the perception of suprathreshold sensory stimuli by men and women.     

Construction of a tape-controlled system of presenting visual-spatial and visual-temporal stimulus patterns for use in cross-modal and intramodal matching tests

A technique of tape construction is described for use in the generation and control of all combinations of auditory-temporal, visual-temporal, and visual-spatial stimulus patterns. This technique allows the development of a set of nine tasks for testing cross-modal and intramodal matching.     

ERP evidence of early cross-modal links between auditory selective attention and visuo-spatial memory

Previous dual-task research pairing complex visual tasks involving non-spatial cognitive processes during dichotic listening have shown effects on the late component (Ndl) of the negative difference selective attention waveform but no effects on the early (Nde) response suggesting that the Ndl, but not the Nde, is affected by non-spatial processing in a dual-task. Thus to further explore the nature of this dissociation and whether the Nd waveform is affected by spatial processing; fourteen adult participants performed auditory dichotic listening in conjunction with visuo-spatial memory in a cross-modal dual-task paradigm. The results showed that the visuo-spatial memory task decreased both the Nde and Ndl waveforms, and also attenuated P300 and increased its latency. This pattern of results suggests that: (1) the Nde reflects a memory trace that is shared with vision when the information is spatial in nature, and (2) P300 latency appears to be influenced by the discriminability of stimuli underlying the Nde and Ndl memory trace.