Collaborative Research: A Dynamical Approach to Attending

当我们注意到一个复杂的、动态变化的声音时，比如一个句子或一首交响乐，会发生什么？是什么让一些音乐和一些演讲比其他的更容易注意？以往的研究表明，时间结构（即节奏）是一个重要的决定因素的能力，参加的听觉事件。这个合作研究项目解决了为什么会这样的问题。简单地说，我们的理论指出，节奏是注意力的重要决定因素，因为注意是一个基本的节奏过程。更具体地说，注意力振荡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，那些结构上有利于夹带的节奏应该很容易被注意到，而那些节奏不规则的事件应该更难处理。 目前的研究项目沿着沿着两条战线发展这种方法。首先，我们正在开发数学模型和计算机模拟的听觉出席，使具体的预测不同类型的事件的反应。其次，我们正在调查听众对相同听觉事件的反应，使我们能够评估模型的预测。特别是，我们测试人们的注意力如何遵循简单的听觉模式，包含意想不到的时间变化。对这些行为的分析，再加上我们的数学模型，将有助于确定内部振荡是否是听觉事件的基础。如果是这样的话，我们希望能够用数学的精确度来说明大量关于时间参与的工作原理。

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.