Collaborative Research: A Dynamical Approach to Attending

合作研究：一种动态的参与方法

• 批准号: 9809446
• 负责人: Mari Jones
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Ohio State University Research Foundation -DO NOT USE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing grant
• 财政年份: 1998
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1998-09-01 至 2003-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9809446&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Dynamical; Approach; Attending

What happens when we pay attention to a complex, dynamically changing sound such as a sentence or a symphony? What makes some music and some speech easier to attend to than others? Previous research has shown that temporal structure (i.e. rhythm) is an important determinant of the ability to attend to auditory events. This collaborative research project addresses the question of why this is so. Briefly, our theory states that rhythm is important determinant of attention because attending is a fundamentally rhythmic process. More specifically, attentional oscillations entrain to the rhythms of complex events, allowing listeners to predict when important events will occur. Thus, rhythms whose structures facilitate entrainment should be easy to attend to, while events with irregular rhythms should be more difficult to process. The current research project develops this approach along two fronts. First, we are developing mathematical models and computer simulations of auditory attending that make specific predictions about responses to different types of events. Second, we are investigating the response of listeners to the same auditory events, allowing us to evaluate the model's predictions. In particular, we test how people attentionally follow simple auditory patterns that contain unexpected changes in timing. Analyses of these behaviors, together with our mathematical models, will allow use to determine whether or not internal oscillations underlie the ability to attend to auditory events. If so we expect to be able to say, with mathematical precision, a great deal about how attending in time works.

当我们注意复杂的、动态变化的声音（例如句子或交响乐）时会发生什么？是什么让某些音乐和某些演讲比其他音乐和演讲更容易聆听？先前的研究表明，时间结构（即节奏）是关注听觉事件的能力的重要决定因素。这个合作研究项目解决了为什么会这样的问题。简而言之，我们的理论指出，节奏是注意力的重要决定因素，因为注意力从根本上来说是一个有节奏的过程。更具体地说，注意力波动会伴随着复杂事件的节奏，使听众能够预测重要事件何时发生。因此，结构有利于夹带的节奏应该很容易注意，而具有不规则节奏的事件应该更难以处理。 当前的研究项目沿着两个前沿开发这种方法。首先，我们正在开发听觉参与的数学模型和计算机模拟，以对不同类型事件的反应做出具体预测。其次，我们正在调查听众对相同听觉事件的反应，从而使我们能够评估模型的预测。特别是，我们测试人们如何注意遵循包含意外时间变化的简单听觉模式。对这些行为的分析以及我们的数学模型将有助于确定内部振荡是否是关注听觉事件的能力的基础。如果是这样，我们期望能够以数学精确度说出关于及时参加如何运作的大量信息。