Perception and Action in Sequential Behavior

我们的感知与我们的行为有关。言语和音乐是行动和感知之间最紧密的联系。通过演讲或音乐进行交流，包括执行计划好的行动和感知这些行动的后果——清晰的声音或播放的音乐。然而，我们还不了解反馈对沟通流畅性影响的程度和性质。很明显，反馈很重要：听力受损的人在发音上有困难，歌手在大型回响大厅里表演有困难。另一方面，过去的一些研究结果表明，在没有知觉反馈的情况下，流利的声音可以产生。因此，知觉反馈在声音动作和一般动作的协调中的作用可能是复杂的，并且对其发生的环境敏感。在美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation）的支持下，Pfordresher博士将试图确定感知反馈如何影响沟通的流畅性。为了检验这种流畅性，Pfordresher博士将改变一个动作之后的反馈。在一个典型的实验任务中，一个人产生一系列有意义的动作（例如，在钢琴上演奏一个曲调，唱一段旋律，或者说一个句子），这些动作产生的声音被改变了。例如，一个人可能会在按下一个钢琴键后听到一个音高不正确的音符，或者在一段时间后听到该键的正确音高。由这些变化引起的干扰模式将提供有关大脑如何将行为与其后果联系起来的信息。这些干扰将从几个角度进行研究：行为测量和脑成像，音乐和语言的调查，以及听觉和视觉反馈的变化。希望这项研究的结果将a)提高我们对涉及感知反馈的沟通障碍（例如，口吃）的理解；b)揭示帮助人们更有效地与机器互动的原理，其中可能存在较大的传输延迟；c)揭示音乐交流和语言交流之间的联系。

What we perceive is related to how we act. Nowhere is there a closer connection between action and perception than in speech and music. Communicating through speech or music involves executing planned actions and perceiving the consequences of those actions--the articulated sounds or the played music. We do not yet understand, however, the extent and nature of feedback's influence on fluency in communication. It is already clear that feedback is important: The hearing-impaired have difficulties in articulation, and singers have difficulties performing in large reverberant halls. On the other hand, some past findings suggest that fluent vocal production can occur when perceptual feedback is absent. Thus, role of perceptual feedback in the coordination of vocal action, and action in general, may be complex, and sensitive to the context in which it occurs.With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Pfordresher will attempt to determine how perceptual feedback affects fluency in communication. To examine that fluency, Dr. Pfordresher will alter the feedback that follows an action. In a typical experimental task, a person produces a meaningful sequence of actions (e.g., playing a tune on the piano, singing a melody, or speaking a sentence), and the sounds that result from these actions are altered. For example, one might hear a note with the incorrect musical pitch after hitting a piano key, or hear the correct pitch for that key after a delay. The patterns of disruption caused by these alterations will be informative about how the brain relates actions to their consequences. The disruptions will be examined from several perspectives: behavioral measurements and brain imaging, investigations of both music and speech, and alterations of both auditory and visual feedback. It is hoped that the outcome of this research will a) improve our understanding of communication disorders that involve perceptual feedback (e.g., stuttering; b) reveal principles that help people interact more effectively with machines, where there can be large transmission delays, and c) reveal links between musical communication and linguistic communication.