Haas Effect Research Articles

Auditory Global-Local Processing Under Tonal Language Background: Effect of Attention and Autistic Traits.

Neurotypical individuals show a robust "global precedence effect (GPE)" when processing hierarchically structured visual information. However, the auditory domain remains understudied. The current research serves to fill the knowledge gap on auditory global-local processing across the broader autism phenotype under the tonal language background. This study examined auditory global-local processing styles in 37 Mandarin-speaking young adults (age: M = 20.35, SD = 2.32; 19 males) with varying autistic traits. The participants were required to judge global and local pitch structures in nine-tone melodies with both congruent and incongruent conditions under both directed attention and divided attention modes. We found that GPE persisted independent of the attention modes during hierarchical processing. Autistic traits were among the potential contributors that reshaped GPE in auditory global-local processing under a tonal language background. Our study provides an initial investigation into auditory global-local processing among Mandarin-speaking individuals across a range of autistic traits, revealing the presence of the GPE effect during hierarchical pitch structure processing. The advantage of global processing versus local processing expanded with increasing autistic traits, providing further support for the notion that auditory global processing may remain intact in autism and the broader phenotype. We highlight that GPE is a process of coarse-to-fine integration of sensory perception and cognitive feedback iteration, which both top-down and bottom-up processes wield influence on. These findings have implications for the study of atypical auditory processing in autism and may help to refine the early diagnosis and auditory-based intervention for autism. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.28114118.

Role of the Dorsal Cortex of the Inferior Colliculus in the Precedence Effect.

BACKGROUND The precedence effect (PE) is a physiological phenomenon for accurate sound localization in a reverberant environment. Physiological studies of PE have mostly focused on the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (CNIC), which receives ascending and descending projections, as well as projections from the shell of the inferior colliculus (IC) and contralateral IC. However, the role of the dorsal cortex of the IC (DCIC), which receives ascending and descending projections to ensure sound information processing and conduction on PE formation, remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to understand the role, if any, of the DCIC on PE formation in male Sprague Dawley rats. MATERIAL AND METHODS In vivo, 16-channel electrophysiological recordings were performed in anesthetized rats to investigate neuronal responses in the CNIC, after inducing electrolytic lesions in the DCIC. In vitro, the expression of inhibitory gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic receptors in the CNIC was analyzed by Western blot. RESULTS After inducing electrolytic lesions in the DCIC, normalized neural responses of the CNIC to lagging stimuli were significantly increased (P<0.05), half-maximal inter-stimuli delays were shortened (P<0.05), and the expression of GABA A receptor a1 and GABA B receptor 2 decreased (P<0.05). Furthermore, neurons in the CNIC showed a contralateral preference when paired sounds in the free field were presented. CONCLUSIONS Our study suggests that the DCIC could modulate PE formation in the CNIC, potentially involving inhibitory GABAergic mechanisms. This study showed the role of the DCIC on PE formation and proposed a potential structure for identifying likely mechanisms of the PE in the IC.

Global precedence effect in fear generalization and the role of trait anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty.

Fear overgeneralization is widely considered to be a core feature of pathological anxiety, and the excessive spread of fear can be a great burden on patients. Although perceptual processing is a basic process of human cognition, the impact of visual perception recognition on fear generalization has not yet been fully explored. In this study, 69 subjects were recruited to explore the effects of the hierarchical features of stimuli on fear generalization and examine the roles of trait anxiety (TA) and intolerance of uncertainty (IU) in this process. The results reveal that compared with the local features, the subjects showed stronger fear responses to global features of the stimuli, and the weakest fear response was to the reversed features. Furthermore, the results preliminarily suggest that in generalization dominated by global features, TA intensifies the fear response; while in generalization dominated by local features, along with TA, IU makes a unique contribution to increasing the magnitude of fear generalization. These results confirm new potential pathways for fear generalization, specifically the configurational hierarchical features of stimuli. This is explained through object recognition and cognitive bias, implying that cognitive processes and personality traits have interacting effects on fear generalization.

Not feeling it: lack of robust emotion effects on breadth of attention

ABSTRACT Emotional states are believed to broaden or to narrow the focus of attention. However, numerous inconsistent findings call for renewed efforts to understand the conditions under which such effects occur. We conducted a pair of high-powered web experiments. Emotional states were manipulated across valence categories and appraisal dimensions using autobiographical recall (Experiment 1) and emotional images (Experiment 2). Breadth of attention was assessed using the Navon task coupled with induction sensitivity and mouse tracking analyses. We did not find robust evidence for emotional effects on breadth of attention. Negative images led surprisingly to slightly broader attention in Experiment 2, but this may reflect the slow release of cognitive resources from preceding negative stimuli amplifying the global precedence effect. Breadth of attention also had very small positive relationships with goal-congruence appraisal in the first and control appraisal in the second experiment. We also found no evidence for moderation by mood or personality. Taken together, our findings add to the growing list of failures to observe emotional modulation of breadth of attention and call for continued efforts to chart the boundary conditions of these effects.

Method for improving sound projection performance based on linearly constrained minimum power algorithm

Sound projection is a technique that utilizes directional sound sources to project sound wave onto reflective surfaces, aiming to create auditory events in the direction of projected sound, which can be achieved via loudspeaker arrays beamforming. Being limited by the focusing capability of loudspeaker array, the direct sound that reaches the listener earlier than the projected sound can influence the localization perception of projected sound due to the precedence effect. Therefore, for sound projection, it is crucial to reduce the direct sound intensity relative to the projected sound. In this study, a beamforming method of weakening direct sound is proposed to improve the performance of sound projection. Based on the linearly constrained minimum power algorithm, where a beamforming null is set in the direction of direct sound, a beamformer for a 16-unit linear loudspeaker arrays is designed to reduce the level of direct sound. Then, the ratio of reflected sound to direct sound (R/D ratio) is used as a criterion to evaluate the performance of the proposed method by simulation. The results show that the proposed method has significantly higher R/D ratio compared to the traditional time delay method, which validates the effectiveness in reducing the level of direct sound.

A single reflective surface reveals contextual cue-weighting in spatial hearing

Prominent among the factors supporting accurate sound localizatoin in reverberant scenes is the dominance of sound onsets, which carry binaural cues matching the direct sound rather than its echoes. Aspects of onset dominance can be demonstrated synthetically via localization of paired sounds separated by a brief delay (the “precedence effect”)–a rather extreme simplification of reverberation but a useful one for dissecting the roles of single reflections. In 1985, Brad Rakerd and Bill Hartmann published a precedence-like study [JASA 78(2), 524–533] using actual acoustic reflections induced by a single reflective surface positioned within an otherwise-anechoic space. Figure 3 of that paper shows that the effects on localization depend in a complex way on the direction and proximity of the sound source and its reflections. The impacts on binaural acoustic cues are similarly complex. Localization could be predicted by combinations of these cues only if each cue was weighted by its plausibility (i.e., likelihood given the sensory context). With this 1985 study, Rakerd and Hartmann, thus, revealed a second critical factor for accurate spatial hearing in reverberation: the context-dependent weighting of multiple imperfect sensory cues.

Acoustic cues of keyboard mechanics enable auditory localization of upright piano tones.

Piano tone localization at the performer's listening point is a multisensory process involving audition, vision, and upper limb proprioception. The consequent representation of the auditory scene, especially in experienced pianists, is likely also influenced by their memory about the instrument keyboard. Disambiguating such components is not obvious, and first requires an analysis of the acoustic tone localization process to assess the role of auditory feedback in forming this scene. This analysis is complicated by the acoustic behavior of the piano, which does not guarantee the activation of the auditory precedence effect during a tone attack, nor can it provide robust interaural differences during the subsequent free evolution of the sound. In a tone localization task using a Disklavier upright piano (which can be operated remotely and configured to have its hammers hit a damper instead of producing a tone), twenty-three expert musicians, including pianists, successfully recognized the angular position of seven evenly distributed notes across the keyboard. The experiment involved listening to either full piano tones or just the key mechanical noise, with no additional feedback from other senses. This result suggests that the key mechanical noise alone activated the localization process without support from vision and/or limb proprioception. Since the same noise is present in the onset of the full tones, the key mechanics of our piano created a touch precursor in such tones that may be responsible of their correct angular localization by means of the auditory precedence effect. However, the significance of pitch cues arriving at a listener after the touch precursor was not measured when full tones were presented. As these cues characterize a note and, hence, the corresponding key position comprehensively, an open question remains regarding the contribution of pianists' spatial memory of the instrument keyboard to tone localization.

The binding effect of judicial precedents on public administration from the perspective of the Administrative Procedure for Recognizing Liability (PARR)

The binding effect of judicial precedents on public administration from the perspective of the Administrative Procedure for Recognizing Liability (PARR)

The heterogeneity of holistic processing profiles in developmental prosopagnosia: holistic processing is impaired but not absent

ABSTRACT Although it is generally assumed that face recognition relies on holistic processing, whether face recognition deficits observed in Developmental Prosopagnosics (DPs) can be explained by impaired holistic processing is currently under debate. The mixed findings from past studies could be the consequence of DP’s heterogeneous deficit nature and the use of different measures of holistic processing—the inversion, part-whole, and composite tasks—which showed a poor association among each other. The present study aimed to gain further insight into the role of holistic processing in DPs. Groups of DPs and neurotypicals completed three tests measuring holistic face processing and non-face objects (i.e., Navon task). At a group level, DPs showed (1) diminished, but not absent, inversion and part-whole effects, (2) comparable magnitudes of the composite face effect and (3) global precedence effect in the Navon task. However, single-case analyses showed that these holistic processing deficits in DPs are heterogeneous.

Precedence effect for a lagging sound from oblique direction

Precedence effect for a lagging sound from oblique direction

How much multiple paternity should we expect? A study of birds and contrast with mammals.

Parentage analyses via molecular markers have revealed multiple paternity within the broods of polytocous species, reshaping our understanding of animal behavior, ecology, and evolution. In a meta-analysis of multiple paternity in bird and mammal species, we conducted a literature search and found 138 bird and 64 mammal populations with microsatellite DNA paternity results. Bird populations averaged 19.5% multiple paternity and mammals more than twice that level (46.1%). We used a Bayesian approach to construct a null model for how multiple paternity should behave at random among species, under the assumption that all mated males have equal likelihood of siring success, given mean brood size and mean number of sires. We compared the differences between the null model and the actual probabilities of multiple paternity. While a few bird populations fell close to the null model, most did not, averaging 34.0-percentage points below null model predictions; mammals had an average probability of multiple paternity 13.6-percentage points below the null model. Differences between bird and mammal species were also subjected to comparative phylogenetic analyses that generally confirmed our analyses that did not adjust for estimated historical relationships. Birds exhibited extremely low probabilities of multiple paternity, not only compared to mammals but also relative to other major animal taxa. The generally low probability of multiple paternity in birds might be produced by a variety of factors, including behaviors that reflect sexual selection (extreme mate guarding or unifocal female choice) and sperm competition (e.g., precedence effects favoring fertilization by early or late matings).

Forward Masking of Auditory Evoked Potentials in Dolphins in Monaural and Dichotic Sound Stimulation: Implications for the Precedence Effect and Biosonar

Forward Masking of Auditory Evoked Potentials in Dolphins in Monaural and Dichotic Sound Stimulation: Implications for the Precedence Effect and Biosonar

Investigation of sound direction sense by effect of sound source height for voice evacuation guidance system in VR space

We previously have been developed a voice evacuation guidance system using the precedence effect, which is a psychoacoustic effect. The system can be used to facilitate rapid evacuation to a safe area in environments with poor visibility, including those with smoke and dust, because it uses sound to guide evacuees. To apply this system to a building, it is necessary to construct a sound space suitable for the system. In particular, it adjusts sound in the field, including speaker position and sound pressure level setting. In the present study, we applied virtual reality (VR) technology in designing the system. If the basic design can be completed in the virtual space using VR technology, then the constructing time for the system can be substantially reduced because there is no need to experiment. In this report, we verified the sense of direction by adjusting the installation height of the sound source in the VR space. We confirmed that we could obtain the same level of evaluation characteristics for the precedence effect in both the real and virtual spaces.

Spatial cognition in glaucoma: Constricted field of view weakens the perception of global configurations

ABSTRACT We tested whether the global precedence effect shifts towards local precedence when the visual field is reduced by glaucoma. Fifteen patients, 15 age-matched and 15 young controls were presented with compound letters and asked to recognize a target letter occurring randomly at the global (target-large) or at the local (target-small) level. Small stimuli elicited a global precedence effect in all three groups with shorter response times for target-large than for target-small but accuracy was at chance for target-small in patients. Large stimuli produced a shift towards a local precedence effect with shorter response times for target-small than for target-large in all three groups but accuracy was at chance for target-large in patients. The results suggest that glaucoma impairs perception at different spatial scales. The recognition of small letters in the fovea is affected by crowding. The recognition of global configurations is impaired by reduced sensitivity in the peripheral visual field.

Predicting virtual acoustic source properties in a stereophonic sound-field using the coherence properties of the acoustic velocity vector field

It is widely understood that the mutual coherence properties, including the relative phase, of the channel signals in a stereophonic sound reproduction system significantly influence a listener’s perception of the resulting virtual acoustic sources. This talk presents a quantitative model that combines wavefield coherence theory, the acoustic velocity vector, and known perceptual cues to make quantitative predictions of the perceived location and spatial spread of horizontally placed stereophonic virtual sources as a function of the mutual coherence properties of the stereo channel signals. It will be seen that a small number of parameters, including the intrinsic coherence time of the source signal, the relative phase of the channels, and perceptual averaging times, account for most of the variation in the cues that determine virtual acoustic source localization. The output of the coherence model will be compared to the results of earlier experiments, including ones investigating the “phaseyness” problem and precedence effect. Additionally, the potential of this model to account for reverberation in the listening space will be demonstrated.

The localization of virtual source reproduced by the crosstalk cancellation system under different direct-to-reverberation energy ratios conditions

This study explores the localization of virtual sources reproduced by the crosstalk cancellation (CTC) system under reverberation environments with different direct-to-reverberation energy ratios (DRRs). Binaural room impulse responses in rectangle rooms are simulated by high-order image source method. Two independent key variables, the reverberation time (RT) and the distance of the sound source to the listener, are employed to manipulate DRR through simulation. Subsequently, a subjective localization experiment based on the CTC system is virtually conducted using earphone reproduction. The results show that the azimuth localization in horizontal plane is almost impervious by RT but is subjected to the change of the source distance. Specifically, as the distance of sound source increases, the perceived azimuth of lateral virtual sources exhibits a bias towards the front, accompanied by larger variances. The results indicate that reflections with small delays have a more detrimental effect on sound localization compared to the late reverberation with large intensity, which may be associated with the inhibition of late reflections based on the precedence effect. Additionally, the localization data are analyzed and explained using binaural cues, including the interaural cross-correlation coefficient, the interaural time difference (ITD), and interaural level difference (ILD).

Echo threshold measurement based on headphone presentation

Echo threshold(ET), as the upper threshold of the precedence effect, refers to the critical delay value when the listener transitions from perceiving a single fused sound image to two clear and separated sound images in the presence of two relatively delayed sounds. This study investigates the ET measurement using two kinds of headphone-based virtual sound source presentation methods, i.e., interaural time difference (ITD) lateralization and virtual auditory synthesis (VAS). The “lead-lag” paradigm was adopted in the experiment and an adaptive up-down procedure was used to measure ETs of four stimuli, including noise burst, speech, music and pink noise. The results demonstrate that ET is related to the type of signal and the presentation method. Long-duration signals (i.e., speech, music and pink noise) have greater ETs than short-duration signal(noise burst), which is due to the fact that the temporal overlap between lead and lag sound of long-duration signal would suppress the identification of the lag. ETs of ITD-based presentation were significantly greater than that of VAS-based method for long-duration signal, which indicate that different spatial cues produced by different presentation methods would influence the ET of long-duration signal.

A Holistic System of English Learning Strategies Grounded on Successful EFL Learners

This study investigated successful EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students’ learning strategies in Chinese universities and explored the classification system of English learning strategies, to guide EFL students how to learn English. A total of 24 successful English majors and non-English majors in Chinese universities were interviewed about their English learning strategies and experiences, which were coded in three stages with the grounded theory approach. About 767 items of specific strategies were identified and merged into 66 open codes which constructed four categories: self-management, cognitive, affective, and resource-using strategies. Furthermore, the core of successful English learners’ strategies was generalized: to comprehend and learn English comprehensively in whole contexts, briefly, holistic learning. This idea coincides with the global precedence effect.

Impaired Global Precedence Effect in Severe Alcohol Use Disorder and Korsakoff's Syndrome: A Pilot Exploration through a Global/Local Visual Paradigm.

In healthy populations, visual abilities are characterized by a faster and more efficient processing of global features in a stimulus compared to local ones. This phenomenon is known as the global precedence effect (GPE), which is demonstrated by (1) a global advantage, resulting in faster response times for global features than local features and (2) interference from global distractors during the identification of local targets, but not vice versa. This GPE is essential for adapting visual processing in everyday life (e.g., extracting useful information from complex scenes). We investigated how the GPE is affected in patients with Korsakoff's syndrome (KS) compared to patients with severe alcohol use disorder (sAUD). Three groups (including healthy controls, patients with KS and patients with sAUD) completed a global/local visual task in which predefined targets appeared at the global or local level during either congruent or incongruent (i.e., interference) situations. The results showed that healthy controls (N = 41) presented a classical GPE, while patients with sAUD (N = 16) presented neither a global advantage nor global interference effects. Patients with KS (N = 7) presented no global advantage and an inversion of the interference effect, characterized by strong interference from local information during global processing. The absence of the GPE in sAUD and the interference from local information in KS have implications in daily-life situations, providing preliminary data for a better understanding of how these patients perceive their visual world.

Spatial-dependent suppressive aftereffect produced by a sound in the rat's inferior colliculus is partially dependent on local inhibition.

In a natural acoustic environment, a preceding sound can suppress the perception of a succeeding sound which can lead to auditory phenomena such as forward masking and the precedence effect. The degree of suppression is dependent on the relationship between the sounds in sound quality, timing, and location. Correlates of such phenomena exist in sound-elicited activities of neurons in hearing-related brain structures. The present study recorded responses to pairs of leading-trailing sounds from ensembles of neurons in the rat's inferior colliculus. Results indicated that a leading sound produced a suppressive aftereffect on the response to a trailing sound when the two sounds were colocalized at the ear contralateral to the site of recording (i.e., the ear that drives excitatory inputs to the inferior colliculus). The degree of suppression was reduced when the time gap between the two sounds was increased or when the leading sound was relocated to an azimuth at or close to the ipsilateral ear. Local blockage of the type-A γ-aminobutyric acid receptor partially reduced the suppressive aftereffect when a leading sound was at the contralateral ear but not at the ipsilateral ear. Local blockage of the glycine receptor partially reduced the suppressive aftereffect regardless of the location of the leading sound. Results suggest that a sound-elicited suppressive aftereffect in the inferior colliculus is partly dependent on local interaction between excitatory and inhibitory inputs which likely involves those from brainstem structures such as the superior paraolivary nucleus. These results are important for understanding neural mechanisms underlying hearing in a multiple-sound environment.