This thesis analyses if the change of auditory feedback can improve the effectiveness of performance in the interaction with a non-visual system, or with a system used by individuals with visual impairment. Two prototypes were developed, one with binaural audio and the other with stereo audio. The interaction was evaluated in an experiment where 22 participants, divided into two groups, performed a number of interaction tasks. A post-interview were conducted together with the experiment. The result of the experiment displayed that there were no great difference between binaural audio and stereo regarding the speed and accuracy of the interaction. The post-interviews displayed interesting differences in the way participants visualized the virtual environment that affected the interaction. This opened up interesting questions for future studies.

Diploma thesis has special education theme. This thesis deals with the auditory perception in preschool children. The goal of the work is to evaluate the level of auditory perception of children in an ordinary preschool class. We focus on listening, auditory differentiation, short-term auditory memory, auditory analysis and synthesis, and perception and reproduction of rhythm. In order to answer the research questions, we created a test which is designed in accordance to the auditory perception development tables. The results show that on average the children score 82.8 percent in the test. The most difficult part of the test is listening with the average score of 61.0 percent. On the other hand, the most successful part is the perception and reproduction of rhythm with average score of 89.2 percent. KEYWORDS Preschool Child, Communication, Auditory Perception, Listening, Word Discrimination, Short-term Auditory Memory, Phonological Segmentation and Blending, Perception and Reproduction of Rhythm

Cette thèse s'est intéressée aux relations entre les mouvements biologiques et la perception sonore en considérant le cas spécifique des mouvements graphiques et des sons de frottement qu'ils génèrent. L'originalité de ces travaux réside dans l'utilisation d'un modèle de synthèse sonore basé sur un principe perceptif issu de l'approche écologique de la perception et contrôlé par des modèles de gestes. Des stimuli sonores dont le timbre n'est modulé que par des variations de vitesse produites par un geste ont ainsi pu être générés permettant de se focaliser sur l'influence perceptive de cet invariant transformationel. Une première étude a ainsi montré que l'on reconnait la cinématique des mouvements biologiques (la loi en puissance 1/3), et que l'on peut discriminer des formes géométriques simples juste à partir des sons de frottement produits. Une seconde étude a montré l'existence de prototypes dynamiques sonores caractérisant les trajectoires elliptiques, mettant ainsi en évidence que les prototypes géométriques peuvent émerger d'un couplage sensorimoteur. Enfin, une dernière étude a montré qu'une cinématique évoquée par un sonore influence significativement la cinématique et la géométrie d'un geste dans une tâche de reproduction graphique du mouvement d'un point lumineux. Ce résultat révèle l'importance de la modalité auditive dans l'intégration multisensorielle des mouvements continus dans une situation jamais explorée. Ces résultats ont permis le contrôle de modèles de synthèse par des descriptions gestuelles et la création d'outils de sonification pour l'apprentissage de gestes et la réhabilitation d'une pathologie motrice, la dysgraphie. / This thesis focused on the relations between biological movements and auditory perception in considering the specific case of graphical movements and the friction sounds they produced. The originality of this work lies in the use of sound synthesis processes that are based on a perceptual paradigm and that can be controlled by gesture models. The present synthesis model made it possible to generate acoustic stimuli which timbre was directly modulated by the velocity variations induced by a graphic gesture in order to exclusively focus on the perceptual influence of this transformational invariant. A first study showed that we can recognize the biological motion kinematics (the 1/3 power law) and discriminate simple geometric shapes simply by listening to the timbre variations of friction sounds that solely evoke velocity variations. A second study revealed the existence of dynamic prototypes characterized by sounds corresponding to the most representative elliptic trajectory, thus revealing that prototypical shapes may emerged from sensorimotor coupling. A final study showed that the kinematics evoked by friction sounds may significantly affect the dynamic and geometric dimension in the visuo-motor coupling. This shed critical light on the relevance of auditory perception in the multisensory integration of continuous motion in a situation never explored. All of these theoretical results enabled the gestural control of sound synthesis models from a gestural description and the creation of sonification tools for gesture learning and rehabilitation of a graphomotor disease, dysgraphia.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-01T18:24:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Patricia Barros.pdf: 1027459 bytes, checksum: 514b8d6c9a97df0f8025ddf072577f04 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-06-29 / Central auditory abilities, specifically auditory attention and temporal resolution, are directly related to speech perception and production. Based on these concepts, this study aimed to investigate auditory attention and temporal resolution processes in two children with phonological disorder, before and after speech therapy. The method consisted in comparing results from Duration Pattern Test and Late Latency Auditory Evoked Potentials (specifically the N2 and P300 components) obtained before and after speech therapy. Test results were correlated to speech production performance and therapy strategies, which were focused in auditory perception of the phonemes distinctive characteristics. Based on these results, aspects related to auditory processing and its implications for speech perception were discussed. Results show that both children had difficulties in auditory attention and temporal resolution for non-verbal sounds before and after speech therapy. These findings suggest that even after overcoming difficulties in speech perceptions, auditory attention and temporal resolution difficulties for non- verbal sounds may continuous / Para a adequada percepção dos fonemas da fala e conseqüente desenvolvimento da linguagem oral estão diretamente envolvidas as habilidades relacionadas ao processamento auditivo, onde se destacam a atenção auditiva e a resolução temporal. Partindo desse pressuposto, este estudo buscou analisar a atenção auditiva e a resolução temporal de duas crianças com desvio fonológico, antes e após o tratamento fonoaudiológico. O procedimento de pesquisa consistiu da comparação das respostas obtidas ao teste de padrão de duração do som (TPD) e aos componentes N2 e P300 dos potenciais evocados auditivos de longa latência (PEALL), antes e depois do tratamento. Os resultados dos exames foram comparados com a performance para a produção de fala e as estratégias utilizadas para o tratamento fonoaudiológico, que esteve pautado na estimulação da percepção auditiva para os traços distintivos dos fonemas. A partir desses resultados foram discutidos aspectos envolvidos com o processamento auditivo e suas implicações para a percepção de fala. A análise dos dados evidenciou dificuldade para atenção auditiva e resolução temporal para sons não verbais, nas duas crianças, antes e após o tratamento fonoaudiológico. Este fato sugere que a dificuldade com a atenção auditiva e a resolução temporal para sons não verbais pode permanecer mesmo após a superação dessa dificuldade para os sons da fala

Children with sensorineural hearing loss may (re)gain hearing with a cochlear implant—a device that transforms sounds into electric pulses and bypasses the dysfunctioning inner ear by stimulating the auditory nerve directly with an electrode array. Many implanted children master the acquisition of spoken language successfully, yet we still have little knowledge of the actual input they receive with the implant and specifically which language sensitive cues they hear. This would be important however, both for understanding the flexibility of the auditory system when presented with stimuli after a (life-) long phase of deprivation and for planning therapeutic intervention. In rhythmic languages the general stress pattern conveys important information about word boundaries. Infant language acquisition relies on such cues and can be severely hampered when this information is missing, as seen for dyslexic children and children with specific language impairment. Here we ask whether children with a cochlear implant perceive differences in stress patterns during their language acquisition phase and if they do, whether it is present directly following implant stimulation or if and how much time is needed for the auditory system to adapt to the new sensory modality. We performed a longitudinal ERP study, testing in bimonthly intervals the stress pattern perception of 17 young hearing impaired children (age range: 9–50 months; mean: 22 months) during their first 6 months of implant use. An additional session before the implantation served as control baseline. During a session they passively listened to an oddball paradigm featuring the disyllable “baba,” which was stressed either on the first or second syllable (trochaic vs. iambic stress pattern). A group of age-matched normal hearing children participated as controls. Our results show, that within the first 6 months of implant use the implanted children develop a negative mismatch response for iambic but not for trochaic deviants, thus showing the same result as the normal hearing controls. Even congenitally deaf children show the same developing pattern. We therefore conclude (a) that young implanted children have early access to stress pattern information and (b) that they develop ERP responses similar to those of normal hearing children.

Daar bestaan nie duidelike riglyne waarvolgens Afrikaanse leesreekse wat in die grondslagfase gebruik word, geëvalueer kan word nie. Hierdie studie was verkennend van aard met die doel om kriteria te identifiseer wat aangewend kan word om Afrikaanse leesreekse in die grondslagfase te evalueer. Ek het ʼn interpretivistiese metateoretiese paradigma gevolg aangesien ek diepgaande kennis wou verkry oor die onderwerp. Daarvoor het ek gebruik gemaak van ʼn gevallestudie gerig deur Chall (1990) se model van leesontwikkeling. Daarby het ek uit die literatuur ʼn rubriek ontwikkel wat ek aangewend het om die drie leesreekse wat in die studie ondersoek is, se teoretiese onderbou te bepaal. Die literatuur het my ondersteun om vrae te onwikkel wat ek tydens drie fokusgroeponderhoude gevra het. Die fokusgroeponderhoude het by drie Afrikaanse laerskole binne die Tshwane-metropool in verskillende sosio-ekonomiese gebiede plaasgevind. Twaalf onderwysers het deelgeneem (n=12; vroue=12). Die deelnemende onderwysers is doelgerig geselekteer. Om my data te versterk, het ek ook gebruik gemaak van observasienotas verkry van 57 studente in die Vroeë Kinderontwikkeling en Grondslagfaseprogram, aan die Universiteit van Pretoria. Ek het die data gedokumenteer as oudio-opnames, verbatimtranskripsies en veldnotas. Verder het ek tematiese analise gebruik om die verbatimtranskripsies te analiseer, waarvolgens temas en subtemas geïdentifiseer is. Die volgende vier temas is geïdentifiseer: (i) relevansie van leesreekse, (ii) belangrike aspekte by die gebruik van leesreekse, (iii) onderwysers se gebruik van leesreekse tydens leesonderrig, (iv) wetenskaplike ontwikkeling van leesreekse vir grondslagfaseleesonderrig. Ek het inhoudsanalise gebruik om die leesreekse en observasienotas te analiseer. Bevindinge uit die studie dui daarop dat van die deelnemende skole verouderde leesreekse gebruik waarvan die inhoud nie relevant is vir die hedendaagse leerder se leefwêreld nie. Dit blyk ook dat onderwysers moontlik ʼn gebrekkige kennis van leesteorieë het. Verder het ek bevind dat onderwysers hul eie stories skryf om persepsie en fonologiese bewustheid te integreer, aangesien leesreekse nie dié leesvaardighede aanspreek nie. Ek het ook bevind dat onderwysers sekere aspekte belangrik ag by leesreekse, naamlik (i) leesreekse moet binne die leerder se leefwêreld wees, (ii) illustrasies moet die leerder uitnooi om te lees, (iii) progressie moet voorkom, (iv) herhaling van sigwoorde is belangrik, (v) uitgewers moet die volgorde van die aanleer van klanke in gedagte hou tydens die skryf van leesreekse, (vi) uitgewers moet die skriftipe, woordkeuses en korrekte spelling in ag neem, (vii) die behavioristiese benadering word algemeen aangewend tydens leesonderrig en (viii) slegs een leesreeks (leesreeks C) het voldoen aan meeste van die kriteria. <ul> “To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark” Victor Hugo</ul> ENGLISH : No definite guidelines exist which can be used to evaluate Afrikaans graded readers in the foundation phase. The main goal of this study was to identify criteria which can be implemented within the foundation phase to evaluate graded readers. I made use of an interpretative metatheoretical paradigm, since I anticipated gaining in-depth knowledge regarding the subject by means of this method. Chall’s Model of Reading Development (1990) was used as a basis for this case study. I developed a rubric, which was used to identify the theoretical aspects related to the three graded readers used in the study. The literature furthermore supported me in the formation of questions which were posed to the focus groups. The focus group meetings took place at three Afrikaans primary schools within the Tshwane Metropole in different socio-economic areas. Twelve teachers participated (n=12; women=12). The participating teachers were selected using stratified sampling. In order to enhance the validity of the data, I made use of observation notes, obtained from 57 students in the Early Childhood Development and Foundation Phase programme at the University of Pretoria. The data was documented as audio-recordings, transcriptions and field notes. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the transcriptions, whereafter themes and sub-themes were identified. The following four themes were identified: (i) The relevance of graded readers; (ii) important aspects related to the use of graded readers; (iii) the use of graded readers by teachers during reading instruction; and (iv) scientific development of graded readers for use during foundation phase reading instruction. The graded readers and observation notes were analysed by means of content analysis. The findings indicated that participating schools used graded readers of which the content is not relevant for the learner of today. It would also seem that teachers possibly lack knowledge of reading theories. In addition, teachers are writing their own stories in order to integrate perception and phonological awareness, since graded readers do not incorporate it. The findings further illuminated the fact that teachers value certain aspects in graded readers as important, namely: (i) Graded readers must fall within the context of the child’s world; (ii) illustrations must invite the learner to read, (iii) there must be progression, (iv) repetition of sight words are vital, (v) when publishers write graded readers, the range pertaining to how sounds are learned must be borne in mind, (vi) publishers must pay attention to the font type, word selection and spelling in readers, (viii) the behaviouristic approach is frequently used during reading instruction, and (viii) only one graded reader (graded reader C) met most of the set criteria. <ul>“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark” Victor Hugo</ul> / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

Des études suggèrent que certaines capacités sensorielles peuvent être augmentées chez l’humain, soit i) à la suite d’un entraînement ou ii) à la suite de privation sensorielle précoce. Des études suggèrent qu’une telle altération sensorielle peut être retrouvée chez les personnes ayant subi un entraînement musical. L’interaction entre ce qui est entendu et ressenti est spécialement importante lorsqu’un individu joue d’un instrument de musique. L’entraînement musical est reconnu comme étant une forme d’entraînement multisensoriel incluant des interactions entre des composantes auditives, visuelles et tactiles. Celui-ci peut mener à des réorganisations anatomiques et structurelles dans les régions corticales associées à ces modalités sensorielles. Plusieurs études comportementales ont révélé des habiletés de détection tactile améliorées chez les musiciens. Il est toujours incertain que ces améliorations puissent être retrouvées lors de processus plus complexes tels que la reconnaissance des émotions. Une autre population d’étude pourrait aussi révéler une altération des capacités tactiles, soit les personnes sourdes de naissance. Des études en imagerie ont révélé que les stimuli vibrotactiles activaient les régions auditives chez les personnes sourdes, suggérant ainsi une importante réorganisation tactile chez ces individus. Pourtant, au niveau comportemental, les capacités de détection tactile semblent similaires aux contrôles. Récemment, il a été suggéré que des processus tactiles plus complexes pourraient permettre de révéler des différences comportementales entre les personnes sourdes et entendantes. Malheureusement, tout comme chez les musiciens, ces processus n’ont toujours pas été évalués à ce jour. L’objectif principal de cette thèse est donc d’évaluer i) la perception unisensorielle tactile, auditive ainsi que multisensorielle chez les musiciens et ii) la perception unisensorielle tactile chez les sourds à l’aide de tâches non-musicales et musicales. Chez les musiciens, les résultats de cette thèse suggèrent des capacités de discrimination fréquentielle auditive, tactile et audiotactile améliorées (étude 1) ainsi que des améliorations de la perception d’émotions musicales complexes auditive et tactile (étude 2). Ces études supportent l’hypothèse qu’une formation musicale à long terme : i) entraîne une amélioration des capacités unisensorielles auditives et tactiles, mais surtout que celle-ci s’étend à des processus tactiles complexes, ii) a un impact à tous les niveaux hiérarchiques du traitement sensoriel et cognitif. Chez les individus sourds, les résultats ont révélé un plus haut taux d’erreurs lors de la tâche de détection d’ordre temporel tactile (étude 3). Ce résultat suggère que la cartographie spatiale du toucher est altérée chez les individus sourds. De plus, l’étude ayant mesuré la perception des émotions tactiles a révélé que ceux-ci sont capables d’identifier des émotions via la modalité tactile seule et ont même une capacité améliorée à identifier la joie (étude 4). Cette capacité accrue à percevoir la joie dans une mélodie via la modalité tactile illustre que des habiletés tactiles complexes peuvent être améliorées suite à une privation auditive de longue date. Ces deux études mises en commun illustrent que des capacités tactiles complexes non-musicales et musicales sont altérées chez l’individu sourd, ce qui supporte les études suggérant une réorganisation corticale des aires auditives et tactiles chez les individus sourds. / Studies suggest that some sensory abilities may be increased in humans, either i) following training or ii) following early sensory deprivation. Studies suggest that such sensory alteration can be found in people who have undergone musical training. The interaction between what is heard and felt is especially important when an individual is playing a musical instrument. Musical training is well-known as a form of multisensory training that includes interactions between auditory, visual and tactile modalities. This can lead to anatomical and structural reorganizations in the cortical regions associated with these sensory systems. Several behavioral studies have revealed improved tactile perception skills in musicians. It is still unclear whether these improvements can be found for more complex processes, such as recognition of emotions. Similar alteration of tactile abilities may also be found in another population, namely early-deaf individuals. Imaging studies have shown that vibrotactile stimuli activate auditory regions following deafness, suggesting a significant tactile reorganization of their cortex. Yet, from a behavioral point of view, tactile perception in deaf seems similar to controls. Recently, it has been suggested that more complex tactile processes may reveal behavioral differences between deaf and normal-hearing individuals. Unfortunately, similarly to musicians, these processes have not been investigated to date. The main objective of this thesis is therefore to evaluate via non-musical and musical tasks i) tactile, auditory and multisensory perception of music among musicians and ii) tactile perception of music among deaf individuals. For musicians, results of this thesis suggest enhanced auditory, tactile and audio-tactile frequency discrimination capabilities (Study 1). Also, results suggest an increase perception of emotions in music, which suggests improvements for complex auditory and tactile abilities (Study 2). These studies support the hypothesis that long-term musical training: i) leads to improved auditory and tactile perception, but especially that it extends to complex tactile processes, ii) has an impact at all hierarchical levels of sensory and cognitive processing For deaf individuals, results revealed a higher error rate during the tactile temporal order detection task (Study 3). This result suggests that spatial mapping of touch is impaired in deaf individuals. In addition, the study measuring tactile perception of emotion in music revealed that they are able to identify emotions via tactile modality solely. Also, improvements were found for the identification of happy emotion via tactile modality solely (Study 4). This increased ability to perceive happiness in a melody via the tactile modality illustrates that complex tactile skills can be improved following longstanding hearing deprivation. These two studies together suggest that complex non-musical and musical tactile abilities are altered in the deaf individual, which supports studies suggesting a cortical reorganization of auditory and tactile areas following long-term auditory deprivation.

This thesis deals with optimization of sound projectors, based on knowledge on the auditory perception. In sound projection it is desired that the lagging projected sound dominates the localization. One of the most limiting factors here is the leading direct sound, which, however, can only be reduced to a limited extent since the focusing capabilities of sound projectors are physically limited. In order to enable the perception-based optimization, it was therefore essential to gain an understanding of the perceptual role of the direct sound in achieving localization dominance of the projected sound, and which perception-based requirements for sound projection result from this role. A review of existing literature on the perception in scenarios with leading and lagging sound revealed that further insights into lag localization dominance were needed to this end. These insights were gained by conducting several psychoacoustic investigations in an anechoic chamber, reproducing the sounds via individual loudspeakers. Lag localization dominance seemed to be strongly influenced by the temporal characteristics of the playback signal. Afterwards, comprehensive perception-based requirements for sound projection were derived and their consequences for the design of sound projectors were discussed. On this basis, a method for the perception-based optimization was developed with the goal to reduce the influence of the direct sound on localization. This method was named localization masking. Localization masking is based on the additional generation of one or more sounds arriving earlier and from another direction than the direct sound at the position of the listener. An investigation under laboratory conditions, using cascaded lead-lag pairs representing the sounds involved, suggested that localization masking has the potential to achieve that goal. Localization masking enabled the initial lag, representing the projected sound, to dominate the localization up to a 7 dB higher level of the initial lead, representing the direct sound. Finally, localization masking was investigated under realistic conditions. Localization masking was applied to real sound projectors in a real room and proved to work. Localization masking enabled a given projector to be effectively used with a playback signal that requires stronger focusing capabilities. Furthermore, localization masking enabled a projector with less strong focusing capabilities to be effectively used with a given playback signal.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Highway noise can cause annoyance, affect sleep patterns, and reduce the property value for people in the proximity. Current methods for analyzing the effectiveness of sound barriers only take loudness into consideration. This paper introduces new methods that can be used to analyze the effectiveness of the sound barriers. Our approach uses psychoacoustic measures including sharpness, roughness, fluctuation, strength, and annoyance. Highway noise is non-stationary, therefore each of these metrics are calculated over a short time. Finally analysis is performed the distribution and change over time. We used nth nearest neighbor algorithm to remove sounds that are not a part of the experiment. In the future, this data can be combined with human surveys to see if the change in sound quality due to the presence of sound barriers has a meaningful impact on people's lives.

<p>  </p> <p>Highway workers are required to work close to moving traffic during road construction and maintenance activities, which exposes them to the risk of being struck by a distracted driver or intruding vehicle. In addition, work zones disturb the usual traffic flow and patterns due to changes in the existing geometric layout of a roadway, and this is also problematic for the drivers as they must navigate a layout of signs, barrels, and lane changes while keeping the vehicle in control. Moreover, late-night tasks, reckless driving, inconsistent work zones, drunk driving, and increased vehicle miles traveled are some of the additional causes of work zone incidents in the United States. Nationwide, around 40,000 accidents occur each year in highway work zones due to vehicle intrusion into the work zone and have steadily increased during the past ten years. Most often, the driver and passenger of the vehicle are the victims of such accidents. The resulting fatalities, injuries, and property damage due to such incidents lead to significant expenses, prolonged travel delays, and potential damage to expensive products in transit.</p> <p>While traditional safety precautions (e.g., truck-mounted attenuators, rumble strips, speed monitoring displays) can help enhance work zone safety, the number of work zone intrusions calls for designing and implementing emerging intrusion alert technologies to warn drivers and workers when errant vehicles intrude into the work zone. Several state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) have begun examining the use of intrusion alert technologies to mitigate work zone intrusions. While previous studies examined the general effectiveness (e.g., sound levels, work zone coverage, deployment characteristics, etc.) of these technologies in both controlled and active construction and maintenance work zones, there are still significant research gaps in investigating how well these intrusion technologies alert the driver and workers, and no documented best practices are available for transportation agencies and DOTs interested in implementing them. In addition, these technologies have been through many improvements and modifications, and further research is imperative to ascertain their chances of acceptance by workers and contractors.</p> <p>To address these gaps, this thesis focuses on (a) empirically examining the effectiveness, implications, and practices of four commercially available intrusion technologies in enhancing work zone safety through various field tests and surveys, and (b) empirically investigating the effectiveness of these technologies considering drivers’ cognitive processing (perception -reaction time) and responses in case of work zone intrusion. The findings of this research study provide detailed information on the identification and testing procedures of technologies and offer guidelines and recommendations for adopting these technologies for practitioners and professionals in the highway construction sector. The proposed decision-making matrix and multi-criteria decision-making framework are based on the empirical data obtained from the various field experiments, literature review, and evaluation survey. This study also provides valuable insights into the overall effectiveness (i.e., by considering functional characteristics, associated drivers’ responses and reactions, and current implementation) of commercially available intrusion technologies to incorporate required modifications in designing and implementing these technologies to enhance work zone safety. The long-term outcome of this study is to significantly reduce the injuries and fatalities in highway maintenance work zones in Indiana and across the country.</p>