scholarly journals Musical training, individual differences and the cocktail party problem

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayaganesh Swaminathan ◽  
Christine R. Mason ◽  
Timothy M. Streeter ◽  
Virginia Best ◽  
Gerald Kidd, Jr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Large Individual ◽  
Cocktail Party ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Cocktail Party Problem ◽  
Speech In Noise ◽  
Speech Science ◽  
Spatial Locations

Abstract Are musicians better able to understand speech in noise than non-musicians? Recent findings have produced contradictory results. Here we addressed this question by asking musicians and non-musicians to understand target sentences masked by other sentences presented from different spatial locations, the classical ‘cocktail party problem’ in speech science. We found that musicians obtained a substantial benefit in this situation, with thresholds ~6 dB better than non-musicians. Large individual differences in performance were noted particularly for the non-musically trained group. Furthermore, in different conditions we manipulated the spatial location and intelligibility of the masking sentences, thus changing the amount of ‘informational masking’ (IM) while keeping the amount of ‘energetic masking’ (EM) relatively constant. When the maskers were unintelligible and spatially separated from the target (low in IM), musicians and non-musicians performed comparably. These results suggest that the characteristics of speech maskers and the amount of IM can influence the magnitude of the differences found between musicians and non-musicians in multiple-talker “cocktail party” environments. Furthermore, considering the task in terms of the EM-IM distinction provides a conceptual framework for future behavioral and neuroscientific studies which explore the underlying sensory and cognitive mechanisms contributing to enhanced “speech-in-noise” perception by musicians.

scholarly journals Erratum: Musical training, individual differences and the cocktail party problem

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayaganesh Swaminathan ◽  
Christine R. Mason ◽  
Timothy M. Streeter ◽  
Virginia Best ◽  
Gerald Kidd, Jr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Cocktail Party ◽  
Cocktail Party Problem

scholarly journals Perceptual grouping in the cocktail party: contributions of voice-feature continuity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Kreitewolf ◽  
Samuel R. Mathias ◽  
Régis Trapeau ◽  
Jonas Obleser ◽  
Marc Schönwiesner
Keyword(s):  
Auditory System ◽  
Perceptual Grouping ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Stream Segregation ◽  
Cocktail Party ◽  
Cocktail Party Problem ◽  
Spatial Discontinuity ◽  
Spatial Locations ◽  
The Voice

AbstractCocktail parties pose a difficult yet solvable problem for the auditory system. Previous work has shown that the cocktail-party problem is considerably easier when all sounds in the target stream are spoken by the same talker (the voice-continuity benefit). The present study investigated the contributions of two of the most salient voice features — glottal-pulse rate (GPR) and vocal-tract length (VTL) — to the voice-continuity benefit. Twenty young, normal-hearing listeners participated in two experiments. On each trial, listeners heard concurrent sequences of spoken digits from three different spatial locations and reported the digits coming from a target location. Critically, across conditions, GPR and VTL either remained constant or varied across target digits. Additionally, across experiments, the target location either remained constant (Experiment 1) or varied (Experiment 2) within a trial. In Experiment 1, listeners benefited from continuity in either voice feature, but VTL continuity was more helpful than GPR continuity. In Experiment 2, spatial discontinuity greatly hindered listeners’ abilities to exploit continuity in GPR and VTL. The present results suggest that selective attention benefits from continuity in target voice features, and that VTL and GPR play different roles for perceptual grouping and stream segregation in the cocktail party.

Dynamic Visual Noise Affects Visual Short-Term Memory for Surface Color, but not Spatial Location

2010 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Dent
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Visual Noise ◽  
Dynamic Visual Noise ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Surface Color ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Short Term Memory ◽  
Experimental Tool ◽  
Spatial Locations

In two experiments participants retained a single color or a set of four spatial locations in memory. During a 5 s retention interval participants viewed either flickering dynamic visual noise or a static matrix pattern. In Experiment 1 memory was assessed using a recognition procedure, in which participants indicated if a particular test stimulus matched the memorized stimulus or not. In Experiment 2 participants attempted to either reproduce the locations or they picked the color from a whole range of possibilities. Both experiments revealed effects of dynamic visual noise (DVN) on memory for colors but not for locations. The implications of the results for theories of working memory and the methodological prospects for DVN as an experimental tool are discussed.

scholarly journals Acute alcohol intoxication and the cocktail party problem: do “mocktails” help or hinder?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alistair J. Harvey ◽  
C. Philip Beaman
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Alcohol Intoxication ◽  
Alcoholic Beverage ◽  
Cognitive Capacity ◽  
Cocktail Party ◽  
Primary Input ◽  
Cocktail Party Problem ◽  
Null Effect ◽  
Cocktail Party Effect

Abstract Rationale To test the notion that alcohol impairs auditory attentional control by reducing the listener’s cognitive capacity. Objectives We examined the effect of alcohol consumption and working memory span on dichotic speech shadowing and the cocktail party effect—the ability to focus on one of many simultaneous speakers yet still detect mention of one’s name amidst the background speech. Alcohol was expected either to increase name detection, by weakening the inhibition of irrelevant speech, or reduce name detection, by restricting auditory attention on to the primary input channel. Low-span participants were expected to show larger drug impairments than high-span counterparts. Methods On completion of the working memory span task, participants (n = 81) were randomly assigned to an alcohol or placebo beverage treatment. After alcohol absorption, they shadowed speech presented to one ear while ignoring the synchronised speech of a different speaker presented to the other. Each participant’s first name was covertly embedded in to-be-ignored speech. Results The “cocktail party effect” was not affected by alcohol or working memory span, though low-span participants made more shadowing errors and recalled fewer words from the primary channel than high-span counterparts. Bayes factors support a null effect of alcohol on the cocktail party phenomenon, on shadowing errors and on memory for either shadowed or ignored speech. Conclusion Findings suggest that an alcoholic beverage producing a moderate level of intoxication (M BAC ≈ 0.08%) neither enhances nor impairs the cocktail party effect.

scholarly journals The Cognitive Mechanisms of the SNARC Effect: An Individual Differences Approach

PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. e95756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnaud Viarouge ◽  
Edward M. Hubbard ◽  
Bruce D. McCandliss
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Snarc Effect ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms

The Perception of Distances and Spatial Relationships in Natural Outdoor Environments

Perception ◽  
10.1068/p5304 ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (11) ◽  
pp. 1315-1324 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Farley Norman ◽  
Charles E Crabtree ◽  
Anna Marie Clayton ◽  
Hideko F Norman
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Binocular Vision ◽  
Line Of Sight ◽  
Large Individual ◽  
Spatial Relationships ◽  
Outdoor Environments ◽  
Perceptual Distortions ◽  
Base Width

The ability of observers to perceive distances and spatial relationships in outdoor environments was investigated in two experiments. In experiment 1, the observers adjusted triangular configurations to appear equilateral, while in experiment 2, they adjusted the depth of triangles to match their base width. The results of both experiments revealed that there are large individual differences in how observers perceive distances in outdoor settings. The observers' judgments were greatly affected by the particular task they were asked to perform. The observers who had shown no evidence of perceptual distortions in experiment 1 (with binocular vision) demonstrated large perceptual distortions in experiment 2 when the task was changed to match distances in depth to frontal distances perpendicular to the observers' line of sight. Considered as a whole, the results indicate that there is no single relationship between physical and perceived space that is consistent with observers' judgments of distances in ordinary outdoor contexts.

scholarly journals Musical training during early childhood enhances the neural encoding of speech in noise

2012 ◽  
Vol 123 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana L. Strait ◽  
Alexandra Parbery-Clark ◽  
Emily Hittner ◽  
Nina Kraus
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Neural Encoding ◽  
Speech In Noise

scholarly journals “I know it when I hear it”

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 205920431878458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Larrouy-Maestri
Keyword(s):  
Musical Training ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Repetition Effect ◽  
Large Individual ◽  
Task Repetition ◽  
Musical Performances ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
High Consistency ◽  
Effect Experiment ◽  
Over Time

Listeners regularly judge the accuracy of musical performances. However, as is true for several types of judgments (e.g., beauty or obscenity), estimating the correctness of melodies is not based on a precise definition of the object/performance but rather follows arguments such as “I know it when I hear it”. In order to clarify the definition of correctness in melodies, participants identified parametrically manipulated sung melodies as in-tune or out-of-tune, using the method of limits procedure (Experiment 1). Listeners’ tolerance with regard to mistuning was compared across melodies (Experiment 2). The potential roots of correctness perception were investigated by testing the effect of familiarity, the influence of formal musical training (Experiment 3), and the task repetition effect (Experiment 4). The results highlight a surprisingly small tolerance with regard to mistuning (half of a quarter tone), whatever the melodic context, large individual differences, but high consistency over time. This high sensitivity was mainly modulated by musical training as well as by previous exposure. In addition to defining the boundary between in- and out-of-tune melodies, this study supports the implicit development of the normative notion of “correctness” as a category that might drive listeners’ appreciation of artistic performances.

Controlled Exertion of Force by Developmentally Delayed Young Men and Women

2005 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 487-497
Author(s):  
Yoshinori Nagasawa ◽  
Shinichi Demura
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Young People ◽  
Voluntary Movement ◽  
Large Individual ◽  
Developmentally Delayed ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Function Test ◽  
Delayed Group ◽  
Movement Function

Present purposes were to examine the characteristics of controlled force exertion in 28 developmentally delayed young people (14 men, 14 women), and sex differences compared to 28 normal young students (14 men, 14 women). The subjects matched their submaximal grip strength to changing demand values displayed in a bar chart on the display of a personal computer. The total sum of the differences between the demand value and grip exertion value for 25 sec. was used as an evaluation parameter for the test. The controlled force exertion was significantly poorer for the developmentally delayed group than for controls, and there were large individual differences. The developmentally delayed men scored poorer than women in coordination. Like the controls, the means between trials did not decrease significantly. For these developmentally delayed subjects, performance did not improve after only a few trials. The controlled force-exertion test is useful as a voluntary movement-function test for developmentally delayed subjects.

scholarly journals Personality correlates of individual differences in the recruitment of cognitive mechanisms when rewards are at stake

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. e12987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan J. Heritage ◽  
Laura J. Long ◽  
Geoffrey F. Woodman ◽  
David H. Zald
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Personality Correlates
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