Differences in Auditory Perception Between Young and Older Adults When Controlling for Differences in Hearing Loss and Cognition

This study was designed to examine age effects on various auditory perceptual skills using a large group of listeners (155 adults, 121 aged 60–88 years and 34 aged 18–30 years), while controlling for the factors of hearing loss and working memory (WM). All subjects completed 3 measures of WM, 7 psychoacoustic tasks (24 conditions) and a hearing assessment. Psychophysical measures were selected to tap phenomena thought to be mediated by higher-level auditory function and included modulation detection, modulation detection interference, informational masking (IM), masking level difference (MLD), anisochrony detection, harmonic mistuning, and stream segregation. Principal-components analysis (PCA) was applied to each psychoacoustic test. For 6 of the 7 tasks, a single component represented performance across the multiple stimulus conditions well, whereas the modulation-detection interference (MDI) task required two components to do so. The effect of age was analyzed using a general linear model applied to each psychoacoustic component. Once hearing loss and WM were accounted for as covariates in the analyses, estimated marginal mean thresholds were lower for older adults on tasks based on temporal processing. When evaluated separately, hearing loss led to poorer performance on roughly 1/2 the tasks and declines in WM accounted for poorer performance on 6 of the 8 psychoacoustic components. These results make clear the need to interpret age-group differences in performance on psychoacoustic tasks in light of cognitive declines commonly associated with aging, and point to hearing loss and cognitive declines as negatively influencing auditory perceptual skills.

A Literature Review of Performance Metrics of Automated Driving Systems for On-Road Vehicles

The article presents a review of recent literature on the performance metrics of Automated Driving Systems (ADS). More specifically, performance indicators of environment perception and motion planning modules are reviewed as they are the most complicated ADS modules. The need for the incorporation of the level of threat an obstacle poses in the performance metrics is described. A methodology to quantify the level of threat of an obstacle is presented in this regard. The approach involves simultaneously considering multiple stimulus parameters (that elicit responses from drivers), thereby not ignoring multivariate interactions. Human-likeness of ADS is a desirable characteristic as ADS share road infrastructure with humans. The described method can be used to develop human-like perception and motion planning modules of ADS. In this regard, performance metrics capable of quantifying human-likeness of ADS are also presented. A comparison of different performance metrics is then summarized. ADS operators have an obligation to report any incident (crash/disengagement) to safety regulating authorities. However, precrash events/states are not being reported. The need for the collection of the precrash scenario is described. A desirable modification to the data reporting/collecting is suggested as a framework. The framework describes the precrash sequences to be reported along with the possible ways of utilizing such a valuable dataset (by the safety regulating authorities) to comprehensively assess (and consequently improve) the safety of ADS. The framework proposes to collect and maintain a repository of precrash sequences. Such a repository can be used to 1) comprehensively learn and model the precrash scenarios, 2) learn the characteristics of precrash scenarios and eventually anticipate them, 3) assess the appropriateness of the different performance metrics in precrash scenarios, 4) synthesize a diverse dataset of precrash scenarios, 5) identify the ideal configuration of sensors and algorithms to enhance safety, and 6) monitor the performance of perception and motion planning modules.

The Analysis of Internal Consistency and Internal Structure of Questionnaires of Tolerance / Intolerance to Ambiguity: IAS, TAN, MSTAT-I and MSTAT-II

The article presents the results of internal consistency and internal structure analysis on a sampleof 184 subjects of the four most widely used questionnaires of tolerance / intolerance to ambiguity: the Intolerance to Ambiguity Scale (IAS) by S. Badner, Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance Scale (MSTAT-I and MSTAT-II) D. McLane and the Tolerance-intolerance of ambiguity new questionnaire (TAN) by T. V. Kornilova. The IAS subscales showed low internal consistency, the Tolerance-intolerance of ambiguity new questionnaire scale showed satisfactory internal consistency and the MSTAT-I and MSTAT-II scales showed high internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the five-factor model of MSTAT-I, the other models were not confirmed on our data. Exploratory factor analysis revealed unsatisfactory internal structure of the IAS, TAN, MSTAT-II. The results of the study are discussed.

Multiple Stimulus Without Replacement Preference Assessment for Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) generally have behavior support plans that are based on a functional behavioral assessment. This article provides educators practical guidelines for conducting a multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO) preference assessment to rank order preferred activities that will align with the function of behavior for use in behavioral interventions. The use of highly preferred reinforcers to reduce student problem behaviors can enhance educational outcomes for the student.

Supramolecular Gels Based on Azobenzene Derivatives

In the past years, azobenzene, as a common photoreactive group, has been widely used in intelligent photocontrolled supramolecular gels. In the field of biomedicine, a few supramolecular hydrogels based on azobenzene are regarded as carriers with low damage and high control in vivo due to their advantages in light response. In the environmental field, some hydrogels can also adsorb pollutants under the control of light through the interaction between host and guest. At the same time, supramolecular hydrogels based on azobenzene with multiple stimulus responses have been studied. It is difficult for most supramolecular organogels to have multiple stimulus responses simultaneously and the preparation conditions are also more complex. In this paper, I have summarized the latest research results of supramolecular hydrogels and organogels based on azobenzene in recent years so that researchers can have a deeper understanding of the preparation methods, properties and application of the supramolecular gels containing azobenzene.

Vocal learning and flexible rhythm pattern perception are linked: Evidence from songbirds

Rhythm perception is fundamental to speech and music. Humans readily recognize a rhythmic pattern, such as that of a familiar song, independently of the tempo at which it occurs. This shows that our perception of auditory rhythms is flexible, relying on global relational patterns more than on the absolute durations of specific time intervals. Given that auditory rhythm perception in humans engages a complex auditory–motor cortical network even in the absence of movement and that the evolution of vocal learning is accompanied by strengthening of forebrain auditory–motor pathways, we hypothesize that vocal learning species share our perceptual facility for relational rhythm processing. We test this by asking whether the best-studied animal model for vocal learning, the zebra finch, can recognize a fundamental rhythmic pattern—equal timing between event onsets (isochrony)—based on temporal relations between intervals rather than on absolute durations. Prior work suggests that vocal nonlearners (pigeons and rats) are quite limited in this regard and are biased to attend to absolute durations when listening to rhythmic sequences. In contrast, using naturalistic sounds at multiple stimulus rates, we show that male zebra finches robustly recognize isochrony independent of absolute time intervals, even at rates distant from those used in training. Our findings highlight the importance of comparative studies of rhythmic processing and suggest that vocal learning species are promising animal models for key aspects of human rhythm perception. Such models are needed to understand the neural mechanisms behind the positive effect of rhythm on certain speech and movement disorders.