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Dissertation Information for Robert William Wood

NAME:
- Robert William Wood

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- [No Discipline Recorded]

SCHOOL:
- Michigan State University (USA) (1980)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: THE PERCEPTUAL PROCESSING OF RHYTHMIC AUDITORY PATTERN TEMPORAL ORDER

Abstract: "Traditional theories about the perceptual processing of auditory patterns have generally followed one of two approaches. One approach has been to portray the perceived auditory sequence as an associative chain, the elements of which are processed as a concatenated string. The second approach has focused upon overall pattern context with the individual elements being perceived in relation to the total pattern.

An alternative to these approaches is possible through an explanation of auditory pattern structure in terms of relations among individual elements. Based on this concept, Martin (1972) developed rules of relative accent level and relative timing which may be used to describe the regularity of patterns.

In the present study, an original perceptual model was proposed in an attempt to illustrate how the perceptual system may make use of temporal structure in the encoding, decoding, and recoding of auditory events. The model accommodates the concepts of relative accent level and relative timing, and deals explicitly with the effect of redundancy reduction on the perceptual processing of serially ordered patterns. Model formulation also included the development of a calculus whereby levels of relative redundancy in rhythmic patterns can be quantified.

The study investigated the effect of pattern regularity on the discrimination of auditory patterns. Sixteen pairs of experimental and ""dummy"" rhythmic patterns (eight regular, eight irregular) were used. For half of the regular and irregular patterns, accent was marked through variation in frequency; for the remaining patterns, accent was marked through variation in event durations.

Fifty-two, normal hearing subjects were evenly divided into two groups (high musical experience vs. low musical experience) on the basis of performance on a musical ability test. Subjects were tested twice (Trial 1 and Trial 2) under each of the two conditions of accent mode (frequency vs. duration) and each of the two conditions of pattern type (regular vs. irregular). Within each trial, ABX paradigm discrimination judgments were obtained in two counterbalanced blocks which differed in terms of accent mode. Each block consisted of four replications of the eight different pairings of experimental and dummy stimuli.

The dependent variable was identified as percent-correct pattern discrimination. The data were examined to determine the effect of (1) musical training, (2) pattern type, and (3) accent mode on pattern discrimination. A supplemental analysis which compared the proposed relative redundancy level quantification method with listener discrimination scores.

Mean discrimination scores differed significantly as a function of each of the three main effects. Scores were higher for subjects with high levels of musical training than those with little or no musical training. Similarly, scores for the frequency accent mode were higher than those for the duration accent mode.

Mean discrimination scores for regular rhythmic patterns were, in all instances, higher than those for irregular patterns. This suggests that the degree of regularity, as defined by the rules of relative timing and relative accent level, significantly influenced rhythmic pattern discrimination.

Values resulting from the proposed relative redundancy quantification of relative redundancy displayed a monotonic correspondence with percent-correct discrimination scores. This result suggests that the quantification method may provide a useful measure of redundancy levels in rhythmic patterns.

The findings were sufficiently encouraging to justify additional research concerning the effect of levels of rhythmic pattern regularity on pattern discrimination, the usefulness of the proposed relative redundancy quantification procedure, and the accuracy of the perceptual model."

MPACT Scores for Robert William Wood

A = 0
C = 1
A+C = 1
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:26:53

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