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Strauss DJ, Francis AL, Vibell J, Corona-Strauss FI. The role of attention in immersion: The two-competitor model. Brain Res Bull 2024; 210:110923. [PMID: 38462137 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2024.110923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Revised: 11/19/2023] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 03/12/2024]
Abstract
Currently, we face an exponentially increasing interest in immersion, especially sensory-driven immersion, mainly due to the rapid development of ideas and business models centered around a digital virtual universe as well as the increasing availability of affordable immersive technologies for education, communication, and entertainment. However, a clear definition of 'immersion', in terms of established neurocognitive concepts and measurable properties, remains elusive, slowing research on the human side of immersive interfaces. To address this problem, we propose a conceptual, taxonomic model of attention in immersion. We argue (a) modeling immersion theoretically as well as studying immersion experimentally requires a detailed characterization of the role of attention in immersion, even though (b) attention, while necessary, cannot be a sufficient condition for defining immersion. Our broader goal is to characterize immersion in terms that will be compatible with established psychophysiolgical measures that could then in principle be used for the assessment and eventually the optimization of an immersive experience. We start from the perspective that immersion requires the projection of attention to an induced reality, and build on accepted taxonomies of different modes of attention for the development of our two-competitor model. The two-competitor model allows for a quantitative implementation and has an easy graphical interpretation. It helps to highlight the important link between different modes of attention and affect in studying immersion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J Strauss
- Systems Neuroscience & Neurotechnology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Saarland University & School of Engineering, htw saar, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
| | - Alexander L Francis
- Speech Perception & Cognitive Effort Lab, Dept. of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
| | - Jonas Vibell
- Brain & Behavior Lab, Dept. of Psychology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honololulu, HI, USA
| | - Farah I Corona-Strauss
- Systems Neuroscience & Neurotechnology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Saarland University & School of Engineering, htw saar, Homburg/Saar, Germany
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2
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Venkitakrishnan S, Wu YH. Facial Expressions as an Index of Listening Difficulty and Emotional Response. Semin Hear 2023; 44:166-187. [PMID: 37122878 PMCID: PMC10147507 DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1766104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Knowledge about listening difficulty experienced during a task can be used to better understand speech perception processes, to guide amplification outcomes, and can be used by individuals to decide whether to participate in communication. Another factor affecting these decisions is individuals' emotional response which has not been measured objectively previously. In this study, we describe a novel method of measuring listening difficulty and affect of individuals in adverse listening situations using automatic facial expression algorithm. The purpose of our study was to determine if facial expressions of confusion and frustration are sensitive to changes in listening difficulty. We recorded speech recognition scores, facial expressions, subjective listening effort scores, and subjective emotional responses in 33 young participants with normal hearing. We used the signal-to-noise ratios of -1, +2, and +5 dB SNR and quiet conditions to vary the difficulty level. We found that facial expression of confusion and frustration increased with increase in difficulty level, but not with change in each level. We also found a relationship between facial expressions and both subjective emotion ratings and subjective listening effort. Emotional responses in the form of facial expressions show promise as a measure of affect and listening difficulty. Further research is needed to determine the specific contribution of affect to communication in challenging listening environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soumya Venkitakrishnan
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, California State University, Sacramento, California
| | - Yu-Hsiang Wu
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
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Francis AL. Adding noise is a confounded nuisance. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 152:1375. [PMID: 36182286 DOI: 10.1121/10.0013874] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
A wide variety of research and clinical assessments involve presenting speech stimuli in the presence of some kind of noise. Here, I selectively review two theoretical perspectives and discuss ways in which these perspectives may help researchers understand the consequences for listeners of adding noise to a speech signal. I argue that adding noise changes more about the listening task than merely making the signal more difficult to perceive. To fully understand the effects of an added noise on speech perception, we must consider not just how much the noise affects task difficulty, but also how it affects all of the systems involved in understanding speech: increasing message uncertainty, modifying attentional demand, altering affective response, and changing motivation to perform the task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander L Francis
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, 715 Clinic Drive, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
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Love J, Sung W, Francis AL. Psychophysiological responses to potentially annoying heating, ventilation, and air conditioning noise during mentally demanding work. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2021; 150:3149. [PMID: 34717455 DOI: 10.1121/10.0006383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2021] [Accepted: 08/29/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to noise-or unwanted sound-is considered a major public health issue in the United States and internationally. Previous work has shown that even acute noise exposure can influence physiological response in humans and that individuals differ markedly in their susceptibility to noise. Recent research also suggests that specific acoustic properties of noise may have distinct effects on human physiological response. Much of the existing research on physiological response to noise consists of laboratory studies using very simple acoustic stimuli-like white noise or tone bursts-or field studies of longer-term workplace noise exposure that may neglect acoustic properties of the noise entirely. By using laboratory exposure to realistic heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) noise, the current study explores the interaction between acoustic properties of annoying noise and individual response to working in occupational noise. This study assessed autonomic response to two acoustically distinct noises while participants performed cognitively demanding work. Results showed that the two HVAC noises affected physiological arousal in different ways. Individual differences in physiological response to noise as a function of noise sensitivity were also observed. Further research is necessary to link specific acoustic characteristics with differential physiological responses in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan Love
- Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
| | - Weonchan Sung
- Medical Device Research Center, Samsung Electronics, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Alexander L Francis
- Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
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NeuroDante: Poetry Mentally Engages More Experts but Moves More Non-Experts, and for Both the Cerebral Approach Tendency Goes Hand in Hand with the Cerebral Effort. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11030281. [PMID: 33668815 PMCID: PMC7996310 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11030281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2020] [Revised: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 02/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuroaesthetics, the science studying the biological underpinnings of aesthetic experience, recently extended its area of investigation to literary art; this was the humus where neurocognitive poetics blossomed. Divina Commedia represents one of the most important, famous and studied poems worldwide. Poetry stimuli are characterized by elements (meter and rhyme) promoting the processing fluency, a core aspect of neuroaesthetics theories. In addition, given the evidence of different neurophysiological reactions between experts and non-experts in response to artistic stimuli, the aim of the present study was to investigate, in poetry, a different neurophysiological cognitive and emotional reaction between Literature (L) and Non-Literature (NL) students. A further aim was to investigate whether neurophysiological underpinnings would support explanation of behavioral data. Investigation methods employed: self-report assessments (recognition, appreciation, content recall) and neurophysiological indexes (approach/withdrawal (AW), cerebral effort (CE) and galvanic skin response (GSR)). The main behavioral results, according to fluency theories in aesthetics, suggested in the NL but not in the L group that the appreciation/liking went hand by hand with the self-declared recognition and with the content recall. The main neurophysiological results were: (i) higher galvanic skin response in NL, whilst higher CE values in L; (ii) a positive correlation between AW and CE indexes in both groups. The present results extended previous evidence relative to figurative art also to auditory poetry stimuli, suggesting an emotional attenuation “expertise-specific” showed by experts, but increased cognitive processing in response to the stimuli.
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Książek P, Zekveld AA, Wendt D, Fiedler L, Lunner T, Kramer SE. Effect of Speech-to-Noise Ratio and Luminance on a Range of Current and Potential Pupil Response Measures to Assess Listening Effort. Trends Hear 2021; 25:23312165211009351. [PMID: 33926329 PMCID: PMC8111552 DOI: 10.1177/23312165211009351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2020] [Revised: 02/11/2021] [Accepted: 03/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
In hearing research, pupillometry is an established method of studying listening effort. The focus of this study was to evaluate several pupil measures extracted from the Task-Evoked Pupil Responses (TEPRs) in speech-in-noise test. A range of analysis approaches was applied to extract these pupil measures, namely (a) pupil peak dilation (PPD); (b) mean pupil dilation (MPD); (c) index of pupillary activity; (d) growth curve analysis (GCA); and (e) principal component analysis (PCA). The effect of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR; Data Set A: -20 dB, -10 dB, +5 dB SNR) and luminance (Data Set B: 0.1 cd/m2, 360 cd/m2) on the TEPRs were investigated. Data Sets A and B were recorded during a speech-in-noise test and included TEPRs from 33 and 27 normal-hearing native Dutch speakers, respectively. The main results were as follows: (a) A significant effect of SNR was revealed for all pupil measures extracted in the time domain (PPD, MPD, GCA, PCA); (b) Two time series analysis approaches (GCA, PCA) provided modeled temporal profiles of TEPRs (GCA); and time windows spanning subtasks performed in a speech-in-noise test (PCA); and (c) All pupil measures revealed a significant effect of luminance. In conclusion, multiple pupil measures showed similar effects of SNR, suggesting that effort may be reflected in multiple aspects of TEPR. Moreover, a direct analysis of the pupil time course seems to provide a more holistic view of TEPRs, yet further research is needed to understand and interpret its measures. Further research is also required to find pupil measures less sensitive to changes in luminance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrycja Książek
- Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ear and Hearing, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Eriksholm Research Centre, Snekkersten, Denmark
| | - Adriana A. Zekveld
- Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ear and Hearing, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Dorothea Wendt
- Eriksholm Research Centre, Snekkersten, Denmark
- Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
| | | | | | - Sophia E. Kramer
- Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ear and Hearing, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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Herrmann B, Johnsrude IS. A model of listening engagement (MoLE). Hear Res 2020; 397:108016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2020.108016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2019] [Revised: 04/28/2020] [Accepted: 06/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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Zhao TC, Kuhl PK. Neural and physiological relations observed in musical beat and meter processing. Brain Behav 2020; 10:e01836. [PMID: 32920995 PMCID: PMC7667306 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2020] [Accepted: 08/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Music is ubiquitous and powerful in the world's cultures. Music listening involves abundant information processing (e.g., pitch, rhythm) in the central nervous system and can also induce changes in the physiology, such as heart rate and perspiration. Yet, previous studies tended to examine music information processing in the brain separately from physiological changes. In the current study, we focused on the temporal structure of music (i.e., beat and meter) and examined the physiology, neural processing, and, most importantly, the relation between the two areas. METHODS Simultaneous MEG and ECG data were collected from a group of adults (N = 15) while they passively listened to duple and triple rhythmic patterns. To characterize physiology, we measured heart rate variability (HRV), indexing the parasympathetic nervous system function (PSNS). To characterize neural processing of beat and meter, we examined the neural entertainment and calculated the beat-to-meter ratio to index the relation between beat-level and meter-level entrainment. Specifically, the current study investigated three related questions: (a) whether listening to musical rhythms affects HRV; (b) whether the neural beat-to-meter ratio differed between metrical conditions, and (c) whether neural beat-to-meter ratio is related to HRV. RESULTS Results suggest that while at the group level, both HRV and neural processing are highly similar across metrical conditions, at the individual level, neural beat-to-meter ratio significantly predicts HRV, establishing a neural-physiological link. CONCLUSION This observed link is discussed under the theoretical "neurovisceral integration model," and it provides important new perspectives in music cognition and auditory neuroscience research.
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Affiliation(s)
- T. Christina Zhao
- Institute for Learning and Brain SciencesUniversity of WashingtonSeattleWAUSA
| | - Patricia K. Kuhl
- Institute for Learning and Brain SciencesUniversity of WashingtonSeattleWAUSA
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Theriault JE, Young L, Barrett LF. The sense of should: A biologically-based framework for modeling social pressure. Phys Life Rev 2020; 36:100-136. [PMID: 32008953 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2020.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
What is social pressure, and how could it be adaptive to conform to others' expectations? Existing accounts highlight the importance of reputation and social sanctions. Yet, conformist behavior is multiply determined: sometimes, a person desires social regard, but at other times she feels obligated to behave a certain way, regardless of any reputational benefit-i.e. she feels a sense of should. We develop a formal model of this sense of should, beginning from a minimal set of biological premises: that the brain is predictive, that prediction error has a metabolic cost, and that metabolic costs are prospectively avoided. It follows that unpredictable environments impose metabolic costs, and in social environments these costs can be reduced by conforming to others' expectations. We elaborate on a sense of should's benefits and subjective experience, its likely developmental trajectory, and its relation to embodied mental inference. From this individualistic metabolic strategy, the emergent dynamics unify social phenomenon ranging from status quo biases, to communication and motivated cognition. We offer new solutions to long-studied problems (e.g. altruistic behavior), and show how compliance with arbitrary social practices is compelled without explicit sanctions. Social pressure may provide a foundation in individuals on which societies can be built.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Liane Young
- Department of Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA
| | - Lisa Feldman Barrett
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; Psychiatric Neuroimaging Division, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
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Strand JF, Ray L, Dillman-Hasso NH, Villanueva J, Brown VA. Understanding Speech Amid the Jingle and Jangle: Recommendations for Improving Measurement Practices in Listening Effort Research. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020; 3:169-188. [PMID: 34240011 DOI: 10.1080/25742442.2021.1903293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The latent constructs psychologists study are typically not directly accessible, so researchers must design measurement instruments that are intended to provide insights about those constructs. Construct validation-assessing whether instruments measure what they intend to-is therefore critical for ensuring that the conclusions we draw actually reflect the intended phenomena. Insufficient construct validation can lead to the jingle fallacy-falsely assuming two instruments measure the same construct because the instruments share a name (Thorndike, 1904)-and the jangle fallacy-falsely assuming two instruments measure different constructs because the instruments have different names (Kelley, 1927). In this paper, we examine construct validation practices in research on listening effort and identify patterns that strongly suggest the presence of jingle and jangle in the literature. We argue that the lack of construct validation for listening effort measures has led to inconsistent findings and hindered our understanding of the construct. We also provide specific recommendations for improving construct validation of listening effort instruments, drawing on the framework laid out in a recent paper on improving measurement practices (Flake & Fried, 2020). Although this paper addresses listening effort, the issues raised and recommendations presented are widely applicable to tasks used in research on auditory perception and cognitive psychology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lucia Ray
- Carleton College, Department of Psychology
| | | | | | - Violet A Brown
- Washington University in St. Louis, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences
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Francis AL, Love J. Listening effort: Are we measuring cognition or affect, or both? WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2019; 11:e1514. [PMID: 31381275 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2019] [Revised: 07/07/2019] [Accepted: 07/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Listening effort is increasingly recognized as a factor in communication, particularly for and with nonnative speakers, for the elderly, for individuals with hearing impairment and/or for those working in noise. However, as highlighted by McGarrigle et al., International Journal of Audiology, 2014, 53, 433-445, the term "listening effort" encompasses a wide variety of concepts, including the engagement and control of multiple possibly distinct neural systems for information processing, and the affective response to the expenditure of those resources in a given context. Thus, experimental or clinical methods intended to objectively quantify listening effort may ultimately reflect a complex interaction between the operations of one or more of those information processing systems, and/or the affective and motivational response to the demand on those systems. Here we examine theoretical, behavioral, and psychophysiological factors related to resolving the question of what we are measuring, and why, when we measure "listening effort." This article is categorized under: Linguistics > Language in Mind and Brain Psychology > Theory and Methods Psychology > Attention Psychology > Emotion and Motivation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander L Francis
- Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
| | - Jordan Love
- Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
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