Perception and Action in Sequential Behavior

我们的感知与我们的行为有关。在行动和知觉之间，没有什么比言语和音乐更紧密的联系了。通过语言或音乐进行交流需要执行计划的行动，并感知这些行动的后果--清晰的声音或播放的音乐。然而，我们还不清楚反馈对沟通流畅性的影响程度和性质。反馈很重要，这一点已经很清楚了：听力受损的人发音有困难，歌手在大型混响大厅里表演也有困难。另一方面，过去的一些研究结果表明，当缺乏知觉反馈时，可以产生流利的声音。因此，知觉反馈在协调发声动作和一般动作中的作用可能是复杂的，并且对它发生的背景敏感。在国家科学基金会的支持下，普福德雷舍博士将试图确定知觉反馈如何影响交流的流畅性。为了检验这种流畅性，普福德谢尔博士会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，弹钢琴、唱旋律或说句子)，这些动作产生的声音会发生变化。例如，用户可能在敲击钢琴键后听到音乐音调不正确的音符，或者在延迟后听到该键的正确音高。这些变化造成的干扰模式将为大脑如何将行动与其后果联系起来提供信息。这些干扰将从几个角度进行检查：行为测量和大脑成像，对音乐和语音的调查，以及听觉和视觉反馈的改变。希望这项研究的结果将a)提高我们对涉及知觉反馈(例如，口吃)的沟通障碍的理解；b)揭示帮助人们更有效地与机器互动的原理，在机器上可能存在很大的传输延迟，以及c)揭示音乐沟通和语言沟通之间的联系。

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.