Cognition and Perception Commons^™

Effect Of Reverberation Context On Spatial Hearing Performance Of Normally Hearing Listeners, Renita E. Sudirga

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Previous studies provide evidence that listening experience in a particular reverberant environment improves speech intelligibility and localization performance in that environment. Such studies, however, are few, and there is little knowledge of the underlying mechanisms. The experiments presented in this thesis explored the effect of reverberation context, in particular, the similarity in interaural coherence within a context, on listeners' performance in sound localization, speech perception in a spatially separated noise, spatial release from speech-on-speech masking, and target location identification in a multi-talker configuration.

All experiments were conducted in simulated reverberant environments created with a loudspeaker array in an anechoic chamber. …

The Effects Of Alcohol On Different Classes Of Motion Perception, Steven J. Matson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

We used a psychophysical approach to investigate how alcohol affected visual sensitivity to perceive different classes of motion. Visual sensitivities were measured in both a non-alcohol and an alcohol condition for three classes of motion: Minimum Motion, Simple Motion, and Complex Motion. Perceptual thresholds, taken as the degree of motion at which an observer responded correctly with an accuracy of 75%, or Weber fractions were compared between the non-alcohol and the alcohol conditions. For Simple and Complex motion, similar comparisons were made as a function of speed (e.g., 2°s^-1, 6°s^-1, and 12°s^-1). Perceptual thresholds …

The Effects Of Semantic Neighborhood Density On The Processing Of Ambiguous Words, Mark J. Mcphedran

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Semantic neighborhood density’s effects on the processing of ambiguous words were examined in three lexical decision experiments. Semantic neighborhoods were defined in terms of semantic set size and connectivity in Experiment 1, and in terms of semantic set size in Experiments 2 and 3. In Experiment 1, set size, connectivity, and ambiguity were crossed. An ambiguity disadvantage was observed for large set, high connectivity words, and there was some suggestion of an ambiguity advantage for small set, high connectivity words. Experiments 2 and 3 held connectivity constant at a high level, and set size and ambiguity were crossed, with Experiment …

How Attention And Beat Perception Modulate Neural Entrainment To Rhythm, Aaron Wc Gibbings

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Recently, steady-state evoked potentials (SS-EPs) at the frequency of the beat have been observed in electroencephalograms (EEG; Nozaradan et al., 2011, 2012). Previous studies involved participants actively attending to isochronous sequences and repeating rhythms. Here we assessed whether neural enhancement of SS-EPs at beat-related frequencies occurred when (1) participants did not attend to the rhythms, and (2) the rhythm was novel and did not repeat.

When participants listened to rhythms that contained a beat SS-EP enhancement was larger during attended rhythms than when participants were distracted by another task, although SS-EPs were still present in all conditions. SS-EP enhancement therefore …

Seeing With Sound: Investigating The Behavioural Applications And Neural Correlates Of Human Echolocation, Jennifer L. Milne

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Some blind humans use the reflected echoes from self-produced signals to perceive their silent surroundings. Although the use of echolocation is well documented in animals such as bats and dolphins, comparatively little is known about human echolocation. The overarching goal of the work presented in this thesis was to shed light on some of the basic functions of human echolocation, including the perception of the shape, size, and material. I addressed these aspects of echolocation using behavioural psychophysics and neuroimaging.

In Chapter 2 I show that blind echolocators were able to accurately identify the shape of 2D objects, but that …

The Relationship Between Implicit And Explicit Processing In Statistical Language Learning, Nicolette B. Noonan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Statistical language learning is an implicit process wherein language learners track sequential statistics in fluent speech, and may it facilitate the learning of word boundaries. This process is well studied, however, the cognitive mechanisms supporting it remain poorly understood. The present thesis investigated whether domain-specific or cross-domain explicit working memory engagement would impair implicit statistical learning of word boundaries in fluent speech. Participants (n = 110) were exposed to an implicit statistical word segmentation paradigm while concurrently engaged in no other task (control), or an explicit domain- specific (verbal) or cross-domain (visuospatial) working memory task of either low- or high- …

The Role Of The Phonological Syllable In English Word Recognition, Daniel Trinh

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Three ERP experiments examined the role of syllables during English visual word recognition. A colour congruency paradigm (Carreiras, Vergara, & Barber, 2005) was used in which disyllabic words were presented in two colours that divided each item either at the syllable boundary (congruent condition), or one letter away from the syllable boundary (incongruent condition). Experiment 1 investigated syllable congruency effects for words that either were presented with an orthotactically illegal segment in the incongruent condition (e.g., whi-mper, comr-ade), or were presented with orthotactically legal segments in the incongruent condition (e.g., whi-sper, cont-act). A syllable congruency effect was observed in the …

An Empirical Investigation Of The Concept Of “Pornography”, Taylor A. Kohut

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

“Pornography” as a concept remains unclear. The lack of consensus about the meaning of pornography is particularly problematic for empirical enterprises where inconsistent conceptualizations of pornography undermine the reliability and validity of research findings, impede the integration of knowledge across studies, and contribute to the miscommunication of research findings to the general public. With this in mind, the goal of this dissertation was to explore the concept of pornography, particularly as it was understood by lay individuals, with the hope of uncovering insights that would strengthen research practices in this field. To this end, seven studies were conducted using both …

Music And Auditory Transportation: An Investigation Of The Music Experience, Gail Leizerovici

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

To date, music has been primarily investigated as an atmospheric component of retail environments, or as a manipulable variable to assess consumer behaviour responses. However, across disciplines, listening to music has been shown to foster group membership, decrease anxiety, improve mood, and induce strong physical reactions such as thrills and chills. My dissertation research looks at closing this gap by investigating how music can offer more to its consumer than is currently understood. Using a mixed-method approach, I first explore the phenomenon of experiencing a favourite song. Following that, I experimentally investigate: 1) how and whether different modes of music …