On the (non)categorical perception of lexical tones

Identification and discrimination of lexical tones in Cantonese were compared in the context of a traditional categorical perception paradigm. Three lexical tone continua were used: one ranging from low level to high level, one from high rising to high level, and one from low falling to high rising. Identification data showed steep slopes at category boundaries, suggesting that lexical tones are perceived categorically. In contrast, discrimination curves generally showed much weaker evidence for categorical perception. Subsequent investigation showed that the presence of a tonal context played a strong role in the identification of target tones and less of a role in discrimination. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that tonal category boundaries are determined by a combination of regions of natural auditory sensitivity and the influence of linguistic experience.     

How stressful is retirement! Antecedents of stress linked to athletes’ career termination

A field study conducted with professional athletes (N = 420, 72.2% men, M_age = 25.14) examined the antecedents of stress linked to career termination. We hypothesized that stress linked to career termination may be affected by the type of passion (harmonious and obsessive) athletes develop for their sport activity, and that this passion may be affected by regulatory mode orientations (locomotion and assessment) and need for closure (NFC). The present findings confirm our hypotheses that locomotion positively predict stress linked to career termination through a partial mediation of harmonious passion, while assessment and NFC negatively predict stress through the mediation of obsessive passion. In conclusion, this study provides further information to existing intervention programs aimed at preventing the negative consequences related to athletes’ career termination.     

Organization in audition by similarity in rate of change: Evidence from tracking individual frequency glides in mixtures

In audition, sound energy is assigned to separate auditory “streams” following principles of organization that closely parallel the visual gestalt principles that guide the perception of distinct forms or objects. Metzger (1934) provided evidence for organization in vision based on similarity in the velocity of moving forms. If two dots approach one another along one spatial dimension, they may appear to cross and continue beyond their meeting point if their velocities differ; otherwise, they usually appear to change direction abruptly and retrace their movements. If an analogous auditory principle exists, with rate of change in frequency substituted for velocity of movement, two frequency glides that sweep through the same frequency range in opposite directions should be able to perceptually cross if their rates of change differ; otherwise, they should usually appear to change direction and retrace the same frequency region. Four experiments provided data in support of this hypothesis, and the results were consistent across experiments with varying stimuli and methods of presentation. When properties of the stimuli favored organization according to a principle of frequency proximity, the effect of a principle of rate similarity was attenuated but still evident.     

Magnitude and Order are Both Relevant in SNARC and SNARC-like Effects: A Commentary on Casasanto and Pitt (2019)

In a recent paper by Casasanto and Pitt (2019), the authors addressed a debate regarding the role of order and magnitude in SNARC and SNARC-like effects. Their position is that all these effects can be explained by order, while magnitude could only account for a subset of evidence. Although we agree that order can probably explain the majority of these effects, in this commentary we argue that magnitude is still relevant, since there is evidence that cannot be explained based on ordinality alone. We argue that SNARC-like effects can occur for magnitudes not clearly characterized by overlearned ordinality and that magnitude can prevail on order, when the two are pitted against each other. Finally, we propose that different interpretations of the role of order and magnitude depend on the interaction of stimulus properties and task demands.     

The Phonetic Integration of Speech and Non-speech Sounds: Effects of Perceived Location

The third-formant (F3) transition of a three-formant /da/ or /ga/ syllable was extracted and replaced by sine-wave transitions that followed the F3 centre frequency. The syllable without the F3 transition (base) was always presented at the left ear, and a /da/ (falling) or /ga/ (rising) sine-wave transition could be presented at either the left, the right, or both ears. The listeners perceived the base as a syllable, and the sine-wave transition as a non-speech whistle, which was lateralized near the left ear, the right ear, or the middle of the head, respectively. In Experiment 1, the sine-wave transition strongly influenced the identity of the syllable only when it was lateralized at the same ear as the base (left ear). Phonetic integration between the base and the transitions became weak, but was not completely eliminated, when the latter was perceived near the middle of the head or at the opposite ear as the base (right ear). The second experiment replicated these findings by using duplex stimuli in which the level of the sine-wave transitions was such that the subjects could not reliably tell whether a /da/ or a /ga/ transition was present at the same ear as the base. This condition was introduced in order to control for the possibility that the subjects could have identified the syallables by associating a rising or falling transition presented at the left ear with a /da/ or /ga/ percept. Alternative suggestions about the relation between speech and non-speech perceptual processes are discussed on the basis of these results.     

Visual aesthetics in store environment and its moderating role on consumer intention

• The paper goal is to answer the following questions: What are the factors of centrality of visual aesthetic design (CVSA) in store environment? What factor explains better the construct? Is there a relationship between CVSA and consumers' intentions, such as loyalty, satisfaction, minutes, item, and $ spent inside store? What is the moderating role of store visual aesthetic design on consumer intentions? The research design was a 2 × 2 design, between subjects, which we manipulated store arousal (high vs. low) and CVSA (high vs. low) in two studies. The findings supported the theory that there are three CVSA dimensions; that there is a positive relationship between CVSA and consumer satisfaction, loyalty, items bought, minutes visiting the store, and $ spent; and that high (vs. low) CVSA consumers were more discriminating in their intentions, when the environment had a high arousal. The original value is to support the notion that consumers also evaluate, beyond products, visual aesthetic components in retail and that it plays a moderating role on consumer intention.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of vertical tongue loading on the position perception of the tongue

We investigated the effects of vertical tongue loading on the position perception of the tongue. Five male and 5 female university students served as subjects. Vertical upward and downward loading forces were applied to the tongue of the subjects. Their task was to judge the perceived horizontal position of the tongue after tongue-loading directions. The means of the judgments for the control conditions (no tongue loading) were compared with the judgments for perceived horizontal position after tongue loading. The results showed that vertical tongue loading produced a shift in the perceived horizontal direction opposite to the applied force. These results fully replicated the analogous aftereffect found by Grover and Craske (1991) for horizontal tongue loading. However, the judgments of perceived horizontal position in the present study had lower variability than did those in Grover and Craske's study, suggesting that mapping of the tongue along the vertical axis is more precise than mapping along the horizontal axis.