Effects Of Altered Auditory Feedback Research Articles

Sensitivity to meter in auditory feedback during music performance.

Performance of a complex sequential task, such as speech or music, occurs simultaneously with its perceived outcome, known as auditory feedback. The importance of auditory feedback to the fluency of performance is demonstrated by the disruptive effects of altered auditory feedback (AAF). For instance, it has been know for decades that sequence production (in music and speech) can be disrupted by delayed auditory feedback (DAF), a slight asynchrony between actions and resulting sounds (for reviews see Finney, 1999; Howell, 2004; Pfordresher, 2006; Yates, 1963). Fluency in performance clearly relies on temporal coordination between planned actions and concurrent sounds. It is less clear whether performance relies on the content of auditory feedback, which in a musical context refers to the pitches associated with individual notes.For some time, it appeared as though performance may not rely on feedback content. For instance, Howell and Archer (1984) found that disruption from DAF was unchanged when speech feedback was converted to an amplitude-modulated square-wave tone. Finney (1997) further demonstrated that pianists' performances of Bach inventions did not suffer when pitch content was altered in a random-like way. These observations are consistent with Howell's claim that DAF effects result from displacement of auditory rhythms, relative to the rhythmic coordination of actions (Howell, 2001, 2004; Howell, Powell, & Khan, 1983; Howell & Sackin, 2002).However, Pfordresher (2003) introduced an AAF manipulation of pitch content that can disrupt production, referred to as a serial shift. In contrast to other manipulations of content, serial shifts involve presenting pitches from a planned melody (i.e., a sequence of actions that are associated with a sequence of anticipated pitch events) at an alternate serial position. For instance, a lag-1 serial shift causes the feedback pitch heard at each keypress to match what the performer produced at the previous keypress. As such the feedback melody is serially shifted relative to the planned melody. Serial shifts lead to increased pitch errors in performance, while sparing produced timing (Pfordresher, 2003), can disrupt performance of both pianists and nonpianists (Pfordresher, 2005), can lead to disruption of music performance via keyboard or singing (Pfordresher & Mantell, 2012), and can also disrupt the accuracy of speech production (Pruitt & Pfordresher, 2015). It is important to note that serial shifts are distinct from traditional DAF, even though serial shifts may refer to previous events. For instance, hearing serially shifted pitches from future positions also disrupts performance (Pfordresher & Palmer, 2006).Although the effect of serial shifts does demonstrate sensitivity to pitch content, this effect alone does not rule out the possibility that their disruptive effect is to some extent based on rhythmic relationships between perception and action. It has often been observed that the patterning of pitch content can convey rhythmic information through melodic accents (Cooper & Meyer, 1960; Ellis & Jones, 2009; Jones, 1987), including breaks or pivots in the melodic contour (for examples, see Handel, 1989, p. 398), and the use of parallelism in broader pitch patterns (Acevedo, Temperley, & Pfordresher, 2014; Deutsch & Feroe, 1981; Steedman, 1977; Temperley & Bartlette, 2002).We adopted these features to create stimuli for the present study. Notation for the four melodies we used are shown in Figure 1 along with their meter, represented as a grid. Metrical accents are associated with positions that have higher columns of X's above them. Melodies were created to match either a binary (4/4) or a ternary (3/4) metrical structure. The first binary melody (Figure IA) used breaks in the melodic contour to signal metrical boundaries, whereas the second binary melody includes a recurring pattern structure based on an alternating melodic contour that is inverted in the second measure. …

The effect of a crunchy pseudo-chewing sound on perceived texture of softened foods

Elderly individuals whose ability to chew and swallow has declined are often restricted to unpleasant diets of very soft food, leading to a poor appetite. To address this problem, we aimed to investigate the influence of altered auditory input of chewing sounds on the perception of food texture. The modified chewing sound was reported to influence the perception of food texture in normal foods. We investigated whether the perceived sensations of nursing care foods could be altered by providing altered auditory feedback of chewing sounds, even if the actual food texture is dull. Chewing sounds were generated using electromyogram (EMG) of the masseter. When the frequency properties of the EMG signal are modified and it is heard as a sound, it resembles a “crunchy” sound, much like that emitted by chewing, for example, root vegetables (EMG chewing sound). Thirty healthy adults took part in the experiment. In two conditions (with/without the EMG chewing sound), participants rated the taste, texture and evoked feelings of five kinds of nursing care foods using two questionnaires. When the “crunchy” EMG chewing sound was present, participants were more likely to evaluate food as having the property of stiffness. Moreover, foods were perceived as rougher and to have a greater number of ingredients in the condition with the EMG chewing sound, and satisfaction and pleasantness were also greater. In conclusion, the “crunchy” pseudo-chewing sound could influence the perception of food texture, even if the actual “crunchy” oral sensation is lacking. Considering the effect of altered auditory feedback while chewing, we can suppose that such a tool would be a useful technique to help people on texture-modified diets to enjoy their food.

The role of auditory feedback in speech and song.

When singing a melody or producing sentences, we take for granted the fact that the sounds we create (auditory feedback) match the intended consequences of our actions. The importance of these perception/action matches to production is illustrated by the detrimental effects of altered auditory feedback (AAF). Previous research in the domain of music has shown that when AAF leads to asynchronies between perception and action, timing of production is disrupted but accuracy of sequencing is not. On the other hand, AAF manipulations of pitch disrupt sequencing but not timing. Such dissociative effects, as well as other findings, suggest that sensitivity to AAF may be based on hierarchical organization of sequences. In the current research we examined whether similar effects are found for the production of speech, for which syllables rather than pitches may constitute content units. In the first experiment, participants either sang melodies or spoke sequences of nonsense syllables. In the second experiment, the tasks were combined such that participants sang syllable sequences. Production in both experiments was accompanied by either normal, asynchronous, or content altered auditory feedback. Across experiments, effects of AAF on the accuracy of sequencing were similar in speaking and singing tasks, and in all cases reflected the dissociative effects described earlier. For timing of production, however, previous results were only found when participants sang sequences that did not have varying syllabic content. These results suggest that sensitivity to timing exists at multiple hierarchical levels, particularly at the syllable and phonetic levels.

Altered sensory feedbacks in pianist's dystonia: the altered auditory feedback paradigm and the glove effect

Background: This study investigates the effect of altered auditory feedback (AAF) in musician's dystonia (MD) and discusses whether AAF can be considered as a sensory trick in MD. Furthermore, the effect of AAF is compared with altered tactile feedback, which can serve as a sensory trick in several other forms of focal dystonia.Methods: The method is based on scale analysis (Jabusch et al., 2004). Experiment 1 employs synchronization paradigm: 12 MD patients and 25 healthy pianists had to repeatedly play C-major scales in synchrony with a metronome on a MIDI-piano with three auditory feedback conditions: (1) normal feedback; (2) no feedback; (3) constant delayed feedback. Experiment 2 employs synchronization-continuation paradigm: 12 MD patients and 12 healthy pianists had to repeatedly play C-major scales in two phases: first in synchrony with a metronome, secondly continue the established tempo without the metronome. There are four experimental conditions, among them three are the same AAF as in Experiment 1 and 1 is related to altered tactile sensory input. The coefficient of variation of inter-onset intervals of the key depressions was calculated to evaluate fine motor control.Results: In both experiments, the healthy controls and the patients behaved very similarly. There is no difference in the regularity of playing between the two groups under any condition, and neither did AAF nor did altered tactile feedback have a beneficial effect on patients' fine motor control.Conclusions: The results of the two experiments suggest that in the context of our experimental designs, AAF and altered tactile feedback play a minor role in motor coordination in patients with musicians' dystonia. We propose that altered auditory and tactile feedback do not serve as effective sensory tricks and may not temporarily reduce the symptoms of patients suffering from MD in this experimental context.

Musical training and the role of auditory feedback during performance

Recent research has shown that music training enhances music-related sensorimotor associations, such as the relationship between a key press on the keyboard and its associated musical pitch (auditory feedback). Such results suggest that the role of auditory feedback in performance may be based on learned associations that are task specific. Here, results from various studies will be presented that suggest that the real state of affairs is more complex. Several recent studies have shown similar effects of altered auditory feedback during piano performance for pianists and individuals with no piano training. Other recent research suggests dramatic differences between pianists and nonmusicians concerning the influence of auditory feedback on melody switching that suggest greater influence of auditory feedback among nonmusicians than pianists. Taken together, results suggest that musical training refines preexisting sensorimotor associations.

Immediate effects of AAF devices on the characteristics of stuttering: A clinical analysis

The present study investigated the immediate effects of altered auditory feedback (AAF) and one Inactive Condition (AAF parameters set to 0) on clinical attributes of stuttering during scripted and spontaneous speech. Two commercially available, portable AAF devices were used to create the combined delayed auditory feedback (DAF) and frequency altered feedback (FAF) effects. Thirty adults, who stutter, aged 18–68 years (M=36.5; SD=15.2), participated in this investigation. Each subject produced four sets of 5-min of oral reading, three sets of 5-min monologs as well as 10-min dialogs. These speech samples were analyzed to detect changes in descriptive features of stuttering (frequency, duration, speech/articulatory rate, core behaviors) across the various speech samples and within two SSI-4 (Riley, 2009) based severity ratings. A statistically significant difference was found in the frequency of stuttered syllables (%SS) during both Active Device conditions (p=.000) for all speech samples. The most sizable reductions in %SS occurred within scripted speech. In the analysis of stuttering type, it was found that blocks were reduced significantly (Device A: p=.017; Device B: p=.049). To evaluate the impact on severe and mild stuttering, participants were grouped into two SSI-4 based categories; mild and moderate–severe. During the Inactive Condition those participants within the moderate–severe group (p=.024) showed a statistically significant reduction in overall disfluencies. This result indicates, that active AAF parameters alone may not be the sole cause of a fluency-enhancement when using a technical speech aid.Educational objectives: The reader will learn and be able to describe: (1) currently available scientific evidence on the use of altered auditory feedback (AAF) during scripted and spontaneous speech, (2) which characteristics of stuttering are impacted by an AAF device (frequency, duration, core behaviors, speech & articulatory rate, stuttering severity), (3) the effects of an Inactive Condition on people who stutter (PWS) falling into two severity groups, and (4) how the examined participants perceived the use of AAF devices.

Children's Development of Self-Regulation in Speech Production

Species-specific vocalizations fall into two broad categories: those that emerge during maturation, independent of experience, and those that depend on early life interactions with conspecifics. Human language and the communication systems of a small number of other species, including songbirds, fall into this latter class of vocal learning. Self-monitoring has been assumed to play an important role in the vocal learning of speech and studies demonstrate that perception of your own voice is crucial for both the development and lifelong maintenance of vocalizations in humans and songbirds. Experimental modifications of auditory feedback can also change vocalizations in both humans and songbirds. However, with the exception of large manipulations of timing, no study to date has ever directly examined the use of auditory feedback in speech production under the age of 4. Here we use a real-time formant perturbation task to compare the response of toddlers, children, and adults to altered feedback. Children and adults reacted to this manipulation by changing their vowels in a direction opposite to the perturbation. Surprisingly, toddlers' speech didn't change in response to altered feedback, suggesting that long-held assumptions regarding the role of self-perception in articulatory development need to be reconsidered.

Effects of altered auditory feedback across effector systems: Production of melodies by keyboard and singing

We report an experiment that tested whether effects of altered auditory feedback (AAF) during piano performance differ from its effects during singing. These effector systems differ with respect to the mapping between motor gestures and pitch content of auditory feedback. Whereas this action-effect mapping is highly reliable during phonation in any vocal motor task (singing or speaking), mapping between finger movements and pitch occurs only in limited situations, such as piano playing. Effects of AAF in both tasks replicated results previously found for keyboard performance (Pfordresher, 2003), in that asynchronous (delayed) feedback slowed timing whereas alterations to feedback pitch increased error rates, and the effect of asynchronous feedback was similar in magnitude across tasks. However, manipulations of feedback pitch had larger effects on singing than on keyboard production, suggesting effector-specific differences in sensitivity to action-effect mapping with respect to feedback content. These results support the view that disruption from AAF is based on abstract, effector independent, response–effect associations but that the strength of associations differs across effector systems.

Response to Saltuklaroglu, Kalinowski, and Stuart (2010)

Purpose To reply to the criticisms of Saltuklaroglu, Kalinowski, and Stuart (2010) by addressing their concerns regarding our study’s methodology, statistical analyses, and findings. Also, to challenge what we view as omissions, misinterpretations, and inaccuracies on their part. Results Our operational definition of stuttering was sound. Participant adherence to the treatment protocol was telling and appropriately enforced. The question-asking task was proper given participant characteristics. Statistical analyses of treatment effects were correctly interpreted. Our general conclusions regarding the clinical merit of the SpeechEasy were misinterpreted by Saltuklaroglu and colleagues; our findings were in fact far less nullifying and more balanced than what they claim. Conclusions While robust immediate effects of altered auditory feedback (AAF) in the laboratory are well documented, recent longitudinal experiments conducted in naturalistic settings have found less consistent and pronounced effects with the SpeechEasy. These reports also indicate that initial reductions in stuttering are often not maintained over time. Future efforts to determine why this is so would be worthwhile.

The differential effect of altered auditory feedback on speech in early- and late-onset of Parkinson disease.

Advanced speech symptoms in Parkinson disease (PD), such as “festinating speech” or palilalia and frequent hesitations, are a clinical challenge. This report is a part of a larger study testing the hypothesis that the use of altered auditory feedback (AAF) would improve speech intelligibility in patients with PD and more advanced speech impairment. Our initial report showed that the use of AAF indeed improved speech intelligibility in these patient’s spontaneous speech [Wang et al. (2008)]. In this report, the spontaneous speech samples produced by four older-onset (aged 72.4 SD 6.02 years) vs four young-onset PD patients (aged 54.2 SD 4.44 years), with and without the use of AAF, were analyzed. The results indicated that, regardless of the use of AAF, the older-onset patients performed poorer than the young-onset patients in many areas including the mean length of utterance in words, number of different word roots, within utterance pause time, and words per minute. These findings are consistent with the report that patients with an older age at onset had more rapid progression of PD than those with a younger age at onset in mentation, freezing, and activities of daily living. Possible underlying mechanism for the findings will be discussed.

Effects of altered auditory feedback (AAF) on stuttering frequency during monologue speech production

The present study investigated the immediate effects of eight altered auditory feedback (AAF) parameters on stuttering frequency during monologue speech production on two occasions. One of the modern commercially available portable anti-stuttering devices, “The Pocket Speech Lab” (Casa Futura Technologies ®) was used in the study to produce the auditory feedback alterations. Six types of combined delayed auditory feedback (DAF) and frequency shifted auditory feedback (FAF) and two types of DAF alone were tested for eight participants aged 16–55 years, with stuttering severity ranging from mild to severe. The present study found that AAF is an effective means to reduce stuttering frequency during monologue speech production. All eight AAF experimental conditions reduced stuttering frequency, however, there was substantial variability in the stuttering reduction effect across experimental conditions and across participants. There was also instability in stuttering reduction across the two testing sessions. On average, a 75 ms time delay on its own and a combination of the 75 ms time delay and a half octave downward frequency shift were found to be more effective than other combinations of AAF parameters that were investigated. Educational objectives: After reading this paper, the reader should be able to (1) summarize the research investigating the effect of altered auditory feedback on stuttering frequency during monologue speech production; (2) describe the stuttering reduction effect of the eight parameters of AAF tested during monologue speech production; and (3) discuss the possible clinical implications of the use of AAF for stuttering treatment.

Auditory feedback in music performance: The role of transition-based similarity.

Past research has suggested that the disruptive effect of altered auditory feedback depends on how structurally similar the sequence of feedback events is to the planned sequence of actions. Three experiments pursued one basis for similarity in musical keyboard performance: matches between sequential transitions in spatial targets for movements and the melodic contour of auditory feedback. Trained pianists and musically untrained persons produced simple tonal melodies on a keyboard while hearing feedback sequences that either matched the planned melody or were contour-preserving variations of that melody. Sequence production was disrupted among pianists when feedback events were serially shifted by one event, similarly for shifts of planned melodies and tonal variations but less so for shifts of atonal variations. Nonpianists were less likely to be disrupted by serial shifts of variations but showed similar disruption to pianists for shifts of the planned melody. Thus, transitional properties and tonal schemata may jointly determine perception-action similarity during musical sequence production, and the tendency to generalize from a planned sequence to variations of it may develop with the acquisition of skill.

Effects of altered auditory feedback on piano performance

Some studies in the field of developmental psychology have suggested that a complex task executed by an expert includes the automated and sequential execution of some subordinate skills. In this study, we regard the development of musical performance as the length of motor control of a musical instrument carried out with a feedforward process. We then verify this assumption through a performance experiment using skilled and unskilled pianists. Both pianists play one musical figure repeatedly in the experiment. In the middle of the performance, a mapping function between the key velocity and its sound output is altered. It is expected that pianists would try to correct their performance when receiving this altered auditory feedback. By checking the point at which they start to correct, we can infer the length of the unit used with the feedforward process. It is expected that the correction would occur at a specific point in the musical figure if skilled pianists have a certain length unit of automated motor control. On the other hand, the point of correction would have less consistency in the case of unskilled pianists. [Work supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research A, No. 16200016, JSPS.]

Stuttering and sensory gating: A study of acoustic startle prepulse inhibition

It was hypothesized that stuttering may be related to impaired sensory gating, leading to overflow of superfluous disturbing auditory feedback and breakdown of the speech sequence. This hypothesis was tested using the acoustic startle prepulse inhibition (PPI) paradigm. A group of 22 adults with developmental stuttering were compared with controls regarding the degree of PPI. No significant differences were found between the stuttering adults and the control group; the groups showed similar means and distribution. Likewise, no relation between the degree of PPI and the effect of altered auditory feedback on stuttering was found. In summary, the results of the study indicate that there is no relation between stuttering and PPI.

Exploratory research in the measurement and modification of attitudes toward stuttering

Past studies attempting to both measure and change stuttering stereotypes using semantic differential scales have indicated that clinicians' attitudes toward stuttering have been negative, robust, and resistant to change. This study measured changes in clinicians' attitudes after viewing either a factual video depicting the fluency-evoking effects of altered auditory feedback or an emotionally insightful video depicting the negative social consequences of stuttering. Two groups of graduate speech-language pathology clinicians took part in this ABA study design measuring participant responses to the two videos. Twenty-one participants completed surveys before and after viewing an emotional documentary depicting the life of a young girl who stutters. Another group of 34 graduate clinicians completed surveys before and after viewing a brief factual video exhibiting the immediate amelioration of stuttering behaviors at both normal and fast speaking rates while under the effects of altered auditory feedback. While post-testing results indicated that both of these documentaries were associated with a few changes in perceptions of stuttering, such changes were subtle. Moreover, the few significant perceptual changes found cannot be considered a noteworthy success in modifying graduate clinicians' perceptions of stuttering so that they better resemble the stuttering population described by prior psychological and stuttering research. Future research, along with the fate of current and past methodologies attempting to change the negative stuttering stereotype, is discussed. Educational objectives (1) Readers will become familiarized with the negative stereotypes of persons who stutter; (2) readers will become familiarized with research attempting to modify negative perceptions of people who stutter; and (3) readers will become familiarized with possible explanations for the persistence of negative stuttering stereotypes.

Role of syringeal vibrations in bird vocalizations

The soundgenerating mechanism in the bird syrinx has been the subject of debate. Recent endoscopic imaging of the syrinx during phonation provided evidence for vibrations of membranes and labia, bu...

Effect of altered auditory feedback on people who stutter during scripted telephone conversations.

The effect of altered auditory feedback (AAF) conditions on stuttering during scripted telephone conversations was investigated. Nine adult participants made 15 scripted telephone calls to business in New York City. Alterations in the participants' auditory feedback signal were generated by a commercially available digital signal processor (Casa Futura Technologies Desktop Fluency System Model BTD-400) that shifted participants' speech one-half octave down in frequency, produced a 50-ms delay, or produced non-altered auditory feedback. The AAF effects produced by the digital signal processor were not perceived by the recipients of the telephone calls. The proportion of stuttering events per scripted telephone conversations were significantly reduced in the AAF conditions relative to the non-altered auditory feedback condition (p = .0004). Stuttering frequency was reduced by 55% and 60% for the FAF and DAF, respectively. These findings demonstrate the applicability of this technology to situations of daily living involving telephone use.

Effects of altered auditory feedback on stuttering rates during scripted telephone conversations

Effects of altered auditory feedback on stuttering rates during scripted telephone conversations

The effects of altered auditory feedback on topographic EEG mapping in stuttering subjects

The effects of altered auditory feedback on topographic EEG mapping in stuttering subjects

The effects of auditory feedback from the nucleus cochlear implant on the vowel formant frequencies produced by children and adults.

Cochlear implants provide an auditory signal with which profoundly deaf users may monitor their own speech production. The vowel production of two adults and three children who used the Nucleus multiple-electrode cochlear implant was examined to assess the effect of altered auditory feedback. Productions of words were recorded under conditions where the talkers received auditory feedback (speech processor turned on) and where no auditory feedback was provided (speech processor turned off). Data were collected over 3 days at weekly intervals. First and second formant frequencies were measured and the data were analysed to assess significant differences between auditory feedback conditions, vowel context, and data collection points. Overall, the results varied across talkers, across the data collection days, and depended on the consonant environment of the vowel. However, two effects of auditory feedback were noted. First, there was a generalized shift in first formant frequencies between the processor on and processor off conditions across three of the five subjects, but the shift differed in direction for each subject. Second, for three of the five talkers, the two front vowels /epsilon/ and /i/ were more neutralised in the absence of auditory feedback. However, this effect was less pronounced than that noted by previous studies.