bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Types and properties of surface acoustic waves.
Authors: Robinson Harold C.
Published: October 2005

Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are used for a wide variety of signal processing and sensing applications at high frequencies. SAW devices are attractive for these applications because of their small size and low cost relative to many competing technologies. However, SAWs are physically quite different from the acoustic waves encountered in sonar and medical ultrasonics. In addition, the family of surface acoustic waves is quite diverse, with each type of wave having unique electrical and mechanical characteristics. This presentation will describe the physical properties of surface acoustic waves and delineate what distinguishes SAWs from other types of elastic waves. The simple example of an isotropic elastic material will be examined in some detail to illustrate many of the fundamental concepts of SAWs. Methods of generating and detecting SAWs used in device applications will be shown. A simple interdigital SAW device will be described in terms of its composition, design, and electrical and mechanical properties. A brief historical overview on the development of surface acoustic wave devices will also be presented.
Surface acoustic wave device fabrication.
Authors: Malocha Donald C.
Published: October 2005

Many frequency control operations for wireless and satellite communication systems are provided by acoustic solid-state devices in the operating frequency range from 10 MHz to 3 GHz. Surface acoustic wave (SAW) device technology is a key technology because it is solid state, monolithic, high performance, and low cost. An important parameter is the versatility and simplicity in device fabrication since many techniques developed by the integrated circuit industry can be applied.
A review of progress in acoustic charge transport technology.
Authors: Hunt William D.
Published: October 2005

Acoustic charge transport (ACT) devices are essentially charge coupled devices for which the potential propagating with a surface acoustic wave (SAW) in a piezoelectric semiconductor traps and transports charge. In this paper a physical description of device operation for which both acoustic and electronic attributes play a key role is given. Next, the various acoustic and electronic modeling tools that have been developed to aid in the design of ACT devices will be discussed. There have been several architectures which have been reported to date and the virtues of these approaches will be compared. There will be a discussion of some of the problems that have kept the technology from gaining widespread acceptance and some predictions of the areas of research which will be the most promising.
Nonlinearity and the sounds of musical instruments.
Authors: Fletcher Neville H.
Published: October 2005

Musical instruments can be classified into two groups—those that have a continuous energy input and produce a sustained sound, and those that have an impulsive energy input and produce a transient decaying sound. Instruments of the first group, which includes violins, flutes, clarinets, trumpets, etc., can be described as ‘‘essentially nonlinear,’’ by which it is meant that their musical operation depends critically upon the presence of nonlinearity, and without it they would scarcely sound at all. The transient or percussive group of instruments, which includes pianos, guitars, bells, gongs, and cymbals, on the other hand, can be described as ‘‘incidentally nonlinear’’ implying that, while nonlinearity may influence their sound, its presence is by no means essential. Paradoxically, inadequate nonlinearity in a sustained-tone instrument leads to complex behavior, while complexity in a transient instrument is enhanced by strong nonlinearity! This talk explores some of these matters in a simple physical way, with demonstrations from particularly interesting instrument types.
Instrument-specific constraints on musical performance: Playing the piano and the guitar.
Authors: Walker Timothy M.
Published: October 2005

Kendall and Carterette (1990) propose a chain of musical communication similar to linguistic communication, whereby composers, performers, and listeners all share some amount of musical knowledge. Although the authors emphasize the extent to which information is communicated, there are also important transformations which take place. The physical constraints of an instrument may play a significant role in the interpretive process by operating as musical filters. Improvisation is considered as a task in which all three links in the communicative chain (composer, performer, and listener) are simultaneously represented by a single musician. An experiment was conducted in which participants were asked to perform improvisations on a guitar or piano, each of which functioned as an MIDI instrument. The sounded timbre was independently varied, to produce either a guitar or a piano sound. Participants displayed different patterns of key choice and note usage depending upon which instrument they were playing, suggesting that the physical constraints of the instrument influenced their performance. Participants also employed expressive guitar pitch bends only in the guitar timbre, suggesting that higher-level knowledge of instrument characteristics, as well as external physical constraints, can influence musical performance. [Work supported by NIMH grant R29-MH45764.]
Rate change effects on the performance of musical sequences.
Authors: Meyer Rosalee K. , Palmer Caroline , Meyer Leonard B.
Published: October 2005

Changes in presentation rate can cause perceptual reorganization of rhythmic structure in music. This finding is extended to music performance. One music-theoretic explanation suggests that larger-scale structures such as meter are perceptually prominent at fast rates and smaller-scale structure such as segmentation of event sequences into groups are perceptually prominent at slow rates. In contrast, theories of motor programming predict that event durations during performance should remain proportionally constant across rate changes (relational invariance). In an initial study, pianists performed the same musical sequence at different rates with different grouping structures. Interactions of grouping and sequence rate on component note durations support the music-theoretic explanation of perceptual reorganization and suggest why relational invariance fails in complex behaviors. However, the role of tactus (perceptually prominent beat level) was not considered in this study; perception of tactus differs across presentation rates. The interaction of tactus with rate changes in perceptual reorganization of musical structure is investigated in a performance task. It is predicted that higher tactus levels (longer beat durations) are emphasized (more accurate, less variable) at fast rates and lower tactus levels (shorter durations) are emphasized at slow rates. [Work supported by NIMH R29-MH45764.]
Curt Holmer in retrospect.
Authors: Maidanik G.
Published: October 2005

When Curt joined BBN I had already left, nonetheless at ASA and other societies’ meetings we met and discussed many scientific issues, past and present. His interest in statistical energy analysis (SEA) was particularly intense, but not to the exclusion of many other interesting topics in the analysis of structural acoustics and noise control. He was a patient listener and a critic of note, but always gentle and empathetic. I enjoyed and valued his company and, as many others who knew him, will continue to miss his presence.
‘‘Why don’t we make the membrane loose?’’ Twelve years of noise control foams.
Authors: Bolton J. Stuart
Published: October 2005

Curt Holmer was well known to me while I was a graduate student in England through the chapter in Noise and Vibration Control that he co-wrote with Istvan Ver. In a book that may be the most commonly referred to on acoustics, his was the chapter that I found most useful for both its qualitative and quantitative insights. When I came to Purdue in 1984 it was a pleasant surprise to find both that Curt was working nearby in Indianapolis and that he had an interest in noise control foams of the type that I had studied during my Ph.D. I soon found an opportunity to invite myself down to meet him at EAR, and, like many others before, discovered him to be a gracious and generous host. We became good friends, and over the next decade he actively encouraged my interest in both theoretical and practical aspects of noise control foams (even though when we first met he gently revealed that EAR was already selling a product based on what I had thought was my own ‘‘revolutionary’’ insight: see title). In this presentation, progress in the area of foam modeling over the time that I knew Curt will be reviewed.
The acoustics of structures with fuzzy joints.
Authors: Lyon Richard H.
Published: October 2005

Curt Holmer was always interested in the practical applications of statistical energy analysis, and the author had many discussions with him regarding its uses, and areas of transition to deterministic analysis. In some of the latest discussions, the topic of the ‘‘mid-frequency range’’ dominated, referred to by the author as ‘‘the awkward zone.’’ In this transition range between deterministic and fully probabilistic models, the greatest uncertainty may be in the joints—their actual location, and their rigidity. This suggests a hybrid approach, in which the substructures are treated as deterministic, and the joint locations and rigidities are uncertain, or in popular terms, fuzzy. This approach is exemplified by the joining of two plates by a link having a location and stiffness that are variable over a small range. The results of the analysis support such an approach, in that they show the kind of transition that has been noted in the awkward zone.
The demographics of cavitation produced by medical ultrasound.
Authors: Roy Ronald A.
Published: October 2005

A frequent consequence of moderate-to-high intensity ultrasound is the nucleation and proliferation of acoustic cavitation activity. Nucleation refers to the formation of a gas/vapor bubble resulting from acoustic stress. Cavitation activity is the subsequent energetic motion of these bubbles, and the associated mechanical and thermal effects. The process is very nonlinear. It is appropriate to view the family of cavitation as occupied by distinct, yet related phenomena. For example, if one drives a bubble at moderate amplitudes, stable motion results accompanied by fluid microstreaming. If the same bubble is driven hard, explosive growth is followed by inertial collapse, together with the formation of shock waves, free radicals, etc. When assessing the likelihood of a mechanical bioeffect, one must consider the characteristics of the cavitation field, which can be estimated knowing the properties of the medium, and the properties of the sound field. A tutorial description of basic cavitation dynamics is presented. Attention is given to those aspects of bubble motion that are relevant to medical ultrasound conditions. Associated mechanical and thermal effects are discussed, and the relationships between the characteristics of the sound field and the expected cavitational response of the medium explored. [Work supported by NIH Grant PO1 DK43881-01.]
Contrast agents enhance biological effects in vivo.
Authors: Dalecki Diane , Child Sally Z. , Raeman Carol H. , Francis Charles W. , Penney David P. , Carstensen Edwin L.
Published: October 2005

Hemolysis in vivo was demonstrated by exposing the hearts of mice to focused, pulsed ultrasound (1-MHz carrier, 10-μs pulses, 100-Hz repetition frequency, 5-min total exposure time) while administering a contrast agent via tail vein. The threshold was approximately 4 MPa. This study suggests that inertial cavitation can take place in vivo if appropriate nuclei are present. However, since the degree of hemolysis in the absence of exogenous nuclei is indistinguishable from sham exposed blood with contrast agents, we must conclude that the number of spontaneous nuclei in normal blood in vivo is very small. The administration of contrast agents during lithotripsy enhanced hemorrhage in most of the tissues of the body. Thresholds for hemorrhage in the fields of a piezoelectric lithotripter were <2 MPa.
Acoustic cavitation and bioeffects in the vascular system.
Authors: Fowlkes J. B. , Gardner E. A. , Carson P. L.
Published: October 2005

An in vivo bolus generation system has provided information concerning acoustic cavitation in blood and associated bioeffects. Microbubble boluses produced in the canine abdominal aorta by tone bursts of 1.8 MHz focused ultrasound were detected in distal arteries using medical ultrasound scanners and a resonant bubble detector. At the maximum acoustic intensity, 19,000 W/cm2(ISPTA), 125–250 ms bursts generated contrast enhancement persisting several cardiac cycles. Intensities down to 3,700 W/ cm2 yielded progressively weaker boluses while shorter and weaker boluses were produced with 64–0.5 ms bursts at the maximum acoustic intensity. There was a 50% occurrence of vascular wall effects (by histology) but no immediate mechanical failure. Oxygen ventilation has been shown to destabilize IV injected contrast agents and similarly, cavitation thresholds were elevated in the vena cava. Resonant bubble dectection indicated the presence of 7 μm diameter bubbles but the bubble size range is unknown. These results provide insight into bubble production by acoustic cavitation but any bioeffects must be examined in the context of arterial bolus production where the risk of significant damage may be less than that of alternative procedures. [Work supported in part by USPHS 5 RO1 DK42290.] a)Current address: Acuson, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA.
Finite volume model of weak shock interaction with lung tissue.
Authors: Gracewski S. M. , Ding Zhong
Published: October 2005

The lung and other organs with high gas content tend to be the most susceptible to damage by lithotripter shock waves. Since the gas volume is large, the damage processes most likely differ from traditional cavitation mechanisms. A finite volume model has previously been developed to investigate the interaction of shock waves with single, isolated bubbles. This model has been modified to explore other possible mechanisms of lung tissue damage. In the model, the single bubble is replaced with a layer of cylindrical bubbles, and a shock wave is incident normal to this bubble layer. The affect of bubble spacing on the shock wave propagation through the layer and the resulting bubble dynamics is determined.
Effect of anisotropy on elastic wave propagation in fluid-saturated porous media.
Authors: Degtyar Andrei D. , Rokhlin Stanislav I. , Adler Laszlo
Published: October 2005

On a mesoscale the pore structure in natural rocks may have preferred orientation (texture) which leads to anisotropy of permeability, tortuosity, and shape factor. It is shown that such an anisotropic fluid saturated porous medium supports four different wave types: fast and slow quasilongitudinal and two quasishear waves. These results indicate that the velocities of the fast quasilongitudinal and two quasishear waves mostly depend on the properties of the frame and are not sensitive to the permeability and tortuosity directly (the frame stiffnesses, permeability, and tortuosity are indirectly related due to dependence on pore structure, however formally they can be considered as independent parameters). Thus by measuring these velocities one could determine frame elastic constants. The slow wave velocity, on the contrary, mostly depends on the pore geometry. Its angular dependence in a water- or air-saturated solid allows us to recover the components of the permeability and tortuosity tensors. This approach opens new challenges in determination of such characteristics of porous materials as preferred pore orientation and tortuosity which had been previously inaccessible experimentally.
An action of seismic p-wave on fluid level in capillary.
Authors: Averbach Vyacheslav S. , Zaslavsky Yury M.
Published: October 2005

It is a desolved problem about fluid level in capillary in homogeneous elastic medium on which the seismic p-wave acts. This wave propagates perpendicular to axis of a capillary. In a linear approach the meniscus vibrates with frequency ω and amplitude as the same one as a classic oscillator. In the next approximation there is the double frequency oscillation and a direct shift of the meniscus. Thus the fluid level will differ from the static one. After averaging the described solution on the orientations and sizes of capillaries the fluid level is estimated in partly saturated porous medium.
Distorted-wave Born approximation analysis of sound levels in a refractive shadow zone.
Authors: Gilbert Kenneth E. , Di Xiao , Korte Rodney R.
Published: October 2005

Measurements made by Havelock et al. show that above a few hundred Hertz, the sound levels in a refractive shadow zone are weakly dependent on frequency. Parabolic equation calculations made recently by Di and Gilbert indicate that the weak frequency dependence is consistent with scattering from small-scale turbulence governed by a Kolmogorov spectrum. In this paper a theoretical analysis is presented using the distorted-wave Born approximation (DWBA) to show why the Kolmogorov spectrum leads to the observed weak frequency dependence. Using DWBA, the problem of scattering by turbulence is formulated in terms of a sampling function that shows the physical origin of the frequency dependence by showing what part of the turbulence spectrum contributes in a typical measurement of levels in a refractive shadow. Results from the DWBA analysis are compared with the data of Havelock et al. and with parabolic equation calculations. [Work supported by the Army Research Laboratory and the Applied Research Laboratory.]
Reduction of microphone wind noise using local wind velocity measurements.
Authors: Shust Michael R. , Rogers James C.
Published: October 2005

A system for quieting microphone wind noise using local wind velocity measurements is desirable. The concept is shown to be feasible, however, optimization of the cancellation system requires understanding the correlation characteristics between microphone signals (pressure) and anemometer signals (velocity). Wind data was recorded using microphones and anemometers with separation distances from 2.5 to 20 centimeters. The measurements were made in a single plane parallel to the airflow. Both the microphone pressure and wind velocity signals displayed an approximate 1/f frequency characteristic. In addition, correlation strength between wind signals (both pressure and velocity) decreased with increasing separation distance. Correlation estimates from microphone to microphone, anemometer to anemometer, and microphone to anemometer are presented. It is demonstrated that adaptive signal processing algorithms can be utilized to reduce microphone wind noise using anemometer signals as a reference.
Comparison of sound-speed computation methods.
Authors: Wong George S. K.
Published: October 2005

The computation of sound speeds in nitrogen, oxygen, and methane was performed with two methods. Results from the traditional method that relied on virial coefficients B and their temperature derivatives T dB/dT, T2 d2B/dT2, were compared with those given by a simplified method. At a pressure of 101.325 kPa, and at a temperature of −10 °C, the maximum sound speed deviations between the two methods are within 0.2% and −0.4% for nitrogen and oxygen, respectively. For methane, at the above pressure, and over the temperature range from zero to 450 °C, the maximum deviation is 1.2%. For the above gases, the sound-speed deviations between the methods are largest at low temperatures. It can be shown that by modifying the numerical values of the virial coefficients and their temperature derivatives, the sound-speed deviations between the two methods can be reduced substantially. For nitrogen, when B, T dB/dT, and T2 d2B/dT2 are modified by multiplication factors of −0.1, 0.55, and 0.7, respectively, the difference between the sound speeds obtained with the two methods decreases to less than ±0.05%. It is noted that the sign of the numerical value of B is reversed. Uncertainties of the results obtained with both methods were examined.
Analysis of electromagnetically induced pressure waves internal to a rigidly confined, electrically conducting layer.
Authors: Petrykowski John C.
Published: October 2005

A model is presented that relates how electromagnetically induced pressure waves propagate and grow in response to a steady-state electromagnetic excitation. A normal modes-type solution is used to help account for noncompliant surfaces that bound the layer. In total, three types of wave-like behavior are found: both steady-state and transient acoustic waves and a dispersive wave due to the diffusive nature of the magnetic field. Formulas are presented for the amplitude and phase of each type of wave. The usefulness of these findings for describing acoustic effects in induction systems is discussed.
The effect of mean rate cues on the pitch of filtered pulse trains.
Authors: Carlyon Robert P.
Published: October 2005

Listeners judged which of two bandpass filtered (3900–5400 Hz) pulse trains had the higher pitch. In the control condition, where the two trains differed only in repetition rate, two cues might produce a pitch difference. The interval between any two pulses is a multiple of a common period, which is shorter for the train with the faster rate (the ‘‘F0 cue’’). This stimulus also contains more pulses (the ‘‘mean rate cue’’). Generally, temporal pitch models focus on the F0 cue. The mean rate cue was investigated by, in one condition, deleting a proportion (1−P) of the pulses in each train, and manipulating P so that the mean rate (P⋅F0) was equal in the two halves of each trial [R. A. Dobie and N. Dillier, Hear. Res. 18, 41–45 (1985)]. Listeners identified the stimulus having the higher (original) F0 as possessing the higher pitch less reliably than in the control condition, and less reliably than in a condition where the mean rate difference was exaggerated. The conclusion that the mean rate cue can influence pitch, was confirmed a second experiment, where listeners adjusted the F0s of two pulse trains with different P’s to have equal pitches.
Potential pitch cue for spectral-shape discrimination at high frequencies.
Authors: Dai Huanping
Published: October 2005

In these experiments on spectral-shape discrimination [D. M. Green, Profile Analysis (Oxford U.P., New York, 1988)], the listener’s task was to discriminate a standard spectrum in which all components were equal in level, from a signal-plus-standard spectrum in which the level of one component (the signal component) was higher than the level of other components. The threshold was measured as a function of center frequency (250 to 16 000 Hz) for complexes having two or three components. The frequency components were spaced equally on either a logarithmic (fi+1/fi=1.38) or linear (Δf=150 Hz) scale. For all the three-component complexes, in which the signal was added to the center component, discrimination was difficult for frequencies above 2 kHz. For the two-component complexes, discrimination was difficult for the logarithmic but not for the linear spacing. In the latter case, a change in spectral shape caused a change in the center of gravity of the stimulus power spectra, which was perceived by listeners as a change in pitch. The availability of the pitch cue made the discrimination possible for the narrowband two-tone complexes at frequencies up to 8 kHz. [Work supported by NIH.]
Pitch strength discrimination for iterated rippled noise.
Authors: Yost William A.
Published: October 2005

The pitch strength of iterated rippled noise (IRN) was investigated in a pitch strength discrimination experiment. IRN is generated by a cascade of an add, delay (d in ms), and attentuate (g) circuit, where n represents the number of iterated stages in the circuit. In this study g was negative, which represents the cases in which the noise is subtracted rather than added. IRN produces a pitch, which when n is negative is either ambiguous with a pitch near 10% of the reciprocal of the delay, d, or at one over twice the delay, d. The strength of the pitch varies with g,n, and the type of circuit. Listeners were asked to discriminate between two IRN stimuli each generated with the same d, but with different values of g, and n, and different types of circuits. The discrimination results could only be accounted for by using the first peak in the autocorrelation function of these stimuli. The results will be discussed in terms of recent computational models of pitch processing. [Work supported by NIDCD and AFOSR.]
A neural computational model for tracking of multiple frequency-modulated tones.
Authors: Aikawa Kiyoaki , Kawahara Hideki
Published: October 2005

This paper proposes a novel neural computational model for tracking frequency-modulated (FM) tones. The model can explain various interesting phenomena related to the perception of complex FM tones. The dynamic process in perceiving the pitch of FM tones can be represented by two second-order systems having fast and slow responses [K. Aikawa et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 98, 2926 (1995)]. An auto-regressive neural matrix model is newly proposed to simultaneously track multiple FM tones. The model is characterized by a novel neural network architecture called the counter-tonotopic connection and a new tracking algorithm based on the Lp-norm. Each FM tone is tracked with second-order response characteristics. Several interesting phenomena in perceiving complex FM tones have been reported. For a stimulus tone composed of crossed upward and downward sweep tones, two separate pitch streams were not perceived but a bounced pitch stream was. When both of the crossed sweeps were downward sweeps, two pitch streams were merged and then another new stream was perceived after the crossing point [Matsui, ASJ meeting, 1995-09]. When a sweep tone was followed by white noise, the sweep was perceived as being extended into the noise [Masuda, ASJ meeting, 1995-09]. The proposed neural tracking model successfully replicated these perceived images.
Information integration of signal frequency.
Authors: Irwin Robert D. , Weber Daniel L.
Published: October 2005

A listener’s ability to integrate information can be evaluated by presenting multiple samples in the distribution discrimination procedure. To examine frequency discrimination with a 2IFC form of this procedure, each interval contains samples drawn from one of two distributions of signal frequency. The listener indicates which interval contained the sample(s) drawn from the distribution with the higher mean. This experiment evaluated the integration of frequency information in terms of improvement in frequency discrimination for an increasing number of samples (n=1,2,3,4,5,6,8,12,16). Seven listeners discriminated a ‘‘standard’’ distribution (means of 400, 565, and 1000 Hz) from each of four ‘‘comparison’’ distributions (means of 401, 403, 406, and 414 Hz for the 400-Hz standard; 566.5, 569.5, 572, and 584 Hz for the 565-Hz standard; and 1002, 1005, 1010, and 1020 Hz for the 1000-Hz standard). All samples were 100-ms sinusoids. All conditions were alike to an ideal observer in that the distributions were normal with a standard deviation equal to the difference between the means. The results indicate that integration of frequency information appears constant across different frequencies when initial performance is equated. [Work supported by AFOSR through WPAFB AL/CFBA.]
Dependence of loudness adaptation on frequency and level.
Authors: Hellman Rhona P. , Miskiewicz Andrzej , Scharf Bertram
Published: October 2005

The relation between simple loudness adaptation and exposure time was determined for continuous pure tones at eight frequencies from 0.125 to 16 kHz and five sensation levels (SL) from 5 to 40 dB. Adaptation was measured over a 6-min exposure period in eight young listeners with normal hearing by the method of successive magnitude estimation. Listeners judged loudness every 20 s by assigning a number that matched the loudness of the tone. At all frequencies, loudness declined over time, more so at low sensation levels than at higher ones, and more so at frequencies above 8 kHz than at lower frequencies, especially at 5- and 10-dB SL and at 16 kHz. Most of the adaptation occurred within the first 3 min of exposure, slowly approaching asymptote around 6 min. Additional measurements at 60 dB SL at three frequencies showed that loudness declined after 6 min by 16% at 2 kHz and by as much as 26% at 12 kHz. Results obtained by loudness matching closely agreed with those from magnitude estimation. Quantitative analyses revealed a clear relation between published excitation patterns based on masking patterns [E. Zwicker and H. Fasti, Psychoacoustics (1990)] and the current adaptation data. [Work supported by NIH.]
Reaction time adaptation: Hick’s law may bias the outcome.
Authors: Goldman T. , Weiler E. M. , Sandman D. E. , Davis J. M.
Published: October 2005

Auditory adaptation is characterized by a decrease in apparent loudness over several minutes of time. This is true for magnitude estimated loudness adaptation measured either ipsilaterally [Weiler et al., Br. J. Audio. 15, 201–204 (1981)] or induced binaurally [Botte et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 72, 727–739 (1982)]. The extent of ipsilateral adaptation is also a function of time of day [Sandman et al., J. Aud. Res. 22, 65–69 (1982)], as well as duration of exposure [Weiler and Cobb, J. Aud. Res. 22, 233–239 (1982)]. The dB adaptation by the classic Simultaneous Dichotic Loudness Balance procedure progresses over time [Hood, Acta Oto-Laryngol. Suppl. 92, 1–57 (1950)]. In 1976, Davis and Weiler [Br. J. Audiol. 10, 102–106] found that simple reaction time (RT) to a constant intensity, increased reliably after 7 min of exposure, as if the intensity had decreased. Goldman et al. [J. Aud. Res. 21, 13–16 (1981)] and Weiler et al. [J. Gen. Psychol. 114 (1987; errata, 1988)] confirmed this effect. However, in a modified design [T. Goldman, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Cincinnati (1985)] the reaction time increased significantly only for the second trial after 15 s of exposure. Thereafter RT values did not differ significantly from the baseline. Hick’s law is offered as an explanation, as well as differences in procedure between RT adaptation studies.
Binaural versus ipsilateral loudness adaptation: A simple relationship after all?
Authors: Tannen Robert , Weiler Ernest M. , Warm Joel S. , Dember William N. , Sandman David
Published: October 2005

Weiler and Hood [Audiology 16, 499–506 (1977)] reviewed a model of loudness adaptation proposed by Hood. They found that the model could predict adaptation measured by the traditional simultaneous dichotic loudness balance (SDLB) procedure within a few dB. However, failure to correlate this method with ipsilateral loudness adaptation forestalled attempts to convert the model to monaural/ipsilateral adaptation. The present paper reports success at finding a means of converting the Hood/Weiler model to results from the ipsilateral comparison paradigm. Results from the magnitude estimated ipsilateral procedure appear to be mathematically related in a simple way to adaptation expected from the binaural SDLB procedure. Pertinence of an interpretation based on powers of 2 will be discussed.
Ipsilateral comparison paradigm loudness adaptation: Is contrast hidden in complexity?
Authors: Jones Keith , Weiler Ernest M. , Warm Joel S. , Dember William N. , Sandman David E.
Published: October 2005

Dange et al. [J. Gen. Psychol. 120, 217–244 (1993)] investigated Weiler’s ipsilateral comparison paradigm (ICP) and determined that the results could not be explained as a function of simple auditory contrast. This study introduces a mixed referent condition, wherein increasing and decreasing referents alternate in the same trial. Results from all conditions demonstrated that both base and referent tones adapt under both levels of intensity (50 and 70 dB). If contrast were the dominant influence, adaptation would not be expected in mixed or decreasing referent conditions, nor should the referents themselves adapt. Thus contrast would not explain the results. However, certain preliminary post hoc analyses may reveal an influence due to contrast. Alternately, the simple referent conditions show correspondence with a model for binaural adaptation [Weiler and Hood, Audiology 16, 499–506 (1977)]. This analysis shows that the average for simple referent ICP adaptation differs from binaural adaptation only by a power of 2.
A theory of the principal monaural pathway. I. Pitch and time perception.
Authors: McAngus Todd Neil P.
Published: October 2005

A theory of the principal monaural pathway is described according to which temporal information is spatially coded on three dimensions roughly corresponding to the levels of, respectively, the cochlea, the inferior colliculus, and the auditory cortex [C. Schreiner and G. Langner, ‘‘Coding of temporal patterns in the central auditory nervous system,’’ Auditory Function: Neurobiological Bases of Hearing, edited by G. M. Edelman et al. (Wiley, New York, 1988), pp. 337–361]. This theory is expressed in the form of a computational model which simulates peripheral and central processing and which has the following main components: (1) a one-dimensional linear bandpass filter-bank to simulate the cochlea; (2) a two-dimensional amplitude-modulation (AM) bandpass filter-bank to simulate the colliculus; (3) a three-dimensional AM bandpass filter-bank to simulate layer IV receptive cells in the cortex; (4) a cortical cross-channel correlation mechanism; and (5) a central pattern recognition mechanism. Overall, periodicity pitch (i.e., periods of up to about 1000 Hz) is primarily associated with subcortical processing whereas time and rhythm (i.e., periods of up to about 20 Hz) are primarily associated with cortical processing. The model is applied to the following phenomena: virtual pitch shift, musical chords, the psychophysical law for interval discrimination, and the filled interval illusion.
Nasal duration and amplitude as a function of stress and prosodic phrasing in Estonian.
Authors: Gordon Matthew K.
Published: October 2005

Cross-linguistically, segments are often lengthened and/or strengthened at prosodic boundaries, where the degree of lengthening/strengthening is generally correlated with the level of the boundary: The larger the boundary, the longer/more strengthened the segment. Stress often induces similar lengthening/strengthening. In this study, the duration of Estonian nasals was measured in utterance-, word-, and syllable-initial position in the onset of unstressed and stressed (primary and secondary) syllables. Nasal amplitude relative to the immediately following vowel was also measured in these contexts in order to draw inferences about the effect of stress and prosodic boundaries on nasal articulation. Preliminary results revealed that duration and amplitude are a function of both stress and, to a lesser extent, level of the prosodic boundary. Nasal duration was greater as stress level increased. However, nasal amplitude was greater in the onset of unstressed syllables immediately following stressed syllables than in the onset of stressed syllables. Regarding phrasal boundaries, word-initial nasals were longer than syllable-initial nasals, but only in unstressed environments, supporting an interaction between stress and phrasing. Furthermore, utterance-initial nasals were longer than syllable-initial nasals, but had less amplitude, suggesting strengthening (increased ‘‘consonantality’’) in utterance-initial position.
A comparative study of focus realization in three Swedish dialects.
Authors: Eklund Robert
Published: October 2005

State-of-the-art speech recognition and speech translation systems do not currently make use of prosodic information. Utterances often have one or more constituents semantically focused by prosodic means and detection of the focus/foci of an utterance is crucial for a correct interpretation of the speech signal. Thus, a semantic model of focus should be linked to a model describing the acoustic-phonetic correlates of the speech. However, variability exists at both the semantic and the prosodic ends. Semantically different kinds of foci might be associated with specific prosodic gestures. Also, a semantically specific type of focus might be realized in different ways in different varieties of a given language since general intonational patterns vary between dialects. In this paper, focus realization in three different dialects of Swedish is investigated. Subjects from Stockholm, Göteborg, and Malmö recorded three sets of four sentences where focus was systematically put on four different constituents by having the subjects answer wh-questions. Since Swedish is a language with two tonal accents, words with these accents both in and out of focus were included. Dialectal as well as individual variation in focus realization is described with emphasis on invariant and optional phenomena.
Pitch range and focus in Hindi.
Authors: Harnsberger James D. , Judge Jasmeet
Published: October 2005

A study of intonation in Hindi included sentences, read by six native speakers, in which different individual words were emphasized or focused. Hindi resembles some other languages (English, Bengali, Korean) in marking a focused constituent prosodically by reducing the normal prominence given to neighboring constituents. In Bengali and English, all constituents preceding a focused word are deaccented, failing to show typical contours [Hayes and Lahiri, Nat. Lang. Ling. Theory 9, 47–96 (1991)]. The reverse occurs in Korean, with following constituents being deaccented (Jun 1993, dissertation). In Hindi, deaccenting of following constituents is also observed; however, the phenomenon is characterized by a dramatic compression of the speaker’s pitch range following the focus word. For narrow pitch ranges, compression effects on F0 realization are equivalent to those of deaccenting. For wider ranges, following constituents show the typical rising contours over content words found in declarative utterances without focus, though at a narrower range than for the focus word. The theoretical significance of Hindi focus is to illustrate language-specific differences in marking focus while supporting a general cross-linguistic strategy of reducing local prominences. These data also provide additional evidence for the head-initial (Hindi, Korean) versus head-final distinction in prosodic phrases (Bengali, English).
Foreign-accented rhythm and prosody in reiterant speech.
Authors: Tajima Keiichi , Dalby Jonathan , Port Robert
Published: October 2005

The prosodic characteristics of utterances produced by second-language learners were investigated using reiterant speech (RS), a stylized form of speaking in which every syllable is replaced with a standard syllable such as [ma], so that the phrase ‘‘the table’’ is pronounced ‘‘ma MAma.’’ Native speakers of Chinese and Spanish produced RS versions of short phrases in English and in their native language. Preliminary phonetic analysis shows that the English RS tokens were less accurately produced than were the native-language tokens. A subset of the English tokens were then used as stimuli in a perception test in which native English listeners heard each RS phrase and judged whether it ‘‘matched’’ or ‘‘did not match’’ an English phrase presented to them visually. The stimulus set consisted of English RS produced by both non-native and native speakers. Preliminary results indicate that listeners were better at judging the match/mismatch of the native English RS tokens than the non-native tokens. This result indicates that there are perceptually relevant differences between native and foreign-accented RS, and suggests that practice in producing more authentic English RS might be a useful method of teaching aspects of English prosody to second-language learners. [Research supported by NIH-NIDCD Grant No. 2R44DC02213-02.]
Interactive prosody training workstation.
Authors: Allen George D. , Harper V. Paul
Published: October 2005

Few devices exist to aid in the training of pitch, intensity, and rhythm of speech. The Interactive prosody training workstation (PW) employs state-of-the-art technology to assist users in achieving clinician- or client-programmable targets in each of these features. Two training interfaces are currently implemented. The simpler displays F0 and/or intensity in real time as a fluctuating one- or two-dimensional display. Smoothing can be adjusted to accommodate varying levels of voice variations. With the more advanced interface, model utterances are presented using stored LPC-coded speech. The user’s response is then compared to the model, using any of a wide variety of scoring methods. The user’s response may be played, in comparison to the model, as often as desired. A demonstration tape will be played showing one hearing impaired individual with a cochlear implant using the PW first to find his appropriate F0 register and then practicing pitch gestures appropriate for speech. Strong carryover of learning to later sessions is demonstrated. [Work supported in part by an SBIR grant from NIH.]
Perceiving the difference between spontaneous and read speech: The role of physical duration.
Authors: Remez Robert E. , Lipton Jennifer S. , Fellowes Jennifer M.
Published: October 2005

Despite the greater average duration of spontaneous sentences relative to matched fluently read sentences, it is difficult to identify the physical basis for determining whether an utterance is spontaneous or read. The present experiment compared judgments of spontaneity with judgments of duration for the same speech samples. The test material comprised 25 sentence pairs in which one sentence was spoken spontaneously and one sentence was read, both produced by the same speaker. On each trial, subjects identified the sentence of the pair that was spoken spontaneously, and the sentence that was longer in duration; tests were blocked by judgment type. The greater the absolute duration difference was between the two sentences, the better subjects performed on the duration judgment. The physical differences in duration did not predict the spontaneity judgment, nor did the duration judgment correlate with the spontaneity judgment. The results suggest that physical duration alone is not an effective attribute underlying the perceptual differentiation of spontaneous and read utterances. [Work supported by NIDCD.]
Detection of sentence accents in a speech recognition system.
Authors: Sautermeister Per , Lyberg Bertil
Published: October 2005

Speech recognition systems do not usually utilize prosodic information, i.e., information signaled by segmental duration and the fundamental frequency contour of the speech signal. The acoustic manifestation of prosody is, more often than not, considered as a disturbance in current statistical approaches to the speech recognition problem. The detection and transformation of sentence accent in, e.g., spoken language translation systems, will enable stress on a certain word in one language to be transformed into a suitable representation of corresponding constituents in the other language and satisfy the same semantic goal. In this study, a system for automatic detection of sentence accents to be used in speech recognition systems, is presented. The fundamental frequency is extracted from the speech signal and an estimated frequency declination is subtracted from the actual fundamental frequency in order to give a normalized representation of the variations. These fundamental frequency variations are given in musical intervals. The interpretations of sentence accents are carried out from this normalized manifestation of the fundamental frequency. Both the system architecture and some preliminary results will be shown.
Speech-rate effects on the perception of second formant transitions.
Authors: Francis Alexander L. , Nusbaum Howard C.
Published: October 2005

Research on context effects in speech-rate normalization generally focuses on the perception of phonetic categories distinguished by temporally defined cues like VOT or F2 transition duration. For example, a syllable that is heard as [ba] in the context of a slowly spoken carrier sentence will likely be identified as [wa] in a quickly spoken context [Minifie et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Suppl. 1 62, S79 (1977)]. This suggests that the category boundary between [b] and [w], when based on an F2 transition duration cue, is interpreted relative to the talker’s current speaking rate. One implication of prior research is that speaking rate changes only affect the perception of durational cues. However, research on phonetic cue trading suggests that temporal and spectral cues are perceived together in an integrated fashion based on phonetic knowledge. Since changes in speaking rate may restructure spectral as well as temporal cues in production, listeners may show similar context effects for perception of these cues. This study examines the effect of changing speaking rate context on the perception of [b] and [w] stimuli distinguished by variation in transition duration and extent of frequency change. Implications for theories of speech-rate normalization are discussed.
Vocal expression of emotion is associated with spectral properties of speech.
Authors: Bachorowski Jo-Anne , Owren Michael J.
Published: October 2005

Most empirical work in vocal expression of emotion has emphasized prosodic components of speech produced by actors. In the present study, spectral properties of speech samples that were produced during naturally occurring emotional states were examined. Twenty subjects viewed 24 slides selected from the International Affective Picture System. Elicited emotional responses ranged from strongly negative to strongly positive. During the presentation of each slide, subjects provided a free-form description of the feelings and thoughts evoked by the picture, preceded by the stock phrase ‘‘This test picture....’’ Subjects concluded each narrative with the prompt ‘‘Next test picture.’’ Analyses of the spectral properties of individual phonemes, drawn from the second stock phrase, showed statistically significant interaction effects involving slide valence and subject emotional intensity. Representations in the frequency space formed by F1 and F2, as well as the space formed by F0 and F2, were related to both current emotional state and to the intensity with which subjects typically experience emotional responses. The obtained effects were of sufficient magnitude to be perceptible, and indicate that an emotion experienced during vowel production can affect the same acoustic cues widely held to be used in a listener’s phonemic processing. [Work supported by NIMH.]
Jaw displacement and F0 in contrastive emphasis.
Authors: Erickson Donna , Honda Kiyoshi
Published: October 2005

This study examines the relationship between highest F0 (within the sonorant portion of the syllable) and maximum jaw displacement (lowest vertical position of the mandible in reference to the maxillary occlusal plane) in utterances with contrastive emphasis. Acoustic and articulatory recordings were made using the x-ray microbeam facilities at the University of Wisconsin [J. Westbury and O. Fujimura, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Suppl. 1 85, S98 (1989)]. Three American English subjects produced question–answer sentences like ‘‘Is it 599 Pine Street? No, it’s 59FIVE Pine Street,’’ reading from a monitor display with a marking on the digit to be emphasized either in initial, middle, final position, or with no emphasis. The data showed positive correlation between jaw opening and F0 for syllables spoken with contrastive emphasis, but no correlation for nonemphasized syllables. One would expect two opposite biomechanical effects of jaw opening on F0: a positive effect by the action of jaw opening muscle on larynx elevation, and a negative effect by passive hyoid retraction due to jaw lowering. These findings suggest that prosodic contrast may be achieved by reorganization of interactive control of jaw opening and F0. Possible acoustical, physiological, and phonological ramifications of these findings are discussed. [Work supported by NSF SBR-951199B and ATR/ITL, Kyoto, Japan.]