Comparisons of Speech Parameterisation Techniques for Classification of Intellectual Disability Using Machine Learning

Classification of intellectually disabled children through manual assessment of speech at an early age is inconsistent, subjective, time-consuming and prone to error. This study attempts to classify the children with intellectual disabilities using two speech feature extraction techniques: Linear Predictive Coding (LPC) based cepstral parameters, and Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC). Four different classification models: k-nearest neighbour (k-NN), support vector machine (SVM), linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) are employed for classification purposes. 48 speech samples of each group are taken for analysis, from subjects with a similar age and socio-economic background. The effect of the different frame length with the number of filterbanks in the MFCC and different frame length with the order in the LPC is also examined for better accuracy. The experimental outcomes show that the projected technique can be used to help speech pathologists in estimating intellectual disability at early ages.

Phrase Depicting Immoral Behavior Dilates Its Subjective Time Judgment

Intuitive moral emotions play a major role in forming our opinions and moral decisions. However, it is not yet known how we perceive the subjective time of moral-related information. In this study, we compared subjective durations of phrases depicting immoral, disgust, or neutral behaviors in a duration bisection task and found that phrases depicting immoral behavior were perceived as lasting longer than the neutral and disgusting phrases. By contrast, the subjective duration of the disgusting phrase, unlike the immoral phrase, was comparable to the neutral phrase. Moreover, the lengthening effect of the immoral phrase relative to the neutral phrase was significantly correlated to the anonymously prosocial tendency of the observer. Our findings suggest that immoral phrases induce embodied moral reaction, which alters emotional state and subsequently lengthens subjective time.

The End of Resilience? Managing Vulnerability Through Temporal Resourcing and Resisting

We induce a first-person conceptualization of entrepreneurial resilience. Our seven-year, two-study ethnography shows that entrepreneurs enact resilience as a four-step process of managing vulnerability: they richly experience episodes of adversity, self-monitor across episodes, reassess personal thresholds and reconcile challenges with coping skills. Entrepreneurs manage vulnerability by (1) modifying ( stretching and shrinking) objective time and (2) changing their subjective experience of time as working with or against the clock through temporal resourcing or temporal resisting. We extend the theory and practice of entrepreneurial resilience by elaborating the interplay of objective and subjective time in managing vulnerability in recurrent and unprecedented crises.

Detection of Parkinsonian Motor Symptoms Using Non-Invasive Motion Sensing Technology

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is characterized by impaired movement, resting tremor, and muscle rigidity. The Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) is a standardized protocol used by neurologists to measure progression of disease as well as evaluation of treatments. However, this examination is subjective, time consuming, and results can be affected by stress, diet, or sleep. Our goal is to develop a non-invasive device that can record objective clinically-relevant measurements during subtasks of the UPDRS to allow for remote evaluations, which would be beneficial considering the frequency of clinical visits for medication adjustments. Five healthy individuals (ages 21-59) completed UPDRS tasks 3.6 (pronation/supination of hands) and 3.17 (rest tremor amplitude). Participants performed these tasks twice, first normally and second simulating PD patients (tremor, bradykinesia, reduction of movement amplitude) after viewing example videos. Motion data including linear and angular accelerations in 3 dimensions was acquired using a lightweight wrist-mounted motion sensor. Three features were extracted: (1) Power of higher frequency components of the linear acceleration signal (rest task), as a measure of resting tremor amplitude. (2) Power of higher frequency components of the rotational acceleration signal (pronation/supination task), as a measure of bradykinesia. (3) Standard deviation of the local maxima of the rotational acceleration (pronation/supination task), as a measure of reduction in movement speed and amplitude. These features were used to correctly differentiate trials completed with and without simulated PD symptoms, using an SVM classifier with leave-one-out cross validation accuracy of 95%. These findings suggest it is possible to capture clinical features of PD using motion sensors. Future work in PD patients will examine how these measures correlate with UPDRS evaluations and whether they will be helpful in providing a quick, objective telehealth measure of progression and treatment response that can supplement current tools.

METAPHORICAL CONCEPTUALIZATION OF SUBJECTIVE TIME (ON «MY PRETTY PONY» BY S. KING)

Рассматриваются формы метафорического осмысления субъективного времени в рассказе современного американского писателя Стивена Кинга «Мой милый пони». Время сравнивается с маленьким своевольным животным, над которым человек должен держать контроль. В диалоге старика с внуком прослеживаются следующие характеристики субъективно переживаемого времени: текучесть, судьбоносность, необратимость, неподконтрольность и неумолимость. Дед формулирует смысложизненные ориентиры, которых должен придерживаться его маленький собеседник, в виде житейских метафорически выраженных инструкций. Общий вывод, вытекающий из повествования, сводится к призыву воспринимать отведенное нам время как подарок. The paper deals with conceptualization of subjective time in the story «My pretty pony» by a modern American writer Stephen King. Time is compared with a small self-willed animal to be controlled. In the dialogue of an old man and his grandson we can see the following features of subjective time: fluidity, fatefulness, inconvertibility, uncontrol-lability, implacability. The granddad formulates philosophical principles his grandson must follow in the form of earthbound metaphorical instructions. The idea of the narrative may be interpreted as the appeal to perceive time given to us as a gift.

The Blursday Database: Individuals’ Temporalities in Covid Times

The Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns triggered worldwide changes in the daily routines of human experience. The Blursday database provides measures of subjective time and related processes from more than 2,800 participants (over 9 countries) tested on 14 questionnaires and 15 behavioral tasks during the Covid-19 pandemic. The easy-to-process database and all data collection tools are made fully accessible to researchers interested in studying the effects of social isolation on temporal information processing, time perspective, decision-making, sleep, metacognition, attention, memory, self-perception, and mindfulness. Blursday also includes vital quantitative statistics such as sleep patterns, personality traits, psychological well-being, and lockdown indices. Herein, we exemplify the use of the database with novel quantitative insights on the effects of lockdown (stringency, mobility) and subjective confinement on time perception (duration, passage of time, temporal distances). We show that new discoveries are possible as illustrated by an inter-individual central tendency effect in retrospective duration estimation.

Time Is Relative: How Framing of Time Estimation Affects the Accuracy of Cost Information

Accurate cost information is critical to effective decision making within organizations. Cost computations often rely on subjective judgments by employees regarding the amount of time that different tasks consume. In an experimental setting, we examine the accuracy of two common approaches to eliciting subjective time estimates vital for accurate cost information. Specifically, we compare estimation error when employees estimate (i) the total time for all iterations of a task (the pool approach) versus (ii) the average time for one iteration of a task (the unit approach). These two approaches have received interest by both practitioners and researchers and are at the heart of the difference between conventional activity-based costing (ABC) and time-driven ABC. While mathematically equivalent, we hypothesize and find that the two approaches evoke different cognitive processes that lead to differences in estimation error. Relative to the unit approach, the pool approach produces larger error in the allocation of time among different tasks, but only when the number of iterations per task varies across tasks. Further, the pool approach results in overestimation of productive time, whereas the unit approach leads to underestimation of productive time. Our findings are robust to different response modes of the pool approach (estimates in absolute time units and in percentages). This study is relevant for designers and users of cost and performance-measurement systems in that allocation errors lead to cost cross-subsidization and poor resource-allocation decisions, while overall errors undermine capacity utilization decisions. This paper was accepted by Brian Bushee, accounting.

Subjective Time in Dementia: A Critical Review

The capacity for subjective time in humans encompasses the perception of time’s unfolding from moment to moment, as well as the ability to traverse larger temporal expanses of past- and future-oriented thought via mental time travel. Disruption in time perception can result in maladaptive outcomes—from the innocuous lapse in timing that leads to a burnt piece of toast, to the grievous miscalculation that produces a traffic accident—while disruption to mental time travel can impact core functions from planning appointments to making long-term decisions. Mounting evidence suggests that disturbances to both time perception and mental time travel are prominent in dementia syndromes. Given that such disruptions can have severe consequences for independent functioning in everyday life, here we aim to provide a comprehensive exposition of subjective timing dysfunction in dementia, with a view to informing the management of such disturbances. We consider the neurocognitive mechanisms underpinning changes to both time perception and mental time travel across different dementia disorders. Moreover, we explicate the functional implications of altered subjective timing by reference to two key and representative adaptive capacities: prospective memory and intertemporal decision-making. Overall, our review sheds light on the transdiagnostic implications of subjective timing disturbances in dementia and highlights the high variability in performance across clinical syndromes and functional domains.

Impact of Family Separation on Subjective Time Pressure and Mental Health in Refugees from the Middle East and Africa Resettled in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany: A Cross-Sectional Study

Little is known about social determinants among refugees resettled in Germany. This study aims to examine the impact of family separation on refugees’ subjective time pressure and mental health. Data come from the FlueGe Health Study (n = 208), a cross-sectional study administered by Bielefeld University. We used logistic regression analysis to investigate the effect of family separation on (i) being time-stressed and (ii) having a high risk for adverse mental health, considering sociodemographic and postmigration factors. As a result, more than 30% of participants with a spouse or partner and about 18% with a child or children reported separation. Multiple logistic regression showed that family separation was not associated with being time-stressed, but separation from at least one child was associated with adverse mental health (OR = 3.53, 95% CI = [1.23, 10.11]). In conclusion, family separation primarily contributes to adverse mental health among refugees from the Middle East and Africa resettled in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Therefore, policies and practices that facilitate family reunification can contribute significantly to the promotion of refugees’ mental health and well-being.

Dopamine mediates the bidirectional update of interval timing

The role of dopamine as a reward prediction error signal in reinforcement learning tasks has been well-established over the past decades. Recent work has shown that the reward prediction error interpretation can also account for the effects of dopamine on interval timing by controlling the speed of subjective time. According to this theory, the timing of the dopamine signal relative to reward delivery dictates whether subjective time speeds up or slows down: Early DA signals speed up subjective time and late signals slow it down. To test this bidirectional prediction, we reanalyzed measurements of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta of mice performing a self-timed movement task. Using the slope of ramping dopamine activity as a read-out of subjective time speed, we found that trial-by-trial changes in the slope could be predicted from the timing of dopamine activity on the previous trial. This result provides a key piece of evidence supporting a unified computational theory of reinforcement learning and interval timing.