Perception Of Length Research Articles

Arabic consonant length perception depends on the relative speech rate of the distal context.

Listeners adapt to the speech rate of talkers. Many studies of speech rate adaptation have focused on the influence of rate information on the perception of word segmentation or segmental perception in English. The effects of immediately adjacent (i.e., proximal) information are generally strong on the perception of both segments and segmentation, but the effects of rate information temporally remote from (i.e., distal to) ambiguous speech signals are less clear, especially for segments. The present study examines the influence of distal rate adaptation on the perception of geminate consonants in Arabic that straddle a morpheme boundary (i.e., heteromorphemic geminates). Participants heard sentences that at one point were ambiguous to the presence of the Arabic definite clitic al, which, under certain circumstances, can be realized as gemination of the subsequent word-initial consonant. The sentences were either recorded with or without the clitic and with three possible distal speech rates in the context of the clitic. They transcribed the sentences and reported what they heard, and those transcriptions were analyzed for the contribution of the original recording and the distal speech rate on the perception of al. It was found that the perception of geminates in Arabic is rate dependent. This extends the knowledge of the effects of distal rate cues to Arabic, showing that Arabic geminate consonants are perceived relative to the rate of the distal context.

Change in lower limb length following total knee arthroplasty

BackgroundLength variations of the lower limbs after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) constitute a poorly evaluated parameter and can be associated with worse functional outcomes. The objectives of this study were to: 1) describe the variations in the lower limb length after TKA according to the digital accuracy of the computerized navigation system used for prosthesis implantation, 2) describe patient sensation of limb length modification at 3 months postoperatively and to identify its risk factors, 3) identify factors affecting lower limb length modification and to analyze the predictive value causing in the patient the sensation of lower limb discrepancy. HypothesisWe hypothesize that there may be a lower limb length discrepancy after TKA, which may cause some distress to the patient. Patients and methodsThis prospective study included 100 TKAs implanted with navigation gap-balanced adjusted mechanical alignment. Were compared the length of the lower limb before and after implantation and the patient’s changes in leg length perception at 3 months postoperatively. A subgroup analysis was performed according to preoperative knee deformities: varus knee was an HKA < 177 °, normal knee was an HKA between 117°-183 ° and valgus was an HKA >183 °. ResultsNinety-seven out of 100 patients experienced lengthening compared to the preoperative ipsilateral length, and twenty-three experienced lengthening greater than 10 mm. The mean lengthening was 7.3 mm (maximum 24.8 mm). Lengthening was significantly greater in valgus knees 9.9 mm [range, 2.0-24.8] than in varus 7.2 mm [range, 1.46-19.4] and normal knees 4.11 mm [range, 0.4-11.4] (p < 0.05). The correction of frontal and sagittal deformation were risk factors for limb length modification (OR = 0.595; 95% CI (0.544-0.816) (p = 0.001), OR = 0.396; 95% CI (0.351-0.653) (p = 0.001)).Twenty-two patients reported a sensation of limb length change: 11 (50%) reported equalization, whereas the remainder reported lengthening with a leg length difference. The preoperative sensation of lower limb length inequality was the unique factor affecting the patient’s perception post-surgery (OR = 37.50; 95% CI (9.730-144.526) (p = 0.0001)). A threshold value of 6.6 mm was identified for the sensation of limb length modification. ConclusionNavigation is a tool for describing ipsilateral leg length variations after TKA. These variations are significant and perhaps explain some patient dissatisfaction. A partial correction of the frontal deformity according to the knee phenotype could limit the risk of modification of the native length. Level of evidenceIV; Descriptive therapeutic prospective study.

Vpliv besednega naglasa na zaznavo dolžine japonskega samoglasnika: Dokazi iz hrvaščine

The present paper examines the effect of Japanese lexical accent on the perception of Japanese vowel length in Croatian listeners. Lexical accent patterns of the two languages, both having phonologically distinctive length and pitch, are contrasted. A three-alternative choice identification test was conducted involving all combinations of three pitch patterns and two positions of a long vowel in bisyllabic words. Two groups of participants were Croatian students of Japanese and those without any prior knowledge. The results showed not only the effects of pitch pattern but also of the position of the long vowel (initial or final) and group. Participants had the highest error rates for pitch pattern LHL, followed by HLL, regardless of the group and position of the long vowel.

The Usefulness of Virtual Reality in Symptom Management during Chemotherapy in Lung Cancer Patients: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

Background: Virtual reality (VR) emerges as a promising non-pharmacological intervention for managing symptoms and providing distraction during chemotherapy. This study aims to assess VR's effectiveness on cancer-related symptoms, vital signs, and the patients' perception of chemotherapy in lung cancer patients. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted on 100 patients. Participants were allocated into an intervention group (n = 55), which experienced immersive VR, and a comparison group (n = 45), which received usual care. Data were collected through questionnaires and checklists, including feedback on the VR experience, pain, vital signs, and common cancer symptoms, assessed through the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale. Results: VR had a significant impact on reducing the perception of chemotherapy length. Patients reported high levels of satisfaction and tolerability. No adverse events were observed. VR did not have significant influence on pain intensity or vital signs. The only exceptions were oxygen saturation, where a significant difference (p = 0.02) was reported, and the perception of chemotherapy duration. Conclusions: As a non-pharmacological intervention, VR proves to be beneficial in minimizing the perceived length of chemotherapy sessions for lung cancer patients, enhancing their overall treatment experience. The intervention was found to be a safe, feasible, and well-accepted distraction technique. Future research should explore VR's potential effects on a wider range of symptoms and evaluate its impact on long-term outcomes.

Perception of reverberation length in rooms with reverberation enhancement systems.

This study examined the perception of reverberation length in rooms equipped with a reverberation enhancement system (RES). In the past, many acousticians have studied the correlation between subjective reverberation ratings and objective criteria in concert halls; the effect of RES on these ratings has not been thoroughly investigated. The decay of acoustic energy in rooms with RES has double-slope characteristics, which is different from most impulse responses recorded in rooms without such a system. The study showed a difference in the evaluation of perceived stop-chord and running reverberation length. The results also suggest that not only the initial part, but also the latter part of the impulse response should be considered when evaluating the perception of reverberation length. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between subjective perception and objective measures of reverberation length and provide insight into the perceptual evaluation of acoustic environments.

Prelingually Deaf Children With Cochlear Implants Show Better Perception of Voice Cues and Speech in Competing Speech Than Postlingually Deaf Adults With Cochlear Implants.

Postlingually deaf adults with cochlear implants (CIs) have difficulties with perceiving differences in speakers' voice characteristics and benefit little from voice differences for the perception of speech in competing speech. However, not much is known yet about the perception and use of voice characteristics in prelingually deaf implanted children with CIs. Unlike CI adults, most CI children became deaf during the acquisition of language. Extensive neuroplastic changes during childhood could make CI children better at using the available acoustic cues than CI adults, or the lack of exposure to a normal acoustic speech signal could make it more difficult for them to learn which acoustic cues they should attend to. This study aimed to examine to what degree CI children can perceive voice cues and benefit from voice differences for perceiving speech in competing speech, comparing their abilities to those of normal-hearing (NH) children and CI adults. CI children's voice cue discrimination (experiment 1), voice gender categorization (experiment 2), and benefit from target-masker voice differences for perceiving speech in competing speech (experiment 3) were examined in three experiments. The main focus was on the perception of mean fundamental frequency (F0) and vocal-tract length (VTL), the primary acoustic cues related to speakers' anatomy and perceived voice characteristics, such as voice gender. CI children's F0 and VTL discrimination thresholds indicated lower sensitivity to differences compared with their NH-age-equivalent peers, but their mean discrimination thresholds of 5.92 semitones (st) for F0 and 4.10 st for VTL indicated higher sensitivity than postlingually deaf CI adults with mean thresholds of 9.19 st for F0 and 7.19 st for VTL. Furthermore, CI children's perceptual weighting of F0 and VTL cues for voice gender categorization closely resembled that of their NH-age-equivalent peers, in contrast with CI adults. Finally, CI children had more difficulties in perceiving speech in competing speech than their NH-age-equivalent peers, but they performed better than CI adults. Unlike CI adults, CI children showed a benefit from target-masker voice differences in F0 and VTL, similar to NH children. Although CI children's F0 and VTL voice discrimination scores were overall lower than those of NH children, their weighting of F0 and VTL cues for voice gender categorization and their benefit from target-masker differences in F0 and VTL resembled that of NH children. Together, these results suggest that prelingually deaf implanted CI children can effectively utilize spectrotemporally degraded F0 and VTL cues for voice and speech perception, generally outperforming postlingually deaf CI adults in comparable tasks. These findings underscore the presence of F0 and VTL cues in the CI signal to a certain degree and suggest other factors contributing to the perception challenges faced by CI adults.

Daphnia uses its circadian clock for short-day recognition in environmental sex determination

Some organisms have developed a mechanism called environmental sex determination (ESD), which allows environmental cues, rather than sex chromosomes or genes, to determine offspring sex.1,2,3,4 ESD is advantageous to optimize sex ratios according to environmental conditions, enhancing reproductive success.5,6 However, the process by which organisms perceive and translate diverse environmental signals into offspring sex remains unclear. Here, we analyzed the environmental perception mechanism in the crustacean, Daphnia pulex, a seasonal (photoperiodic) ESD arthropod, capable of producing females under long days and males under short days.7,8,9,10 Through breeding experiments, we found that their circadian clock likely contributes to perception of day length. To explore this further, we created a genetically modified daphnid by knocking out the clock gene, period, using genome editing. Knockout disrupted the daphnid's ability to sustain diel vertical migration (DVM) under constant darkness, driven by the circadian clock, and leading them to produce females regardless of day length. Additionally, when exposed to an analog of juvenile hormone (JH), an endocrine factor synthesized in mothers during male production, or subjected to unfavorable conditions of high density and low food availability, these knockout daphnids produced males regardless of day length, like wild-type daphnids. Based on these findings, we propose that recognizing short days via the circadian clock is the initial step in sex determination. This recognition subsequently triggers male production by signaling the endocrine system, specifically via the JH signal. Establishment of a connection between these two processes may be the crucial element in evolution of ESD in Daphnia.

(050) Safety and Efficacy of Hyaluronic Acid Injections Using the UroFill™ Technique for Penile Girth Enhancement

Abstract Introduction Penile girth enhancement (PGE) has gained significant popularity and is in high demand among individuals seeking to improve their sexual experiences and self-confidence. Perception of penile length and girth are integral components of the male psyche. Unfortunately, current treatment options for motivated patients looking to enhance penile girth fall short of patient and clinical expectations. While the safety of penile augmentation methods has been a subject of debate, hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers have demonstrated proven efficacy and safety, offering potential solutions for those interested in PGE. Advancements in the field of penile cosmetics with HA has led to the development of the UroFill™ patented technique for PGE. Objective To assess the safety and efficacy of injecting HA using the UroFill™ technique for PGE. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of men undergoing penile girth enhancement with FDA-approved HA fillers between October 2021 and March 2023. Patients completed a series of validated questionnaires including the COPS-P, IIEF, and BAPS. Peri- and post-procedure adverse events were closely monitored. Physician follow-up appointments and patient questionnaires were utilized to identify and document these events. The determination of unsatisfactory cosmetic outcomes and the need for revision was made by the treating physician in consultation with the patient. The UroFill™ standardized technique was employed for all injections. Results A total of 300 men (mean age: 37, range 21-80) received treatment using the UroFill™ standardized technique. 4,879 injections were performed over this time. Mean injection volume was 16.5 cc (range: 4-78cc) of HA once treatment had been completed. The study observed an average of 3.85 injection sessions (range: 1-44 sessions) and 5.25 post-injection modeling sessions (range 0-55) per patient. After receiving HA dermal fillers, patients experienced local injection site reactions such as bruising, tenderness, swelling, and erythema. These events were generally mild in intensity, and no patient reported bruising lasting longer than 7 days. None of the patients in this cohort required removal of filler. Adverse reactions were limited to 8 cases of localized skin infections which were successfully treated with conservative antibiotic therapy. All localized skin infections were a result of premature sexual intercourse or shaving in the area following injection. Patients reported high levels of satisfaction with 272/300 (91%) reporting “completely satisfied” or “mostly satisfied”. Mean filler retention was 90% after 12 months. Conclusions This study provides evidence that the UroFill™ standardized technique for penile girth enhancement using HA fillers is both safe and efficacious. With no instances of filler removal and successful management of adverse reactions, the safety profile of HA fillers is further supported. These findings reinforce HA’s potential for sustainable penile enhancement. It is essential these procedures be performed in the described fashion by qualified urological professionals. Disclosure Any of the authors act as a consultant, employee or shareholder of an industry for: Coloplast, Boston Scientific, UroFill.

Australian English listeners' perception of Japanese vowel length reveals underlying phonological knowledge.

Speech perception patterns are strongly influenced by one's native phonology. It is generally accepted that native English listeners rely primarily on spectral cues when perceiving vowels, making limited use of duration cues because English lacks phonemic vowel length. However, the literature on vowel perception by English listeners shows a marked bias toward American English, with the phonological diversity among different varieties of English largely overlooked. The current study investigates the perception of Japanese vowel length contrasts by native listeners of Australian English, which is reported to use length to distinguish vowels unlike most other varieties of English. Twenty monolingual Australian English listeners participated in a forced-choice experiment, where they categorized Japanese long and short vowels as most similar to their native vowel categories. The results showed a general tendency for Japanese long and short vowels (e.g., /ii, i/) to be categorized as Australian English long and short vowels (e.g., /i:, ɪ/ as in "heed," "hid"), respectively, which contrasts with American English listeners' categorization of all Japanese vowels as tense regardless of length (e.g., /ii, i/ as both "heed") as reported previously. Moreover, this duration-based categorization was found not only for Australian English categories that contrast in duration alone (e.g., /ɐ:, ɐ/ as in "hard," "hud") but also for those that contrast in both duration and spectra (e.g., /o:, ɔ/ as in "hoard," "hod"), despite their spectral mismatch from the corresponding Japanese vowels (e.g., /aa, a/ and /oo, o/). The results, therefore, suggest that duration cues play a prominent role across all vowel categories-even nonnative-for Australian English listeners. The finding supports a feature-based framework of speech perception, where phonological features like length are shared across multiple categories, rather than the segment-based framework that is currently dominant, which regards acoustic cues like duration as being tied to a specific native segmental category. Implications for second and foreign language learning are discussed.

Probing the phonological-coding deficit in dyslexia with vowel length perception

There is an established linkage between dyslexia and anomalous processing of speech sounds. We probed this in a Danish language context with vowel length tasks based on “kugle” ball /ku:lə/ and sequential deletions of the vowel portion to yield “kulde” coldness /kulə/. Vowel length continua are methodologically advantageous as they do not involve the perception of a sudden phonetic change that may instead tap other auditory processing abilities. Identification and discrimination tasks were administered to tertiary (n = 28), reading impaired (n = 26), and lower secondary students (n = 20), and the latter were approximately aged matched to the reading-impaired group. Identification functions derived from regression modelling of the responses showed that the dyslexics had significantly flatter curves than the other groups. Moreover, the secondary and dyslexic groups differed at the long vowel extremity of the continuum. Discrimination results showed that mean peak sensitivity of the tertiary students was higher than that of the secondary and dyslexic students. These results indicate that the phonological-coding deficit observed in dyslexics may be indexed by vowel length identification. Furthermore, identification results suggest that the nature of the phonological-coding deficit concomitant with dyslexia may stem from a lack of precision in processing the minimally modified longer vowel stimuli.

The psychophysics of affordance perception: Stevens' power law scaling of perceived maximum forward reachability with an object.

The literatures on affordance perception and psychophysics are seminal in the basic study of perception and action. Nevertheless, the application of classic psychophysical methodologies/analysis to the study of affordance perception remains unexplored. In four experiments, we investigated the Stevens' power law scaling of affordance perception. Participants reported maximum forward reaching ability with a series of rods (both seated and standing) for themselves and another person (confederate). Participants also reported a property of the rod set that has been explored in previous psychophysical experiments and changes in equal measure with forward reach-with-ability (length). In all, we found that affordance perception reports (β = .32) were an underaccelerated function of actual changes in reaching ability compared with relatively less accelerated length reports (β = .73). Affordance perception scaled with stimulus magnitude more similarly to brightness perception than length perception. Furthermore, affordance perception reports scaled similarly regardless of the actor (self and other), task context (seated and standing), or idiosyncrasies of the measurement procedure (controlling for distance compression effects), while length perception reports were sensitive to location/distance compression effects. We offer empirical and theoretical considerations, along with pathways for future research.

Independent short- and long-term dependencies in perception.

Perception is biased by stimulus history. Both long-term effects such as the central-tendency bias (CTB) and short-term effects such as serial dependence (SD) have been described, but research into the two has remained largely separate. The sources of these effects, however, are highly correlated in stimulus statistics, which can result in a misinterpretation of experimental data. We compared CTB and SD in the perception of color and line length. Observers judged the relative hue or length of consecutive stimuli in a delayed-matching task. Two interstimulus intervals were used to investigate whether elapsed time or the number of stimulus occurrences was more important for SD. We estimated biases by fitting psychometric functions to the data split based on the history features, and we also fit generalized linear mixed models with either CTB, SD, or both included as regressors. We found biases to both recent stimulus history and the cumulative average of stimulus values for both color and line length judgments. The strength and pattern of each of the biases depended on whether all sources of bias were included in the analysis. Within the range of interstimulus intervals tested, the number of intervening stimuli was more important than elapsed time for SD. We conclude that both SD and CTB independently affect perceptual judgments, and that one effect is not an artifact caused by the other. Failing to consider both effects in data analysis can give an erroneous picture of the phenomenon under study.

Patient perception of leg length after total hip arthroplasty does not correlate with sagittal lumbar spine stiffness, history of spinal pathology or fusion.

Although spinal pathology or fusion can change patients' posture and pelvic orientation, their correlation with perception of limb length discrepancy (LLD) after total hip arthroplasty (THA) is not well understood. We hypothesised that LLD perception after THA would not correlate with a history of spinal pathology, fusion or sagittal lumbar spine stiffness among patients who underwent THA. Four hundred consecutive patients who underwent THA and had a complete set of anteroposterior and lateral EOS® imaging in standing and sitting positions were included in this retrospective case-control study. All patients underwent THA between 2011 and 2020. Sagittal lumbar spine stiffness was measured by changes in lumbar lordosis and sacral slope from the standing to the sitting position (lumbar spine stiffness: standing sacral slope-sitting sacral slope < 10°). Anatomical and functional lower extremity length, change in the centre of hip rotation, coronal and sagittal knee alignment, and hindfoot height were measured. Multiple logistic regression was used to investigate the correlation between patient perceptions of LLD, and the variables found to be significant in the univariate analysis. There was a substantial difference between the patients with and without LLD perceptions regarding axial pelvic rotation (p = 0.001), knee flexum-recurvatum (p = 0.007) and hindfoot height (p = 0.004). There was no significant difference between patients with and without LLD perceptions regarding differences in femoral length (p = 0.06), history of spine pathology or fusion (p = 0.128) and lumbar spine stiffness (p = 0.955). Our study found no significant correlation between perceptions of LLD after THA and spinal fusion or lumbar spine stiffness. Changes in the position of the centre of hip rotation can affect the functional leg length. Surgeons should consult patients regarding other factors, such as knee alignment or hind-/midfoot pathologies, as well as compensatory mechanisms, such as axial pelvic rotation, that could affect perceptions of LLD.

Perception of length and orientation in dry immersion.

How does gravity (or lack thereof) affect sensory-motor processing? We analyze sensorimotor estimation dynamics for line segments with varying direction (orientation) in a 7-day dry immersion (DI), a ground-based model of gravitational unloading. The measurements were carried out before the start of the DI, on the first, third, fifth and seventh days of the DI, and after its completion. At the memorization stage, the volunteers led the leading hand along the visible segment on a touchscreen display, and at the reproduction stage they repeated this movement on an empty screen. A control group followed the same procedure without DI. Both in the DI and control groups, when memorizing, the overall error in estimating the lengths and directions of the segments was small and did not have pronounced dynamics; when reproducing, an oblique effect (higher variability of responses to oblique orientations compared to cardinal ones) was obtained. We then separated biases (systematic error) and uncertainty (random error) in subjects' responses. At the same time, two opposite trends were more pronounced in the DI group during the DI. On the one hand the cardinal bias (a repulsion of orientation estimates away from cardinal axes) and, to a small extent, the variability of direction estimates decreased. On the other hand, the overestimation bias in length estimates increased. Such error pattern strongly supports the hypotheses of the vector encoding, in which the direction and length of the planned movement are encoded independently of each other when the DI disrupts primarily the movement length encoding.

Omit needless words: Sentence length perception.

Short sentences improve readability. Short sentences also promote social justice through accessibility and inclusiveness. Despite this, much remains unknown about sentence length perception-an important factor in producing readable writing. Accordingly, we conducted a psychophysical study using procedures from Signal Detection Theory to examine sentence length perception in naive adults. Participants viewed real-world full-page text samples and judged whether a bolded target sentence contained more or fewer than 17 words. The experiment yielded four findings. First, naïve adults perceived sentence length in real-world text samples quickly (median = 300-400 ms) and precisely (median = ~90% correct). Second, flipping real-world text samples upside-down generated no reaction-time cost and nearly no loss in the precision of sentence length perception. This differs from the large inversion effects that characterize other highly practiced, real-world perceptual tasks involving canonically oriented stimuli, most notably face perception and reading. Third, participants significantly underestimated the length of mirror-reversed sentences-but not upside-down, nor standard sentences. This finding parallels participants' familiarity with commonly occurring left-justified right-ragged text, and suggests a novel demonstration of left-lateralized anchoring in scene syntax. Fourth, error patterns demonstrated that participants achieved their high speed, high precision sentence-length judgments by heuristically counting text lines, not by explicitly counting words. This suggests practical advice for writing instructors to offer students. When copy editing, students can quickly and precisely identify their long sentences via a line-counting heuristic, e.g., "a 17-word sentence spans about 1.5 text lines". Students can subsequently improve a long sentence's readability and inclusiveness by omitting needless words.

Chemical and Sensory Effects of Cofermentation and Blending of Malbec and Merlot Wines from the Central Coast of California

Background and Aims. Cofermentation and blending are traditional winemaking practices. This study reports their comparative chemical and sensory outcomes. Methods and Results. Malbec and Merlot were made into monovarietal wines, cofermented (COF), blended postalcoholic (PAF), and postmalolactic fermentation (PMLF), at a 50/50 proportion. Wines were followed up to 3 years of bottle aging. Tannins were 50% higher in monovarietal Merlot wines, which improved production of large polymeric pigments in Merlot-based cofermented and blended wines. Addition of Malbec favored production of small polymeric pigments. After 3 years of bottle aging, polymeric pigments were higher in cofermented and blended wines. PMLF blended wines showed 15% improved copigmentation and 25% increase in wine colour. The perception of wine length was positively correlated with red fruit aroma (R2 = 0.94 andp=0.006) and negatively correlated with earthy aroma (R2 = 0.91 andp=0.012). Conclusions. Blending postalcoholic fermentation highlighted more of the individual character of each monovarietal wine in the final blend. Cofermentation and postmalolactic fermentation blending tended to equalize the sensory profile of the resulting wines but also showed higher complexity of aromas than monovarietal wines. Significance of the Study. Cofermentation and blending are both suitable winemaking practices for increasing the polymeric pigment content and the sensory complexity of the resulting wines.

The long and the short of vowel length perception in Danish.

Danish is a quantity language in which the length of vowels is either short or long. This study investigates vowel length in order to determine the degree to which we can ascribe the conventional categorical tag to vowel quantity perception. In a pilot study (n = 18) the gradual shortening of long vowels was identified as methodologically preferable for deriving stimuli continua, as complete identification functions could be fitted to the mean data. We employed this method to derive stimuli for identification and discrimination experiments (n = 32) that included the words used in the pilot and another word pair. This pair has phonetically similar variation in vowel duration although, due to recent language change, quantity is no longer contrastive. Results from the phonologically contrastive word pairs showed sigmoidal identification functions and discrimination peaks in the middle of the continua, while the identification slope for the non-contrastive pair was approximately linear and there was no clear discrimination peak. These differences show that the perception of speech contrasts is influenced by the linguistic experience of listeners as well as auditory and articulatory factors.

The quantitative research on length and area perception: A guidance on shape encoding in visual interface

Shape encoding is one of the most important ways to convey information in a visual interface. Length and area are two crucial visual design elements for shape encoding. By exploring the quantitative research of length and area perception, we hope to provide a basis for shape encoding in a visual interface. Three groups of visual estimation experiments were conducted to investigate the perceived quantitative difference in length and area. A total of 32 observers (12 men and 20 women, ages ranging from 20 to 26 years, Mean = 21.7, SD = 1.9) were asked to perform three visual estimation tasks. Observers' subjective estimation variation was measured as a function of the following independent variables: length estimation, absolute area, and relative area estimation. The results showed that there was no computational noise in length perception. The span of shape is the primary estimation element for area estimation; In addition, length estimations of solid and dashed lines obey Weber's law (R2 = 0.997), while for the relative area ratio, R2 = 0.636, indicating somewhat less linearity, and the perceptual sensitivity is square compared to a circle, which is more sensitive than triangle; Finally, the separation effect appeared in the estimation of relative area, and there is a specific logarithmic relationship between the length and the area perception bias. The findings of this study provide valuable guidelines for designing more efficient and user-friendly shape encoding and visual interfaces in the future.

Cross-language perception of Japanese consonant length by speakers from Italian- and Mandarin-speaking backgrounds

This study compared individuals from two first language (L1) backgrounds (Italian, Mandarin) to determine how they may differ in their perception of Japanese consonant length (i.e. singleton vs. geminate) according to the phonemic status of length in L1 and experience with Japanese. The participants included two groups of non-native learners of Japanese: 14 native Italian speakers (NI + Japanese), 18 native Mandarin speakers (NM + Japanese) and two control groups: 14 native Italian (NI – Japanese) speakers naïve to Japanese, 10 native Japanese (NJ) speakers. The participants’ length perception accuracy was examined in a forced-choice identification task. The NJ listeners hardly misperceived any tokens, but the non-native listeners were generally accurate (&gt; 85%) in identifying the Japanese length category. The NI – Japanese group was slightly (albeit non-significantly) more accurate than the NM + Japanese group, suggesting the possibility that the use of phonemic length in L1 was facilitative. The direction of misperception (i.e. singleton as geminate or geminate as singleton) differed according to different group. Non-native learners’ results also provided evidence for plasticity in cross-linguistic perception in adulthood.

The role of time perception in intertemporal decision-making: New exploration of time decision-making model

<p id="p00005">Intertemporal decision-making is very frequent in life, and they require individuals to weigh the outcomes at different points of time before making a choice. Time and value are the basic dimensions of intertemporal decision-making, and decision-makers have to consider value as well as more about the impact of time interval. Although many studies have explored the value dimension, there are still many doubts in the time dimension. A growing body of research suggests that people's subjective perception of the time interval, as opposed to the objective time interval, is the direct factor influencing the intertemporal decision. Therefore, the traditional exponential discount and hyperbolic models do not explain the variability in intertemporal decision-making in terms of time perception. How does time perception affect individuals' intertemporal decision-making? What are the theoretical and neural mechanisms behind the role of time perception? What are the shortcomings of the existing theoretical models? Answering these queries is essential for further research on the relationship between time perception and intertemporal decision-making. <br/>The role of time perception on intertemporal decision-making mainly consists of three ways: (1) Time length perception, which refers to people's subjective estimation of the distance of delay time. The shorter the perceived time length, the less patience people have to wait for the delayed benefit. (2) Time resource perception, which refers to the estimation of how much time resources people have at their disposal. The less time resources people perceive, the more they prefer immediate benefits. (3) Time frame perception, which refers to the change of time description will affect individuals' decision preferences. For example, when the direction of time points to the future, and people are more likely to magnify the value of future gains subjectively. <br/>In terms of the neural mechanisms underlying the role of temporal perception, intertemporal decision-making at the micro-level is closely related to the activation of temporal length perception, subjective value assessment, and impulsivity-related brain regions. In contrast, intertemporal decision-making is closely related to cortico-limbic-striatal neural circuits at the macro level. Researchers have proposed different theoretical models to explain the behavioral dimension of the role of temporal perception. The mainstream theories mainly include the logarithmic/exponential time discount model, the perceived time based model, and the multi-attribute drift diffusion model. The logarithmic/exponential time discount model is constructed based on the exponential discount model, which replaces the original objective time distance with time length perception. The perceived time based model is built to describe the variability of individual time perception. The Multi-attribute drift diffusion model is mainly used to describe the contribution of the attention to the time or value dimension of the decision-making. We believe that the above models only expose the mechanism of time perception from one aspect of the psychological process and lack a unified theory to describe the process of intertemporal decision-making as a whole. In general, the existing models have two limitations: (1) The effect of time perception on intertemporal decision-making differs between the long and short time spacing conditions. (2) People's preferences for intertemporal decision-making differ in actual and expected situations. In order to more accurately describe and explain the psychological mechanism of time perception influencing intertemporal decision making, future studies should strengthen the exploration of the process mechanism and try to construct a unified theoretical model of time perception-intertemporal decision making. Meanwhile, the study of neurophysiological mechanisms should be strengthened, from which the rationality of the theoretical model can be verified. In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to the application value of the research and design the training method of time perception to reduce the probability of people's irrational decision-making.