Perceptual Data Research Articles

Collaborative conditions for teacher professional growth: the role of network intentionality and leading curriculum learning efficacy

PurposeDriven by the need to deepen understanding of the mechanisms driving teacher collaboration for enhancing teacher learning and practices, this study aims to investigate the influence of collaborative organizational conditions, network intentionality and efficacy for leading curriculum learning on teachers’ professional growth within the context of New Zealand’s Communities of Learning-Kahui Ako (CoL) policy.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs survey design collecting perceptual data from teachers within two CoLs comprising 12 schools in New Zealand. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the relationships between collaborative organizational conditions, teachers’ network intentionality, leadership efficacy and teacher professional growth.FindingsThe findings reveal that collaborative organizational conditions significantly impact teachers’ professional growth such as their new learning and enhanced practices. Furthermore, teachers’ network intentionality and efficacy for leading curriculum learning serve as mediators, amplifying the effects of collaborative organizational conditions on teacher professional growth. Specifically, teachers who are more confident in their leadership abilities and intentionally build professional relationships are better at using collaborative opportunities to address teaching challenges and bring innovation to their schools.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing literature by examining the interplay between organizational conditions, internal motivational drive for collaboration, and teacher professional growth within the context of CoL policy in New Zealand. It sheds light on the mechanisms driving teacher professional growth and offers insights for enhancing teacher collaboration and professional learning experiences within CoL networks.

Integrating Kansei engineering, analytic hierarchy process, and quality function development in elderly-oriented seating design

To deeply understand the psychological and emotional needs of the elderly population, this study proposes a seat design method combining Kansei engineering (KE), analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and quality function development (QFD). The method aims to fulfill the functional needs of the seat and focuses on capturing the emotional imagery of the elderly group, thus enhancing the emotional experience of the users. Factor analysis (FA) was used to conceptualize the user’s perceptual vocabulary data, AHP to assess the relative importance of these perceptual words, and morphological analysis to deconstruct the characteristics of the seat components. Finally, the mapping relationship between user perceptual data and design features was established through QFD. The FA and AHP results showed that the emotional needs of the elderly for seating are primarily focused on the sense of lightness (32.5%), simplicity (45.7%), and sophistication (21.8%); and QFD analysis results show that among seating components, the No. 6 seat back, No. 1 seat cushion, No. 2 door post, and No. 2 seat leg have the highest importance and can best meet the emotional needs of elderly users. This design method effectively improves the product’s suitability for the elderly and provides a valuable reference for related product design.

Investigating the role of entrepreneurial orientation and total quality management in enhancing pharmaceutical quality performance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of entrepreneurial orientation and total quality management on quality performance of pharmaceutical manufacturers in Pakistan. It also investigates the mediating role played by total quality management in the EO-QP relationship. Design/methodology/approach A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 115 pharmaceutical manufacturers in Pakistan. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to analyze data. Findings The results show entrepreneurial orientation that and total quality management positively and significantly affect quality performance. Moreover, the effect of entrepreneurial orientation on quality performance is partially mediated by total quality management. Research limitations/implications The study uses cross-sectional data. Therefore, the long-term effect of entrepreneurial orientation and total quality management on quality performance could not be determined. Moreover, quality performance has been measured based on perceptual data, which may be prone to biases, entrepreneurial orientation (EO), quality performance (QP), total quality management (TQM). Originality/value The study is unique in providing empirical evidence linking entrepreneurial orientation with quality performance through the mediating role of total quality management. Quality performance is vital in the pharmaceutical industry; thus, the study makes a valuable contribution by identifying a new mechanism to achieve it. Moreover, although both entrepreneurial orientation and total quality management are very important, only a few studies have so far investigated their interrelationship. By providing evidence from a new cultural and industrial context, the study makes a valuable contribution to an under-researched yet important area.

Human Perception of Floor Plan Evacuatability: How Easy is it to Evacuate?

Currently there is no easy way to rate the ease of evacuation from a building in case of fire or a shooter. Multiple tools, based on agent-based models, exist to simulate building evacuation. However, they have not been compared with human perceptual data of how easy people think it would be to evacuate from a building. This research is part of a project to establish an EASE score (Evacuation with Acceptable Simplicity in Emergencies) and validate that metric with human data. In this study, the authors asked participants to evaluate seven 2D building floor plans for ease of evacuation. There is a gap in the research on perceptions of floor plans which motivated this study’s research questions: (a) Do non-expert users agree on the ease of building evacuation? (b) What factors do viewers use to evaluate ease of evacuation?

Progress Toward Estimating the Minimal Clinically Important Difference of Intelligibility: A Crowdsourced Perceptual Experiment.

The purpose of the current study was to estimate the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) of sentence intelligibility in control speakers and in speakers with dysarthria due to multiple sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Sixteen control speakers, 16 speakers with MS, and 16 speakers with PD were audio-recorded reading aloud sentences in habitual, clear, fast, loud, and slow speaking conditions. Two hundred forty nonexpert crowdsourced listeners heard paired conditions of the same sentence content from a speaker and indicated if one condition was more understandable than another. Listeners then used the Global Ratings of Change (GROC) Scale to indicate how much more understandable that condition was than the other. Listener ratings were compared with objective intelligibility scores obtained previously via orthographic transcriptions from nonexpert listeners. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and average magnitude of intelligibility difference per level of the GROC Scale were evaluated to determine the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of potential cutoff scores in intelligibility for establishing thresholds of important change. MCIDs derived from the ROC curves were invalid. However, the average magnitude of intelligibility difference derived valid and useful thresholds. The MCID of intelligibility was determined to be about 7% for a small amount of difference and about 15% for a large amount of difference. This work demonstrates the feasibility of the novel experimental paradigm for collecting crowdsourced perceptual data to estimate MCIDs. Results provide empirical evidence that clinical tools for the perception of intelligibility by nonexpert listeners could consist of three categories, which emerged from the data ("no difference," "a little bit of difference," "a lot of difference"). The current work is a critical step toward development of a universal language with which to evaluate changes in intelligibility as a result of neurological injury, disease progression, and speech-language therapy.

Innovative Marketing Strategies in the Competitive Economic Environment in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): A Case Study of Top Glove Manufacturers in Malaysia

Objective: The aim is to identify the key marketing strategies implemented by the manufacturers to achieve growth and sustainable development goals (SDGs) market leadership by glove-producing companies in Malaysia in the highly competitive global marketplace. Theoretical Framework: This paper contributes to the existing literature on the marketing strategies practiced in the manufacturing industries, mainly focusing on the glove manufacturing industry in Malaysia, which ranks as the global supplier of hand gloves in the industrial and medical categories. Taken in total, this work provides a refined appreciation of marketing and innovation’s relationship within a particular sector, and it does so by examining how those Malaysian glove makers who contest global markets leverage creativity in their marketing strategies in response to supply chain interruptions, approving bodies, and shifts in international buying trends. Methodology: Following a case study approach, this study focuses on large glove manufacturers in Malaysia; Top Glove is a crucial player. Hence, secondary sources will be adopted during the data collection stage. Perceptual data is also gathered from workers of key executives, marketing managers, and other industry professionals, which gives a picture of these business entities' marketing campaigns and strategic decision-making procedures. Industry journals, company reports, and market study papers validate secondary data. Results and Discussion: This study reveals that policymakers, manufacturing businesses, and marketing scholars can learn about the necessity of niche-based policies and friendly legal environments to boost innovation and competitiveness within manufacturing industries. It provides recommendations on creating a favorable climate for employing innovative marketing strategies and the possible enlargement of home-based businesses internationally. Originality/Value: Based on the findings and insights gathered from the research on innovative marketing strategies in the competitive global economic environment, particularly focusing on the case study of top glove manufacturers in Malaysia, several recommendations can be proposed to guide businesses in enhancing their marketing approaches and organizational performance

Usage of Spaced Repetition Flashcards to Improve Educational Outcomes in Microbiology.

Introduction: Spaced repetition flashcards and other instructor-made resources are beneficial tools for students in content-dense introductory courses, particularly in the sciences. This study seeks to evaluate whether instructor-made, spaced repetition flashcards affect students' performance on the exams and their self-concept as it pertains to a newly introduced discipline (microbiology). Methods: Students enrolled in a bachelor's level introductory microbiology course utilized a spaced repetition flashcard software to scaffold their review of course material productively. Exam scores and student perceptual data from institutionally validated surveys were then compared using parametric T-testing. Results: While overall performance on the exams was unchanged (p = 0.2657), there were significant changes in student perception. Most notably, students' confidence in their ability to succeed improved (p = 0.0066), along with their belief that the course made them think like a microbiologist (p = 0.0011). They also felt that this was an effective instructional approach (p = 0.0076). Conclusion: These results suggest that students can better engage with and feel confident in understanding the material presented, even if their exam scores did not drastically improve. Further studies should evaluate how resources like the one trialed here can be implemented to improve students' self-concept and learning.

Mapping human voice in urban spaces

Human voice plays a pivotal role as a sound source in urban environments. Despite the plethora of natural sound sources present in urban spaces, human voice often stands out as one of the sound source, exerting a significant influence on the perception and affection of these spaces. However, compared to other aspects of urban soundscapes, such as traffic noise (air, road, rail), human voice cartography and modelling remains relatively underexplored, with limited historical development and scholarly attention. This research gap led to the deployment of an experimental protocol in Nantes, France, to produce a comprehensive voice sound map and compare it to perceptual data. This protocol involved the collection of sound level measurements during two distinct measurement campaigns using the NoiseCapture smartphone application, coupled with surveys capturing perceptual information such as the circumplex circle of affect, perceived presence of sound sources, emergence of sound sources, and variability of the sound environment. Additionally, sound environment simulations were conducted using NoiseModelling. The present paper shows the method used to evaluate the audibility of human speech in urban spaces. During the presentation, comparisons with perceptual measurements will be presented.

Robust Perceptual Data Sensing Based on Majorization-Minimized Low-Rank Semidefinite Relaxation for Visual IoT

Robust Perceptual Data Sensing Based on Majorization-Minimized Low-Rank Semidefinite Relaxation for Visual IoT

Feasibility of using electrodermal activity responses to assess level of crowdedness of pedestrian paths

As urban populations grow, it's imperative to evaluate and enhance the quality of pedestrian paths from the user's perspective. Crowdedness, associated with discomfort and safety, is crucial in determining the overall walking quality and user experience. Previously utilized methods for measuring crowdedness, such as travel diaries and floating population surveys, were limited to collecting perceptual data from sporadic surveys with restricted spatial coverage. Similarly, methods based on CCTV or mobile service data have been used but present issues with blind spots and fail to consider pedestrian perspectives. Against this background, this study explores the feasibility of assessing crowdedness levels by measuring subjects' physiological responses in a laboratory setting based on visual images of real and virtual environments. This study hypothesizes that the amount of people or vehicles passing by affects the electrodermal activity (EDA) of pedestrians, indicating the comfort level of using the environment. Experimental EDA data were measured using a wearable device while the subjects were watching videos showing different pedestrian traffic flows. Representative EDA signal features (e.g., skin conductance responses) were extracted after data pre-processing. Noticeable changes in EDA responses are observed when subjects countered specific environmental variations, such as differing volumes of passing people, on pedestrian paths. The findings suggest that EDA data can be instrumental in differentiating crowdedness levels on pedestrian paths. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by demonstrating the potential of EDA data to characterize the crowdedness experienced by pedestrians. This aids in the development of a novel, quantitative method to gauge pedestrian path crowdedness and to discern contributing factors, such as path width.

The ‘Coloured’ connection of Namibian English

AbstractAmong the first English speakers in Namibia, South African Coloureds came to form an essential part of an ethnically fluid intermediate social class in colonial Namibia. This study seeks to pinpoint to what extent Coloured English varieties have been contributing to Namibian English and how much prestige is attached to them. To this end, this study simultaneously uses linguistic and perceptual data. One dataset consists of English phonetic data elicited from a representative urban sample of young Namibians. That dataset is analysed to establish what phonetic features mark out Coloured Namibian English varieties and to what extent they are found in other ethnolinguistic varieties and across social classes. The study then reports on a verbal guise experiment whose aim is to establish how young Namibians rate Coloured Namibian English varieties. Finally, the study analyses folk comments on Namibian English accents elicited from young Namibian focus groups. The study finds that, in terms of vowel realization patterns, Coloured Namibian English varieties sit in between White and Black Namibian English varieties, forming part of a continuum of which one extremity displays a White South African English imprint. The less ‘Afrikaans‐accented’ Coloured English varieties—associated with women—are developing middle‐class indexicalities. The fact that these varieties are targeted by young Black women and are perceived as ‘General Namibian English’, the study concludes, confirms that Namibian English is norm‐developing, as befits any Outer Circle variety. It is loosely tied to (South African) Inner Circle norms and has entered Phase 4 (‘endonormative stabilization’) of E. Schneider's Dynamic Model. The normative influence of Namibian Coloured English, the study argues, shows that the Dynamic Model needs fundamental adjustment to properly account for the role of non‐Europeans in Outer Circle dynamics.

A neural modeling approach to study mechanisms underlying the heterogeneity of visual spatial frequency sensitivity in schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia exhibit abnormalities in spatial frequency sensitivity, and it is believed that these abnormalities indicate more widespread dysfunction and dysregulation of bottom-up processing. The early visual system, including the first-order Lateral Geniculate Nucleus of the thalamus (LGN) and the primary visual cortex (V1), are key contributors to spatial frequency sensitivity. Medicated and unmedicated patients with schizophrenia exhibit contrasting changes in spatial frequency sensitivity, thus making it a useful probe for examining potential effects of the disorder and antipsychotic medications in neural processing. We constructed a parameterized, rate-based neural model of on-center/off-surround neurons in the early visual system to investigate the impacts of changes to the excitatory and inhibitory receptive field subfields. By incorporating changes in both the excitatory and inhibitory subfields that are associated with pathophysiological findings in schizophrenia, the model successfully replicated perceptual data from behavioral/functional studies involving medicated and unmedicated patients. Among several plausible mechanisms, our results highlight the dampening of excitation and/or increase in the spread and strength of the inhibitory subfield in medicated patients and the contrasting decreased spread and strength of inhibition in unmedicated patients. Given that the model was successful at replicating results from perceptual data under a variety of conditions, these elements of the receptive field may be useful markers for the imbalances seen in patients with schizophrenia.

Trust and distrust in public governance settings: Conceptualising and testing the link in regulatory relations

ABSTRACT The relationship between trust and distrust in public governance is still an open question. In the literature, three different perspectives on how trust and distrust are related are intensively debated: (1) trust and distrust as two ends of the same conceptual continuum; (2) trust and distrust as opposites, but with neutral ground in between; and (3) trust and distrust as related, yet distinct concepts. Employing a new measure for distrust and by using perceptual data on trust and distrust in regulatory agencies from multiple types of stakeholders in nine countries and three sectors, this article shows that high trust and high distrust can co-exist at the same time, and that trust and distrust are negatively correlated only to a limited extent. Moreover, while trustworthiness correlates strongly with trust, trustworthiness does not or only weakly correlate with distrust in a negative way. These findings are robust even when controlling for respondents' characteristics, different types of stakeholders, sectors and countries. This suggests that in public governance settings trust and distrust should be considered as distinct concepts, and the article calls for more research into the distinctiveness of the measurement, causes and effects of distrust, compared to trust.

Testing the validity of online psychophysical measurement of body image perception.

This body image study tests the viability of transferring a complex psychophysical paradigm from a controlled in-person laboratory task to an online environment. 172 female participants made online judgements about their own body size when viewing images of computer-generated female bodies presented in either in front-view or at 45-degrees in a method of adjustment (MOA) paradigm. The results of these judgements were then compared to the results of two laboratory-based studies (with 96 and 40 female participants respectively) to establish three key findings. Firstly, the results show that the accuracy of online and in-lab estimates of body size are comparable, secondly that the same patterns of visual biases in judgements are shown both in-lab and online, and thirdly online data shows the same view-orientation advantage in accuracy in body size judgements as the laboratory studies. Thus, this study suggests that that online sampling potentially represents a rapid and accurate way of collecting reliable complex behavioural and perceptual data from a more diverse range of participants than is normally sampled in laboratory-based studies. It also offers the potential for designing stratified sampling strategies to construct a truly representative sample of a target population.

Modeling the consequences of an L1 grammar for L2 production: simulations, variation, and predictions

IntroductionThis paper presents a constraint-based grammar of Mandarin low vowel + nasal coda (loVN) sequences first as acquired by L1 learners, and then as transferred to L2 English.MethodsWe simulate phonological learning in Harmonic Grammar using a gradual, error-driven GLA learner, drawing on evidence from L1 Mandarin speakers' perceptual data to support our initial state assumptions. We then compare our simulation results with L2 English production (both anecdotal and ultrasound data), as well as evidence from Mandarin loanword phonology.ResultsOur results align with multiple patterns in the previous empirical literature, including an asymmetry among surface repairs for VN sequences, and we show how these emerge from our assumptions about both the L1 Mandarin grammar and the grammar's evaluation method (i.e., weighted constraints).DiscussionWe discuss the extent to which these results derive from our somewhat novel analysis of place contrasts in L1 Mandarin, and the variability in loVN outputs that we encode directly into the L1 grammar, which are then transferred to the L2 context. Ultimately we discuss how this type of modeling can make falsifiable predictions about phonological development, in both L1 and L2 contexts.

Perceptual weighting of acoustic cues to contrastive prosody for sentences in quiet and in noise

Prosody is used to mark important information in speech, yet despite this important role in everyday communication it is not a customary part of speech recognition testing in routine audiometry. Listeners might fail to perceive meaningful emphasis on a specific word signaled by prosodic cues despite repeating the words correctly. This study introduces a new paradigm for assessing perception of prosodic cues that are used to signify new/corrective information in a sentence. Stimuli consisted of spoken sentences where one word (in various sentence positions) was emphasized through acoustic modifications across the entire utterance, in a manner that corrected wrong information. Participants used a visual analog scale to mark the timing and degree of emphasis aligned with the target words. Perceptual data in this study are linked with acoustic measures of voice pitch contour, intensity, and duration to characterize how contrastive stress cues are recovered by listeners with and without cochlear implants, who are especially at risk for poorer pitch perception. Follow-up conditions used stimuli where acoustic cues (F0, duration, intensity) were manipulated independently to explore perceptual cue weighting, and the perseverance of these cues through background noise.

Comparing subjective similarity ratings and quantitative errors for the evaluation of free-field binaural panning techniques

A free-field sound source can be accurately rendered over headphones via direct convolution with head-related impulse responses (HRIRs). Using binaural panning techniques, a free-field source can be approximated, which can be thought of as HRIR reconstruction. However, a loss of fidelity occurs related to the panning algorithm’s spatial resolution. Previously, perceptual comparisons of noise bursts were made between panned sources and direct convolution with measured HRIRs. Reconstructions were generated using five different binaural panning methods, both with and without time-alignment of the HRIRs with separate application of the interaural time delay (ITD). To further explore the listening test results, the quantitative differences between the reconstructed and original HRIRs were investigated alongside the perceptual data. Several perceptually-motivated error metrics were evaluated, including errors in both ITD and interaural level difference. The fidelity of the reconstructed HRTF magnitude response was evaluated using metrics that leveraged auditory modeling steps. Both subjective and objective results support that HRIR time-alignment reduces the number of filters needed for high perceptual accuracy. A principal component-base rendering filter set produced the best subjective accuracy with only a small number of required filters (16-25). The ability to predict perceptually detectable degradation via quantitative errors will be discussed.

Assessing perceptual performance of non-native English speakers

About 20% of the U.S. population, many of whom are foreign born, speaks a language other than English in the home. Non-native English speakers are known to have difficulty understanding spoken English, especially in noise. For this reason, they are often excluded from psychophysical perceptual experiments. However, the perceptual abilities of these individuals are important to characterize, particularly because solutions to their unique communication difficulties are important to establish. This presentation will review perceptual data from a series of experiments that examined speech recognition in degraded listening conditions and psychophysical performance on basic auditory processing tasks. Listeners in all experiments included young adults with normal hearing whose native language was either English or Spanish. Some of the experiments also included older adults with normal hearing or hearing impairment who learned English as a second language. The results show that non-native speakers of English have considerable difficulty on all complex speech recognition tasks, which is exacerbated with advanced age. Additionally, non-native speakers of English do not perform as well as native speakers of English on some basic psychoacoustic measures. These results have implications for evaluating performance of non-native speakers in the lab and in the clinical setting.

Recent Progress on Barium Titanate‐Based Ferroelectrics for Sensor Applications

AbstractSensors, functioning as primary conveyors of perceptual data, stand ready to illuminate the landscape of the intelligent era. Barium titanate, an exceedingly pivotal class of ferroelectric materials for sensor applications, has attracted considerable attention from both commercial and industrial sectors in recent years. Against this backdrop, this paper embarks on a comprehensive examination of sensors founded upon barium titanate across a spectrum of applications. Our investigation commences with a historical analysis of ferroelectric materials, with a specific emphasis on the developmental trajectory of barium titanate. Subsequently, an in‐depth exposition elucidates the attributes and manufacturing processes linked to barium titanate materials, providing readers with insight into the structural and manufacturing aspects of these materials. Ultimately, we introduce a diverse array of sensors tailored to distinct functions within a myriad of domains.

Triad’s consonance and dissonance: combining roughness and compactness models

Theories of consonance and dissonance based on the “roughness” approach are those that explain these perceptions as due to the primary beatings between harmonics. Originally proposed by Helmholtz, this approach has been very popular in the last century, being naturally associated to continuous functions of the frequency ratios, on the contrary of theories based on the “compactness” approach. In a previous work, we focused on the roughness consonance and dissonance indicators for dyads, showing the importance of including weight functions and especially secondary beatings. Here, we generalize the roughness indicators to describe the consonance and dissonance for triads. We compare our model predictions with perceptual data from a recent psychoacoustic test by means of a Chi-square analysis. The result is that roughness indicators provide a quite effective, but not fully satisfactory, description of consonance and dissonance for triads. We then study the effect of combining roughness and compactness models for triads: in this case, a very satisfactory agreement with perceptual data is achieved.