Increasing the intelligibility of speech through multiple phonemic restorations

Outside of the laboratory, listening conditions are often less than ideal, and when attending to sounds from a particular source, portions are often obliterated by extraneous noises. However, listeners possess rather elegant reconstructive mechanisms. Restoration can be complete, so that missing segments are indistinguishable from those actually present and the listener is unaware that the signal is fragmented. This phenomenon, called temporal induction (TI), has been studied extensively with nonverbal signals and to a lesser extent with speech. Earlier studies have demonstrated that TI can produce illusory continuity spanning gaps of a few hundred milliseconds when portions of a signal are replaced by a louder sound capable of masking the signal were it actually present. The present study employed various types of speech signals with periodic gaps and measured the effects upon intelligibility produced by filling these gaps with noises. Enhancement of intelligibility through multiple phonemic restoration occurred when the acoustic requirements for TI were met and when sufficient contextual information was available in the remaining speech fragments. It appears that phonemic restoration is a specialized form of TI that uses linguistic skills for the reconstruction of obliterated speech.     

Context effects in stroop-like word and picture processing

Presents a series of 6 experiments in which Stroop-like effects were generated by modally pure color-color, picture-picture, and word-word stimuli instead of the usual modally mixed color-word or picture-word stimuli. Naming, reading, and categorization tasks were applied. The Stroop inhibition was preserved with these stimuli but unexpectedly showed a semantic gradient only in the naming and not in the reading task. Word categorizing was slower and more interference prone than picture categorizing. These and other results can be captured by a model with two main assumptions: (a) semantic memory and the lexicon are separate, and (b) words have privileged access to the lexicon, whereas pictures and colors have privileged access to the semantic network. Such a model is developed and put to an initial test.     

Synaptic plasticity in the hypoglossal nucleus of female canaries: structural correlates of season, hemisphere, and testosterone treatment

The caudal portion of the hypoglossal nucleus (nXIIts) contains the motor neurons that control the syrinx in songbirds. In canaries, song occurs seasonally, is principally produced by males, and appears to be produced predominantly by muscles on the left side of the syrinx. The present study measures the effect of seasonal change and manipulation of testosterone levels on synapse number and morphology in nXIIts in adult female canaries. We find that synapse density is lower in testosterone-treated birds than in control birds and lower in fall than in spring. The number of vesicles per presynaptic profile increases in the spring as a result of a general increase in this measure in all synapses. The number of vesicles per presynaptic profile also increases with testosterone treatment, primarily due to an increase in the proportion of synapses associated with unusually high vesicle counts. Together, these changes suggest that large reserves of neurotransmitter may be necessary to sustain singing. Several ultrastructural differences between hemispheres are found. Postsynaptic thickenings are longer, and postsynaptic processes are larger on the left side than on the right side. In the spring, there are more vesicles per synapse on the left than on the right, but this lateralization is reversed in the fall. Thus, lateralization of song production is associated with lateral asymmetries in synapse morphology. These hemispheric differences are relatively small, like those seen at the light microscope level, encouraging further consideration of peripheral as well as CNS sources of functional lateralization. The seasonal and testosterone-induced changes in synapse number and morphology may be components of the periodic reorganization of canary vocalization.     

DO PUBLIC SCHOOLS TEACH SECULAR HUMANISM? WHY WE MAY NEVER KNOW

Members of the New Right regularly charge that public schools teach secular humanism. This alleged teaching of secular humanism is held responsible for varied social ills and is perceived as a violation of constitutional prohibitions against the advocacy of one set of religious beliefs over others. Although New Right attacks may be perceived as political tactics, the author explores them as empirical claims that schools are in fact teaching secular humanism. Currently, there is no persuasive body of research supporting the New Right allegations. The author questions whether or not such research could be designed and concludes that it could but, for various reasons, is unlikely ever to be enacted.     

Hemispheric preference and progressive-part or whole practice in beginning typewriting

This investigation explored the interaction of progressive-part versus whole methods of practice with hemispheric preference for processing information and the impact of each upon high school students' speed and accuracy in beginning typewriting. Zenhausern's Differential Hemispheric Activation Test was scored in such a way that it was possible to plot the scores along a continuum. Analysis of variance gave significant F ratios on 3 of the 4 testing days. The continuous scores were divided into five categories: middle, left moderates, right moderates, extreme rights, and extreme lefts. The moderate-left group speed was consistently the fastest group, and the extreme rights were consistently the slowest group. This difference was significant for all four testing days with the moderate-left mean speed varying between 4 to 6 words per minute faster each testing day. The extreme rights were consistently the most accurate, even though not statistically significantly so. There was no significant difference between method of practice and typewriting speed or between method of practice and typewriting accuracy; however, on all four testing days the mean gross speed of the whole practice learning group was 0.73 to 0.99 words per minute faster than the progressive-part group. A two-way analysis of variance indicated no interaction between method or practice and hemispheric preference.     

Relation of cognitive operational performance to comprehension and production of dimensional adjectives

This study compared normal developing children, aged 34 to 51 mo., on comprehension and production of relative dimensional adjectives using object manipulations in a close elicitation procedure and on Piagetian operational tests of conservation of continuous quantity, length, reversibility and seriation. Analysis indicated a significant difference on the expressive language performance of the transitional and the concrete operational children over the preoperational children, but no significant differences occurred between the first two groups. Children who performed better on seriation were significantly better on expressive language performance. Children classified as operational for length performed better on all language measures than those classified as nonoperational. Reversibility and conservation of a continuous quantity did not differentiate children.     

Stereotypical beliefs about overweight and smoking and decision-making in assignments to sales territories

This study examined job bias associated with business students' role-playing as sales managers who assigned trainees to sales territories. Personal characteristics of being extremely overweight and being a heavy smoker were studied. Research participants were given a personnel record (training record) of a sales trainee and asked to make a sales territory assignment decision; three vacant territories were also described. The participants were told to assign the trainee to one of the territories or to indicate a preference to not have the recruit assigned to any territory within the role-playing manager's region. Analysis indicates that a sales recruit described as extremely overweight was less likely to be assigned to an important or desirable sales territory and more likely to be assigned to an undesirable territory or not selected at all for an assignment within a sales region. Those described as heavy smokers were similarly treated but to a lesser degree. Overweight saleswomen were discriminated against more than overweight salesmen.     

Free visual imagery sequences in reactors and nonreactors

The technique of Free Visual Imagery Sequences was used with 32 outpatients, M age of 33.9, to determine the differences between Visual Imagery Reactors and Nonreactors as defined in previous studies. Reactors showed significantly more responses associated with Affect/Conflict material, frequently including bizarre and distorted images. The Affect/Conflict responses occurred earlier and had longer duration spans in Reactors. Neutral content was more prevalent in Nonreactors. An interpretive approach involving a regulatory processing system is proposed. Free Visual Imagery Sequences appears to be a simple and efficient clinical technique which can contribute data useful in determining the extent to which imagery techniques could be employed in certain forms of psychotherapy.     

A behavioral quantal theory of brain function: an alternative to Lashley's continuity theory of mass action

A behavioral quantal theory of brain function is formulated on the basis of a newly discovered step-wise relationship invariably present among the findings of three experiments by Tsai, et al. on the effects of (1) cerebral decortication, (2) cranial x-radiation, as well as (3) insulin, metrazol, and electroconvulsive shocks upon white rats' adaptive behavior during their learning of successive habit reversals and one-trial reversal problems. Confirmatory results from earlier investigators who studied effects of various current strengths of ECS upon learning and retention of various maze habits are also cited in support of the behavioral quantal theory of brain function which is proposed here as a close-up, more refined alternative to Lashley's continuity theory of mass action.     

Self-reported expected emotional changes as a function of alcohol intoxication by alcoholic men and women

80 alcoholic men and women registered for counseling at different Swedish outpatient units volunteered to complete semantic differential scales related to emotional expected effects of alcohol intoxication. Analyses indicated that alcoholics expect large doses of alcohol to increase pleasure, dominance, and arousal. These results were discussed in comparison with the results from previous related studies with nonalcoholic samples.