Maturational Influences on Perception of Coarticulatory Effects

1978 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 682-701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha M. Parnell ◽  
James D. Amerman

Three experimental groups consisting of ten four-year-olds, ten 11-year-olds, and ten adults were presented with tape-recorded voiceless stop + vowel syllables and subsyllabic segments isolated from the syllables by electronic gating. Subjects were instructed to identify each syllable. Comparisons of the performances of subjects in the three age groups permitted description of maturational influences on the ability to utilize coarticulatory cues in speech perception. The responses of the four-year-olds indicated that they were able to process coarticulatory information for the identification of consonants and vowels from subsyllabic segments. However, their ability to utilize these cues was more limited than that of 11-year-olds and adults. The four-year-old children experienced particular difficulty in the use of aperiodic information. The relative distribution of perceptual cues throughout the portions of the CV syllables was similar for all age groups. The overall phoneme identification accuracy levels of the 11-year-olds appeared to be established at an adult accuracy level. However, differences among all three age groups in regard to consistency of responses, markedness of substitution error preferences, and magnitude of the influence of acoustic stimulus duration on response accuracy suggest that strategies for estimation of phoneme identity may undergo further modification beyond the 11-year-old level before attaining the characteristics of the adult decoding process.

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (9) ◽  
pp. 2537-2550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irena Vincent

Purpose Research on language planning in adult stuttering is relatively sparse and offers diverging arguments about a potential causative relationship between semantic and phonological encoding and fluency breakdowns. This study further investigated semantic and phonological encoding efficiency in adults who stutter (AWS) by means of silent category and phoneme identification, respectively. Method Fifteen AWS and 15 age- and sex-matched adults who do not stutter (ANS) participated. The groups were compared on the basis of the accuracy and speed of superordinate category (animal vs. object) and initial phoneme (vowel vs. consonant) decisions, which were indicated manually during silent viewing of pictorial stimuli. Movement execution latency was accounted for, and no other cognitive, linguistic, or motor demands were posed on participants' responses. Therefore, category identification accuracy and speed were considered indirect measures of semantic encoding efficiency and phoneme identification accuracy and speed of phonological encoding efficiency. Results For category decisions, AWS were slower but not less accurate than ANS, with objects eliciting more errors and slower responses than animals in both groups. For phoneme decisions, the groups did not differ in accuracy, with consonant errors outnumbering vowel errors in both groups, and AWS were slower than ANS in consonant but not vowel identification, with consonant response time lagging behind vowel response time in AWS only. Conclusions AWS were less efficient than ANS in semantic encoding, and they might harbor a consonant-specific phonological encoding weakness. Future independent studies are warranted to discover if these positive findings are replicable and a marker for persistent stuttering.


2007 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 457-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek T.Y. Mann ◽  
A. Mark Williams ◽  
Paul Ward ◽  
Christopher M. Janelle

Research focusing on perceptual-cognitive skill in sport is abundant. However, the existing qualitative syntheses of this research lack the quantitative detail necessary to determine the magnitude of differences between groups of varying levels of skills, thereby limiting the theoretical and practical contribution of this body of literature. We present a meta-analytic review focusing on perceptual-cognitive skill in sport (N = 42 studies, 388 effect sizes) with the primary aim of quantifying expertise differences. Effects were calculated for a variety of dependent measures (i.e., response accuracy, response time, number of visual fixations, visual fixation duration, and quiet eye period) using point-biserial correlation. Results indicated that experts are better than nonexperts in picking up perceptual cues, as revealed by measures of response accuracy and response time. Systematic differences in visual search behaviors were also observed, with experts using fewer fixations of longer duration, including prolonged quiet eye periods, compared with nonexperts. Several factors (e.g., sport type, research paradigm employed, and stimulus presentation modality) significantly moderated the relationship between level of expertise and perceptual-cognitive skill. Practical and theoretical implications are presented and suggestions for empirical work are provided.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Anne-Marie Snider

<p>One of the major shifts in our social structure over the last 50 years has been a switch in the relative well-being positions of young and old. This is reflected in their suicide rates where, in contrast to the gradual decline in the propensity of older populations to take their own lives, that of the young has risen dramatically. Not confined to New Zealand, this ‘generational switch’ raises important questions about the changing relative distribution of incentives and rewards for living across the age domain. The purpose of my thesis is to document this change and explore its implications. I do so by analysing the current distribution of subjective well-being across contemporary age groups including differences between men and women and Māori and non-Māori. Of particular interest is the link between suicide, subjective well-being and social capital – the levels of social connectedness that prevail in the lives of the young adults relative to their parents’ generation. As a geographer I’m particularly concerned with the role of local capital (community connectedness and trust) in nurturing well-being, and hence the variation that well-being exhibits across places within a country. While thoroughly investigated between nations, relatively few studies document geographical variations in subjective well-being within countries, particularly in terms of how these statistics differ by age. I find that not only does dissatisfaction with life (unhappiness and other measures of subjective well-being) rise as teenagers approach adulthood, but that it peaks in the 30s and declines slowly thereafter in a pattern reflective of the prevailing pattern of suicide. Moreover I find that, in addition to partnership, income, employment status and housing tenure, satisfaction with life among young adults in particular also varies across local communities, and cities. As such, the young exhibit a heightened sensitivity to place in ways that raise important questions about the nature of communities in which children are raised. It is this new information which I bring to a discussion of current initiatives dealing with mental health and the prevailing strategies advocated in New Zealand.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhihui Li ◽  
Omar Karlsson ◽  
Rockli Kim ◽  
S. V. Subramanian

Abstract Background As under-5 mortality rates declined all over the world, the relative distribution of under-5 deaths during different periods of life changed. To provide information for policymakers to plan for multi-layer health strategies targeting child health, it is essential to quantify the distribution of under-5 deaths by age groups. Methods Using 245 Demographic and Health Surveys from 64 low- and middle-income countries conducted between 1986 and 2018, we compiled a database of 2,437,718 children under-5 years old with 173,493 deaths. We examined the share of deaths that occurred in the neonatal (< 1 month), postneonatal (1 month to 1 year old), and childhood (1 to 5 years old) periods to the total number of under-5 deaths at both aggregate- and country-level. We estimated the annual change in share of deaths to track the changes over time. We also assessed the association between share of deaths and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. Results Neonatal deaths accounted for 53.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 52.7, 53.4) of the total under-5 deaths. The neonatal share of deaths was lower in low-income countries at 44.0% (43.5, 44.5), and higher in lower-middle-income and upper-middle income countries at 57.2% (56.8, 57.6) and 54.7% (53.8, 55.5) respectively. There was substantial heterogeneity in share of deaths across countries; for example, the share of neonatal to total under-5 deaths ranged from 20.9% (14.1, 27.6) in Eswatini to 82.8% (73.0, 92.6) in Dominican Republic. The shares of deaths in all three periods were significantly associated with GDP per capita, but in different directions—as GDP per capita increased by 10%, the neonatal share of deaths would significantly increase by 0.78 percentage points [PPs] (0.43, 1.13), and the postneonatal and childhood shares of deaths would significantly decrease by 0.29 PPs (0.04, 0.54) and 0.49 PPs (0.24, 0.74) respectively. Conclusions Along with the countries’ economic development, an increasing proportion of under-5 deaths occurs in the neonatal period, suggesting a need for multi-layer health strategies with potentially heavier investment in newborn health.


Author(s):  
Yasuaki Shinohara

Purpose This study tested the hypothesis that audiovisual training benefits children more than it does adults and that it improves Japanese-speaking children's English /r/−/l/ perception to a native-like level. Method Ten sessions of audiovisual English /r/−/l/ identification training were conducted for Japanese-speaking adults and children. Assessments were made of age effects on the increase in identification accuracy in three testing conditions (audiovisual, visual only, and audio only) and auditory discrimination of the primary acoustic cue (F3 frequency). Results The results showed that both adults and children increased their identification accuracy in the audiovisual condition more than in the single-modality conditions (visual only and audio only). Their improvement in the visual-only condition was larger than that in the audio-only condition. Japanese-speaking adults and children improved their primary acoustic cue (F3) sensitivity to a similar extent. In addition, their identification improvement in the audiovisual condition was positively correlated with those in the audio-only and visual-only conditions. The improvement in the audio-only condition was also positively correlated with that in the visual-only condition and with primary acoustic cue sensitivity. Conclusion It was unclear whether children had an advantage over adults in improving their identification accuracy, but both age groups improved their auditory and visual perception of the English /r/−/l/ contrast and showed additive effects in the multisensory (i.e., audiovisual) condition.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hana Saffar ◽  
Maryam Khalifeloo ◽  
mohammed-Jafar Saffar ◽  
Ali-Reza Abdollahi ◽  
Mohammad-Reza Parsaei ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Iranian children have been vaccinated with the scheduled two doses of monovalent measles vaccine (mMV) since 1984. In December 2003, a nationwide campaign of measles-rubella (MR) immunization targeted 5-25 years population was established. In 2004, the mMV was replaced with measles- mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Despite the high vaccination coverage, the outbreaks of measles still occurs in the country. In this Study, the measles-rubella immunity status of various age groups, vaccinated with different schedules was investigated, and the immunologic response of seronegative subjects to revaccination was examined. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 7- 33-year-old healthy individuals with a documented history of measles vaccination from November 2017-to June 2018. The subjects were categorized as fallow: groupA: including 20-33 years-old; vaccinated with 1-2 dose of mMV, and revaccinated with MR, groupB, including 15-19-year-old individuals, vaccinated with two doses of mMV at nine and 15 months of age, and in addition to one dose MMR upon school entrance, groupC, including 11-14 year-old individuals vaccinated, with two-doses of MMR at the ages of 15 months and six years, and groupD, including 7-10 year individuals vaccinated with two-doses of MMR vaccine at the ages 12 and 18 months, respectively. Nest the consecrations of antimeasles-antirubella IgG antibodies in the collected sera were measured. Among seronegative subjects, the antimeasles-antirubella IgM and IgG were reexamined at 4-6 weeks after MMR revaccination. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods.Results: A total of 635 individuals, including 322 females were investigated in this study. The relative distribution of subjects in each group was as falows: groupA, 98; groupB, 295; groupC, 139; and groupD, 103 persons. Overall, 12.3% and 18.4% of the population were seronegative for measles and rubella antibodies. This rate varied greatly between the 4 groups: groupA, 2%-0/0%; groupB,15.2%- 25.0%; groupC,11.5%- 17.2%; and groupD,14.6%- 18.4%. After revaccination, 92% and 94.9% of seronegative individuals only showed IgG response to measles and rubella vaccines, respectively.Conclusion: Despite the high coverage rate of M-R containing vaccines, a significant numbers of vaccinated subjects were seronegative for measles and rubella, possibly because of secondary vaccine failure; this may negatively affect measles-rubella elimination targets in the country. If these findings are confirmed in similar future studies, a more robust regional/national supplementary immunization activity should be considered.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hana Saffar ◽  
Maryam Khalifeloo ◽  
Mohammed-Jafar Saffar ◽  
Ali-Reza Abdollahi ◽  
Mohammad-Reza Parsaei ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: In addition to schedule 2-doses monovalent measles vaccine (mMV) immunization of Iranian children since 1984, a nationwide campaign of measles-rubella (MR) immunization among 5- 25 years-old population in December 2003 was conducted. From 2004 mMV was replaced with measles- mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Despite a high vaccination coverage, outbreaks of measles occurred in the country. Study was designed to investigate seroimmunity against measles and rubella among various age groups of population who were vaccinated with different schedule since 1984. Also, immunologic response to revaccination in seronegative subjects was evaluated. Methods: From 1 November 2017 to 30 June 2018 a cross- sectional study among 7- 33 year old healthy population with documented history of measles vaccination was conducted. Based on their age and history of vaccination categorized as GA: 20-23 years old; vaccinated with 1-2 dose of mMV, and also MR revaccinated. GB: 15-19 years, vaccinated only with 2- doses of mMV at the ages of 9 and 15 months. GC: 12-14 years and GD: 7-11 years; vaccinated with 2- dose of MMR vaccine at the ages 15 months - 6 years, and 12-18 month respectively. Collected sera were assessed to measure antimeasles and antirubella IgG antibodies concentration. Four to 6 weeks after revaccination of seronegative subjects, antimeasles-antirubella IgM and IgG antibodies were rechecked. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods.Results: Totally 635 individuals, 312 female were included. Relative distribution of subjects in each group was as: GA: 98, GB: 295, GC: 139, and GD: 103 persons. Overall, 12.28% and 18.4% of population were soronegative, and varied greatly between groups: 2%-0/0%, 15.2%- 25.0%, 11.5%- 17.2%; and 14.6%-18.4% to measles and rubella, respectively. After revaccination, 92% and 94.9% showed 1gG response to measles and rubella vaccine respectively.Conclusion: Despite high coverage rate with measles containing vaccine, a significant numbers of vaccinated subjects lost their seroprotection, possibly because of secondary vaccine failure. This may affect measles-rubella elimination goal in the country. If these data were confirmed by further studies, more strengthen regional/ national supplementary immunization activity should be considered.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Martschuk ◽  
Siegfried L. Sporer ◽  
Melanie Sauerland

AbstractSince the late 1980s evidence has been accumulating that confidence recorded at the time of identification is a reliable postdictor of eyewitness identification. Nonetheless, there may be noteworthy exceptions. In a re-analysis of a field study by Sauerland and Sporer (2009; N = 720; n = 436 choosers between 15 and 83 years old) we show that the postdictive value of confidence was reduced for participants aged 40 years or older. Different calibration indices and Bayesian analyses demonstrate a progressive dissociation between identification performance and confidence across age groups. While the confidence expressed following an identification remained unchanged across the lifespan, identification accuracy decreased. Young, highly confident witnesses were much more likely to be accurate than less confident witnesses. With increasing age, witnesses were more likely to be overconfident, particularly at the medium and high levels of confidence, and the postdictive value of confidence and decision times decreased. We conclude that witness age may be an important moderator to take into account when evaluating identification evidence.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Jonathan Nyman ◽  
James Michael Lampinen ◽  
Jan Antfolk ◽  
Julia Korkman ◽  
Pekka Santtila

Increased distance between an eyewitness and a culprit decreases the accuracy of eyewitness identifications, but the maximum distance at which reliable observations can still be made is unknown. Our aim was to identify this threshold.We hypothesized that increased distance would decrease identification and rejection accuracy, confidence, and increase response time. We expected an interaction effect, where increased distance would more negatively affect younger and older participants (vs. young adults), resulting in age-group specific distance thresholds where diagnosticity would be 1. We presented participants with four live targets at distances between 5-110 meters (m) using an eight-person computerized line-up task. We employed simultaneous and sequential target-absent or target-present line-ups and presented these to 1588 participants (age range 6-77; 61% female, 95% Finns) resulting in 6233 responses. We found that at 40m diagnosticity was 50% lower than at 5m, and with increased distance diagnosticity tapered off until it was 1 (+/- 0.5) at 100m for all age groups and line-up types. However, young children (6-11) and older adults (45-77) reached a diagnosticity of 1 at shorter distances compared with older children (12-17) and young adults (18-44). We found that with increased distance, confidence dropped whereas response time remained stable, and that high confidence and shorter response times were associated with identification accuracy up to 40m. We conclude that age and line-up type moderate the effect distance has on eyewitness accuracy and that there are perceptual distance thresholds at which an eyewitness can no longer reliably encode and later identify a culprit.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hana Saffar ◽  
Maryam Khalifeloo ◽  
mohammed-Jafar Saffar ◽  
Ali-Reza Abdollahi ◽  
Mohammad-Reza Parsaei ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: In addition to scheduled 2-doses monovalent measles vaccine (mMV) immunization of Iranian children since 1984, a nationwide campaign of measles-rubella (MR) immunization among 5- 25 years-old population in December 2003 was conducted. From 2004 mMV was replaced with measles- mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Despite a high vaccination coverage, outbreaks of measles occurred in the country. Study was designed to investigate seroimmunity status against measles and rubella among various age groups of population who were vaccinated with different schedule since 1984. Also, immunologic response to revaccination in seronegative subjects was evaluated. Methods: From 1 November 2017 to 30 June 2018 a cross- sectional study among 7- 33 year old (born 1984-2011) healthy population with documented history of measles vaccination was conducted. Based on their age and history of vaccination status categorized as GA: 20-2333 years old; vaccinated with 1-2 dose of mMV, and also MR revaccinated. GB: 15-19 years, vaccinated only with 2- doses of mMV at the ages of 9 and 15 months and MMR 2-5 years later. GC: 12-14 years and GD: 7-11 years; vaccinated with 2- dose of MMR vaccine at the ages 15 months - 6 years, and 12-18 months respectively. Collected sera were assessed to measure antimeasles and antirubella IgG antibodies concentration. Four to 6 weeks after revaccination of seronegative subjects, antimeasles-antirubella IgM and IgG antibodies were rechecked. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods.Results: Totally 635 individuals, 312 female were included. Relative distribution of subjects in each group was as: GA: 98, GB: 295, GC: 139, and GD: 103 persons. Overall, 12.28% and 18.4% of population were soronegative, and varied greatly between groups: 2%-0/0%, 15.2%- 25.0%, 11.5%- 17.2%; and 14.6%-18.4%, to measles and rubella, respectively. After revaccination, 92% and 94.9% showed 1gG response to measles and rubella vaccine respectively.Conclusion: Despite high coverage rate with measles and rubella containing vaccine, a significant numbers of vaccinated subjects lost their seroprotection were seronegative, possibly because of secondary vaccine failure. This may affect measles-rubella elimination goal in the country. If these data were confirmed by further studies, more strengthen regional/ national supplementary immunization activity should be considered.


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