Distribution Of Pauses Research Articles

Recursos de ênfase utilizados por indivíduos com e sem treinamento de voz e fala

OBJETIVO: Investigar como indivíduos com e sem treinamento vocal utilizam recursos de ênfase em duas palavras previamente selecionadas na leitura de texto. MÉTODOS: Setenta e sete indivíduos de 19 a 57 anos de idade formaram dois grupos: 51 alunos de curso de radialista denominados grupo treinado - GT e 26 indivíduos sem experiência em locução, denominados grupo não-treinado - GNT. Eles leram uma notícia duas vezes enfatizando, a cada leitura, uma palavra: "negocia" e "reformas". As leituras foram gravadas em dois momentos com intervalo de dois meses entre elas, correspondentes ao início e ao final do curso de radialista do GT. O material foi submetido à avaliação perceptivo-auditiva da ocorrência, avaliação e forma de utilização da ênfase; identificação visual da espectrografia para delimitação das pausas junto às palavras estudadas; análise acústica da duração e frequência fundamental das ênfases. Testes estatísticos foram aplicados. RESULTADOS: GT foi melhor avaliado quanto à qualidade da utilização da ênfase que GNT, não havendo diferença na sua ocorrência e forma de utilização. "Reformas" teve maior ocorrência de ênfase e foi melhor avaliada que "negocia". GT usou menos pausas que GNT. Na análise acústica, "reformas" durou mais que "negocia" no GNT. A média da frequência fundamental de "negocia" foi maior que "reformas". CONCLUSÃO: Os grupos comportaram-se de forma semelhante, demonstrando que enfatizar obedece a individualidade dos falantes. GT apresentou mais habilidade na distribuição das pausas. As ênfases ocorreram diferentemente entre as palavras respeitando aspectos sintático-semânticos.

Hesitation Strategies in an Oral L2 Test among Iranian Students Shifted from EFL Context to EIL

English as an international language emphasizes on learning different major dialect forms; in particular, it aims to equip students with the linguistic tools to communicate internationally. English is no longer merely used by native speakers but by all those who come to use it.The study reported in this paper was conducted in the population of Iranian students in the academic context of Malaysia who have learned English as a foreign language in their home country, but after immigrating to the multi lingual country of Malaysia have to use it as an International language to communicate not only with the academician but also with the common people. This shift of English language application had led them to a confusion, which reveals in in their performance, although they are not quite aware of the involving reasons.Therefore, this study examined this mismatch between EFL and EIL oral performance from the angle of hesitation, and investigated the hesitation strategies Iranian university students use while they are speaking English. It focused on the frequency and distribution of pauses, pauses and fillers, and fillers in the speech of 12 Persian speakers of English, students in a public university in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, participating in an oral test consisting of three parts to study whether the type of questions affect the hesitation strategies they employ or not. The data collected was collected and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively, and the results indicated that Persian speakers of English follow different pausing conventions which varied by the change in the context of the questions.

Un método alternativo a la autocorrelación para analizar los efectos secuenciales de los programas de reforzamiento

It is known that fixed-interval schedules generate, at certain values, alt ernat ing short and Long postreinforcetnent pauses. TEtis effect has ben analyzed through autocorrelation methods with one-lag. However, this mnethods has shortcomings since it is unable to detect regularities in sequences of pauses that are non strictly cyclic. A computerprogram designed to assess cotnplex sequences of postreinforcement pauses is proposed. 1208 sequences of four pauses each, produced by a rat exposed to a fixed interval 60 sec schedule were analysed with tEtis alternative method. In agreement with previous reports. the analysis showed that alt cornbinotions of four pauses were equally lihely to occur.Cotnparisons of actual distributions of short and long pauses with a binornial distribu¬tion showed that 100% of total variance was accounted for. It was coneluded that dura¬tion of postreinforcement pause is a truly randotn event, at least for tEte conditions described Acre.

Effects of gender and regional dialect on prosodic patterns in American English

While cross-dialect prosodic variation has been well established for many languages, most variationist research on regional dialects of American English has focused on the vowel system. The current study was designed to explore prosodic variation in read speech in two regional varieties of American English: Southern and Midland. Prosodic dialect variation was analyzed in two domains: speaking rate and the phonetic expression of pitch movements associated with accented and phrase-final syllables. The results revealed significant effects of regional dialect on the distributions of pauses, pitch accents, and phrasal–boundary tone combinations. Significant effects of talker gender were also observed on the distributions of pitch accents and phrasal–boundary tone combinations. The findings from this study demonstrate that regional and gender identity features are encoded in part through prosody, and provide further motivation for the close examination of prosodic patterns across regional and social varieties of American English.

Spectral and temporal changes to speech produced in the presence of energetic and informational maskers

Talkers change the way they speak in noisy conditions. For energetic maskers, speech production changes are relatively well-understood, but less is known about how informational maskers such as competing speech affect speech production. The current study examines the effect of energetic and informational maskers on speech production by talkers speaking alone or in pairs. Talkers produced speech in quiet and in backgrounds of speech-shaped noise, speech-modulated noise, and competing speech. Relative to quiet, speech output level and fundamental frequency increased and spectral tilt flattened in proportion to the energetic masking capacity of the background. In response to modulated backgrounds, talkers were able to reduce substantially the degree of temporal overlap with the noise, with greater reduction for the competing speech background. Reduction in foreground-background overlap can be expected to lead to a release from both energetic and informational masking for listeners. Passive changes in speech rate, mean pause length or pause distribution cannot explain the overlap reduction, which appears instead to result from a purposeful process of listening while speaking. Talkers appear to monitor the background and exploit upcoming pauses, a strategy which is particularly effective for backgrounds containing intelligible speech.

Automatic method of pause measurement for normal and dysarthric speech

This study proposes an automatic method for the detection of pauses and identification of pause types in conversational speech for the purpose of measuring the effects of Friedreich's Ataxia (FRDA) on speech. Speech samples of ∼ 3 minutes were recorded from 13 speakers with FRDA and 18 healthy controls. Pauses were measured from the intensity contour and fit with bimodal lognormal distributions using the Expectation-Maximization algorithm in Matlab©. In the speakers with FRDA, both modes in the pause distributions had significantly larger means, with disproportionately fewer pauses associated with the first mode. From this preliminary study, it is concluded that distributional analysis of pause duration holds promise as a useful method of measuring the effects of FRDA on functional speech.

AGGRESSION AS POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT IN MICE UNDER VARIOUS RATIO‐ AND TIME‐BASED REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES

There is evidence suggesting aggression may be a positive reinforcer in many species. However, only a few studies have examined the characteristics of aggression as a positive reinforcer in mice. Four types of reinforcement schedules were examined in the current experiment using male Swiss CFW albino mice in a resident-intruder model of aggression as a positive reinforcer. A nose poke response on an operant conditioning panel was reinforced under fixed-ratio (FR 8), fixed-interval (FI 5-min), progressive ratio (PR 2), or differential reinforcement of low rate behavior reinforcement schedules (DRL 40-s and DRL 80-s). In the FR conditions, nose pokes were maintained by aggression and extinguished when the aggression contingency was removed. There were long postreinforcement pauses followed by bursts of responses with short interresponse times (IRTs). In the FI conditions, nose pokes were maintained by aggression, occurred more frequently as the interval elapsed, and extinguished when the contingency was removed. In the PR conditions, nose pokes were maintained by aggression, postreinforcement pauses increased as the ratio requirement increased, and responding was extinguished when the aggression contingency was removed. In the DRL conditions, the nose poke rate decreased, while the proportional distributions of IRTs and postreinforcement pauses shifted toward longer durations as the DRL interval increased. However, most responses occurred before the minimum IRT interval elapsed, suggesting weak temporal control of behavior. Overall, the findings suggest aggression can be a positive reinforcer for nose poke responses in mice on ratio- and time-based reinforcement schedules.

Revisiting Jarrod: Applications of gestural phonology theory to the assessment and treatment of speech sound disorder

Gestural phonology theory questions the dominance of phonological explanations of speech sound disorder in light of technological advances in the measurement of speech articulation. A gestural phonology approach investigates the movements of articulators rather than higher level phonological forms, suggesting that many speech sound disorders are the result of difficulties generating and coordinating articulatory gestures. This has significant implications for assessment and treatment, as new methods are required to investigate articulatory gestures. This article revisits the case of Jarrod, who was the feature of a special issue of Advances in Speech-Language Pathology 8(3) which provided perspectives on a child with unintelligible speech. Jarrod's assessment data is re-evaluated in light of gestural phonology theory and technological advancements in assessment of speech. Non-standard assessment techniques such as pause distribution analysis, vowel quadrilateral and spectral moment analysis are applied to investigate articulatory movement. Results indicate difficulties with fine force control, coupled with difficulties with timing of articulation, resulting in marked unintelligibility. Treatment recommendations based on these results are presented, incorporating the principles of gestural phonology and dynamic systems theory.

COGNITIVE ROLE OF SPEECH PAUSES AND ALGORITHMIC CONSIDERATIONS FOR THEIR PROCESSING

This study investigates pausing strategies, focusing the attention on empty speech pauses. A cross-modal analysis (video and audio) of spontaneous narratives produced by male and female children and adults showed that a remarkable amount of empty speech pauses was used to signal new concepts in the speech flow and to segment discourse units such as clauses and paragraphs. Based on these results, an adaptive mathematical model for pause distribution was suggested, that exploits, as pause features, the absence of signal and/or the changes of energy over different acoustic dimensions strongly related to the auditory perception. These considerations inspired the formulation and the implementation of two pause detection procedures that proved to be more effective than the Likelihood Ratio Test (LRT) and Long-Term Spectral Divergence (LTSD) algorithms recently proposed in literature and applied for Voice Activity Detection (VAD).

Coordination of outer arm dynein activity along axonemal doublet microtubules

This study considers the mechanism by which ODA based sliding is produced and the relationship of that mechanism to the determination of beat frequency. Two models of activity have been examined: a stochastic model, where ODA activity is random and a metachronal model, where activity is sequentially triggered along a doublet. Inactivation of a few ODAs would have virtually no effect on stochastic activity, but would completely block metachronal activity. We (Seetharam and Satir [2005]: Cell Motil Cytoskeleton 60:96-103) previously demonstrated that ODAs produce high speed sliding of about 200 mum/s, followed by a pause. IDAs produce slow, 5 mum/s, continuous sliding. We have examined the effects of nM concentrations of vanadate on sliding, measuring velocity and extent of high speed sliding and pause distribution or sliding cessation. In 5 nM vanadate, where photocleavage experiments show about 16/270 ODAs per doublet are affected, no differences from control are seen, but at 10 and 25 nM vanadate, high speed velocity is greatly reduced and pause distribution changes. The results support a model, in which high speed sliding is produced by metachronal activity. Blockage of two or more heavy chains of one ODA or a small group of adjacent ODAs produces cessation of sliding, but cessation is only temporary, probably because IDA activity continues, allowing ODA activity re-initiation beyond the block. These conclusions are consistent with Sugino and Naitoh's [1982; Nature 295:609-611] proposal, whereby during each beat, every ODA along a doublet becomes activated in succession, with repetitive activation determining beat frequency.

Characterization of chest compression pauses during in-hospital cardiac arrest

Introduction: Pauses in chest compression (CC) delivery are common during resuscitation from cardiac arrest.1,2 Such pauses have been found to be clinically detrimental in both animal and clinical studies.3,4 There have been no published data characterizing the frequency or etiology of these pauses during actual cardiac arrest. We sought to determine the etiology, duration, and distribution of CC pauses occurring during in-hospital cardiac arrests.

O uso das pausas nos diferentes estilos de televisão

OBJETIVO: investigar a distribuição e funções das pausas silenciosas no discurso oral em narrações de programas de televisão de natureza diferenciada. MÉTODOS: para este estudo foram selecionadas amostras de fala de dois jornalistas em cinco programas de televisão. As medidas foram embasadas na análise fonético-acústica, segmentando-se os tempos de narração e de pausas silenciosas em milisegundos (ms) por meio do programa Praat. RESULTADOS: os resultados apontam para mudanças ocorridas no uso das pausas, em função do estilo de narrativa. CONCLUSÃO: as pausas, em estilos de programas interativos de televisão têm o papel de construir turnos de fala.

Individual Differences in Typing: Pause Length

An analysis of pause distribution for 12 subjects on a controlled copying task suggests that pause-based measures used to assess writing processes should reflect individual differences in typing.

Prosody and Narrative Structure in Varieties of Low German and Alemannic

This study analyzes prosodic cues and discourse markers in varieties of Low German and Alemannic in order to uncover how narrative structure is cued lexically and prosodically in different varieties of German. Intonational boundary tones, discourse markers, and pauses turned out to be sufficient to cue discourse units at different levels. Although the varieties under discussion use the same type of linguistic features, there are important differences of detail in pause distribution and categorization, functions of certain pitch contours, and the use and function of discourse markers, so that the particular set of contextualization cues is quite different for the various levels of discourse in each variety.

SECOND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY AND PAUSING A Study of Russian Speakers of English

The present study examines the relationship between second language (L2) proficiency and pausing patterns (i.e., pause duration, frequency, and distribution) in the speech of 30 Russian speakers of English performing two oral tasks—a topic narrative and a cartoon description—in Russian and in English. The subjects were divided into two oral English proficiency groups, high and intermediate, on the basis of a standardized test of spoken English. Baseline data were collected from a control group of 20 native English speakers. Statistical analyses were performed to determine: (a) the native norms of pause duration, frequency, and distribution for Russian and English on the two experimental tasks; (b) the effect of the level of L2 proficiency (high and intermediate) on the pausing of Russian speakers in English; and (c) the differences or similarities in pausing exhibited by native English speakers and native Russian speakers (with two different levels of English proficiency) when speaking English. The results of this study indicate that English and Russian informal monologue speech can be characterized as having different pausing conventions, thus suggesting that crosslinguistic differences involve, among many other aspects, contrasts in pausing patterns. Additionally, L2 proficiency was found to affect the pause duration of advanced nonnative speakers in that they were able to adjust the duration of their pauses in English to produce a nativelike pausing norm. It was also found that even highly proficient L2 speakers pause more frequently in their L2 than in their first language (L1). The examination of pause distribution patterns suggests that persons of intermediate to high L2 speaking proficiency make the same number of within-constituent pauses as native speakers. Overall, the findings of this study support the view that adherence to the target language pausing norms may lead to the perception of nonnative speech as more fluent and nativelike. The findings also highlight the importance of exposing L2 students to a richer variety of situations that illustrate native patterns of verbal communication.

Guidelines for Designing Jobs Organization

Preventive measures aimed at minimizing the occurrence of WMSDs of upper limbs can be divided into three categories: structural, organisational and educational. Organisational measures essentially relate to job design (i. e. distribution of tasks, speeds and pauses). They serve to alleviate problems connected with frequency and inadequate recovery periods. The objective of the study was to lower the frequency and to increase the recovery periods taking into due consideration the impact on the production levels (and costs). The authors illustrate in some detail a practical trial conducted in a major engineering firm.

AVERAGING EFFECTS IN THE STUDY OF FIXED‐RATIO RESPONSE PATTERNS

Three rats were exposed to multiple fixed‐ratio schedules in which large and small ratios alternated in an irregular order. Over a series of training phases, one ratio was held constant as the second ratio was increased to higher values. On average, postreinforcement pauses increased in duration as the ratio size was increased. Pausing was controlled by the size of the upcoming ratio; the previous ratio had smaller and less consistent effects. However, more detailed consideration of the aggregated data indicated that the pause distributions were positively skewed and that changes in average performances were more a consequence of increased skew rather than shifts of the entire distributions. Moreover, the distributions of pauses from condition to condition overlapped, and brief pauses were common even at the highest ratios. These results demonstrated that depictions of pausing based on aggregated data can be misleading without corresponding information about variations in the distribution on which the averages are based.

Guidelines for designing jobs featuring repetitive tasks

Preventive measures aimed at minimizing the occurrence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the upper limbs (WMSDs) associated with repetitive tasks can be divided into three categories: structural, organizational and educational. Whenever specific risk and injury assessments have shown the need for preventive action, this is most often implemented within the framework of a range of assorted measures. In particular, structural measures involve optimizing the layout of the work area and furnishings, and the 'ergonomic' properties of work tools and equipment. Such measures serve to alleviate the problems caused by the use of excessive force and awkward postures. The authors refer to the principles guiding such structural measures, in the light of the extensive literature that has been published on the subject. Organizational (or reorganizational) measures essentially relate to job design (i.e. distribution of tasks, speeds and pauses). They serve to alleviate problems connected with highly repetitive and frequent actions, excessively lengthy tasks and inadequate recovery periods. Very few relevant findings are available: the authors therefore illustrate in some detail a practical trial conducted in a major engineering firm. The objective was to lower to acceptable limits the frequency of certain repetitive tasks performed using the upper limbs. The trial made it possible to identify a suitable plan and schedule of measures taking into due consideration the impact of the plan on production levels (and costs). The fundamental principles guiding the adoption of specific educational and training programmes for the workers and their supervisors are presented and discussed.

Temporal search as a function of the variability of interfood intervals.

We attempted to determine whether timing theories developed primarily to explain performance in fixed-interval reinforcement schedules are also applicable to variable intervals. Groups of rats were trained in lever boxes on peak procedures with a 30-, 45-, or 60-s interval, or a 30- to 60-s uniform distribution (Experiment 1); a 60-s fixed and 1- to 121-s uniform distribution between and within animals (Experiment 2); and a procedure in which the interval between food and next available food gradually changed from a fixed 60 s to a uniform distribution between 0 and 120 s (Experiment 3). In uniform interval schedules rats made lever responses at particular times since food, as measured by the distribution of food-food intervals, the distribution of postreinforcement pauses, and the mean response rate as a function of time since food. Qualitative features of this performance are described by a multiple-oscillator connectionist theory of timing.

On the Nature of Modulation of Radio Emission During Solar Flares

The distribution of pauses between subsequent elements of a periodic process is symmetric, while a random process produces an asymmetric exponential distribution. The third moment of the pause distribution, which is sensitive to the asymmetry, can therefore be used to discriminate between perodic and random processes. With such a method we analyze the observations of 19 series of solar type III radio bursts and find with a confidence of 0.99 that, on average, the bursts are randomly distributed in time. Only one series can be considered to be periodic with a confidence ≈0.5. The bandwidth of the repetition frequency of most bursts corresponds to the quality of oscillations of Q¯ = 1.0±0.6 that does not indicates a resonance. Therefore, the modulation of particle beams and intensity of type III radio emission should be considered mainly as the result of random processes. Thus, these properties observed in the majority of radio type III bursts do not support the existence of any periodic or resonant oscillations in the solar corona during flares, although some periodic processes in active regions cannot entirely be ruled out.