scholarly journals Silent Interval as a Cue for the Distinction between Stops and Semivowels in Medial Position

1959 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 1568-1568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jarvis Bastian ◽  
Pierre Delattre ◽  
A. M. Liberman
Keyword(s):  
Silent Interval

Auditory Motion Induces Directionally Dependent Receptive Field Shifts in Inferior Colliculus Neurons

1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 2040-2062 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willard W. Wilson ◽  
William E. O'Neill
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Inferior Colliculus ◽  
Apparent Motion ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Silent Interval ◽  
Auditory Motion ◽  
Motion Direction ◽  
Motion Sequence ◽  
And Shifts

Wilson, Willard W. and William E. O'Neill. Auditory motion induces directionally dependent receptive field shifts in inferior colliculus neurons. J. Neurophysiol. 79: 2040–2062, 1998. This research focused on the response of neurons in the inferior colliculus of the unanesthetized mustached bat, Pteronotus parnelli, to apparent auditory motion. We produced the apparent motion stimulus by broadcasting pure-tone bursts sequentially from an array of loudspeakers along horizontal, vertical, or oblique trajectories in the frontal hemifield. Motion direction had an effect on the response of 65% of the units sampled. In these cells, motion in opposite directions produced shifts in receptive field locations, differences in response magnitude, or a combination of the two effects. Receptive fields typically were shifted opposite the direction of motion (i.e., units showed a greater response to moving sounds entering the receptive field than exiting) and shifts were obtained to horizontal, vertical, and oblique motion orientations. Response latency also shifted as a function of motion direction, and stimulus locations eliciting greater spike counts also exhibited the shortest neural latency. Motion crossing the receptive field boundaries appeared to be both necessary and sufficient to produce receptive field shifts. Decreasing the silent interval between successive stimuli in the apparent motion sequence increased both the probability of obtaining a directional effect and the magnitude of receptive field shifts. We suggest that the observed directional effects might be explained by “spatial masking,” where the response of auditory neurons after stimulation from particularly effective locations in space would be diminished. The shift in auditory receptive fields would be expected to shift the perceived location of a moving sound and may explain shifts in localization of moving sources observed in psychophysical studies. Shifts in perceived target location caused by auditory motion might be exploited by auditory predators such as Pteronotus in a predictive tracking strategy to capture moving insect prey.

Effects of silent interval on human frequency-following responses to voice pitch

2011 ◽  
Vol 130 (4) ◽  
pp. 2545-2545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fuh-Cherng Jeng ◽  
Ronny P. Warrington
Keyword(s):  
Silent Interval ◽  
Voice Pitch

scholarly journals Background Noise Improves Gap Detection in Tonically Inhibited Inferior Colliculus Neurons

2002 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 240-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willard W. Wilson ◽  
Joseph P. Walton
Keyword(s):  
Inferior Colliculus ◽  
Background Noise ◽  
Feature Detection ◽  
Inbred Mouse ◽  
Inbred Mouse Strain ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Silent Interval ◽  
Inhibitory Input ◽  
Gap Detection ◽  
Order Of Magnitude

Single units in the inferior colliculus (IC) in the C57Bl/6 inbred mouse strain were tested for their temporal processing ability as measured by their minimum gap threshold (MGT), the shortest silent interval in an ongoing white-noise stimulus which a unit could encode. After ascertaining the MGT in quiet, units were re-tested in various levels of background noise. The focus of this report is on two types of tonically responding units found in the IC. Tonically inhibited (TI) units encoded gaps poorly in quiet and low levels of background noise as compared with tonically excited (TE) units. In quiet, the MGTs of TI units were about an order of magnitude longer than the MGTs typical of TE units. Paradoxically, gap encoding was improved in high levels of background noise for TI units. This result is unexpected from the traditional viewpoint that noise necessarily degrades signal processing and is inconsistent with psychophysical observations of diminished speech and gap detection processing in noisy environments. We believe the improved feature detection described here is produced by the adaptation of inhibitory input. Continuous background noise would diminish the inhibitory efficacy of the gap stimulus by increasing the latency to the onset of inhibition and decreasing its duration. This would allow more spontaneous activity to “bleed through” the silent gap, thus signaling its presence. Improved feature detection in background noise resulting from inhibitory adaptation would seem an efficient neural mechanism and one that might be generally useful in other signal detection tasks.

Echolocation behaviour and prey-capture success in foraging bats: laboratory and field experiments on Myotis daubentonii

1999 ◽  
Vol 202 (13) ◽  
pp. 1793-1801 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.R. Britton ◽  
G. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiments ◽  
Prey Capture ◽  
Prey Size ◽  
Interpulse Interval ◽  
Terminal Phase ◽  
Silent Interval ◽  
Capture Success ◽  
Myotis Daubentonii ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Approach Phase

During prey-capture attempts, many echolocating bats emit a ‘terminal buzz’, when pulse repetition rate is increased and pulse duration and interpulse interval are shortened. The buzz is followed by a silent interval (the post-buzz pause). We investigated whether variation in the structure of the terminal buzz, and the calls and silent periods following it, may provide information about whether the capture attempt was successful and about the size of prey detected - detail that is valuable in studies of habitat use and energetics. We studied the trawling bat Myotis daubentonii. The time between the first call of the approach phase and the end of the terminal phase was not related to prey size in the laboratory. The last portion of the terminal buzz (buzz II) was shortened or omitted during aborted capture attempts. Both in the laboratory and in the field, the mean interpulse interval immediately after the terminal buzz (post-buzz interpulse interval) was longer in successful captures than in unsuccessful attempts. In the laboratory, the post-buzz pause was longer after successful captures than for unsuccessful attempts, and the minimum frequency of the first search-phase call emitted after the buzz (Fmin) was higher than that of the last such call prior to the buzz. These effects were not apparent in field data. Both in the laboratory (85%) and in the field (74%), significant discrimination between successful and unsuccessful capture attempts was possible when the duration of the post-buzz pause, post-buzz interpulse interval and Fmin were entered into a discriminant analysis. Thus, variation in the echolocation calls of bats during prey-capture attempts can reveal substantial information about capture success and prey size.

The Influence of Pitch on Time Perception in Short Melodies

1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert G. Crowder ◽  
Ian Neath
Keyword(s):  
Time Perception ◽  
Silent Interval ◽  
Experimental Task ◽  
Temporal Separation ◽  
Pitch Difference ◽  
Wide Gap ◽  
Perceived Duration

The pitch difference between tones defining the boundaries of a silent interval affects the perceived duration of that interval. In three replications of our experimental task, we found that when subjects compared the durations of the two silent intervals defined by a three- tone "melody," the tones were perceived as having a greater temporal separation if a wide gap in pitch separated the two tones than if a narrow pitch gap separated the tones, even when the objective timing was identical.

Silent Interval Duration as a Perceptual Cue of Speech Pauses

1970 ◽  
Vol 47 (1A) ◽  
pp. 57-57
Author(s):  
Kenneth F. Ruder ◽  
Paul J. Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Silent Interval ◽  
Interval Duration

No Sustained Sound Illusion in Rhythmic Sequences

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno H. Repp ◽  
Rachel J. Marcus
Keyword(s):  
Silent Interval ◽  
Relative Time

Recent Research has shown that subdivision of intervals between beats makes the beat tempo seem slower——a "divided time illusion" (DTI) in music. Another temporal illusion described in the psychophysical literature is that a sustained sound seems longer than a silent interval of the same duration. This "sustained sound illusion" (SSI) may be due to acceleration of an internal pacemaker by continuous sound, or it may result from slower perception of sound offsets than of sound onsets. Experiment 1 tested the pacemaker acceleration hypothesis in a rhythmic context by asking musicians to compare or reproduce the tempi of isochronous tone sequences played legato ("filled") or staccato ("unfilled"). There was no indication that legato sequences were perceived as slower than staccato sequences. Experiment 2 tested the delayed offset perception hypothesis by asking musicians to judge the relative time of occurrence of abrupt or decaying tone offsets in the interonset intervals of isochronous sequences. There was no evidence of delayed perception of abrupt offsets, and decaying offsets were perceived only slightly late. These results suggest that the SSI, unlike the DTI, does not occur in rhythmic contexts and thus is probably not of musical relevance. More generally, the results challenge some proposed explanations of this illusion and call for further research on the conditions under which it does occur.

Effects of a Preparatory Singing Pattern on Melodic Dictation Success

2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan O. Buonviri
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Silent Interval ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Chord Sequence ◽  
Equivalent Time ◽  
Melodic Dictation ◽  
Interval Condition ◽  
Music Education Majors

The purpose of this study was to investigate effects of a preparatory contextual singing pattern on melodic dictation test scores. Forty-nine undergraduate music education majors took melodic dictations under three conditions. After hearing an orienting chord sequence, they (1) sang a preparatory solfége pattern in the key, meter, and tempo of the target dictations in the first condition; (2) prepared themselves silently during an equivalent time interval in the second condition; and (3) took the dictations immediately in the third condition. A repeated measures ANOVA and post hoc analysis revealed that participants scored significantly higher when they heard the dictation immediately following the chord sequence than when they sang the preparatory pattern first. Participants may have been distracted by the additional task of singing, interfering with their focus on the ensuing dictation. They reported a variety of preparatory strategies during the silent interval condition, suggesting that dictation students may benefit from learning multiple strategies and choosing what works best for them. Future research might investigate the relationship between strategies used during dictation and strategies used just prior to dictation. Implications for music educators include the need for careful decisions regarding when and how to combine musical tasks for student learning.

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