Neural representation of pitch is influenced by lifelong experiences with music and language at both cortical and subcortical levels of processing. The aim of this article is to determine whether neural plasticity for pitch representation at the level of the brainstem is dependent upon specific "dimensions" of pitch contours that commonly occur as…

When presented with alternating low and high tones, listeners are more likely to perceive 2 separate streams of tones ("streaming") than a single coherent stream when the frequency separation ([delta]f) between tones is greater and the number of tone presentations is greater ("buildup"). However, the same large-[delta]f sequence reduces streaming…

We investigated linguistic and visuospatial processing during pictorial reasoning in high-functioning autism (HFA), Asperger's syndrome (ASP), and age and IQ-matched typically developing participants (CTRL), using three conditions designed to differentially engage linguistic mediation or visuospatial processing (visuospatial, V; semantic, S;…

Using electroencephalographic recordings (EEG), we assessed differences in oscillatory cortical activity during auditory-oddball performance between children aged 9-13 years, younger adults, and older adults. From childhood to old age, phase synchronization increased within and between electrodes, whereas whole power and evoked power decreased. We…

Two experiments investigated categorical perception (CP) effects for affective facial expressions and linguistic facial expressions from American Sign Language (ASL) for Deaf native signers and hearing non-signers. Facial expressions were presented in isolation (Experiment 1) or in an ASL verb context (Experiment 2). Participants performed ABX…

Two experiments examined how Dutch listeners deal with the effects of connected-speech processes, specifically those arising from word-final /t/ reduction (e.g., whether Dutch [tas] is "tas," bag, or a reduced-/t/ version of "tast," touch). Eye movements of Dutch participants were tracked as they looked at arrays containing 4…

Previous studies have shown that the right hemisphere processes the visual details of objects and the emotionality of information. These two roles of the right hemisphere have not been examined concurrently. In the present study, the authors examined whether right hemisphere processing would lead to particularly good memory for the visual details…

THE PROBLEM OF THE RESEARCH WAS TO STUDY THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEPTION AND COGNITION FACTORS IN THE GROWING CHILD. A CENTRAL TASK WAS TO DEVELOP AN INSTRUMENT FOR ASSESSING THE DEVELOPMENT OF SIZE CONSTANCY IN A PROCEDURE IN WHICH THE EFFECTS OF COGNITIVE ACTIVITY COULD BE EITHER CONTROLLED OR EVALUATED. USING A NUMBER OF CONSIDERATIONS, THE…

The present study includes seven experiments examining the effect of repetition learning (Hebb effect) on auditory spatial serial recall. Participants were asked to remember sequences of spatial locations marked by auditory stimuli, where one sequence was repeated across trials. Consistent with the proposition that the spatial scattering of…

Three experiments were aimed at verifying whether the modality of interaction with objects and the goals defined by the task influences the weight of the properties used for categorization. In Experiment 1 we used everyday objects (cups and glasses). In order to exclude that the results depended on pre-stored categorical knowledge and to assess…

A recent study hypothesized a configurational anisotropy in the face inversion effect, with vertical relations more difficult to process. However, another difference in the stimuli of that report was that the vertical but not horizontal shifts lacked local spatial references. Difficulty processing long-range spatial relations might also be…

The attentional blink refers to the transient impairment in perceiving the 2nd of two targets presented in close temporal proximity in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) stream. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect on human attentional-blink performance of disrupting the function of the magnocellular pathway--a major…

In Experiment 1, a normal adult population drawn from a remote culture (Himba) in northern Namibia made similarity matches to [Navon, D. (1977). Forest before trees: The precedence of global features in visual perception. "Cognitive Psychology", 9, 353-383] hierarchical figures. The Himba showed a local bias stronger than that has been…

A critical question in Cognitive Science concerns how knowledge of specific domains emerges during development. Here we examined how limitations of the visual system during the first days of life may shape subsequent development of face processing abilities. By manipulating the bands of spatial frequencies of face images, we investigated what is…

The own-race advantage in face recognition has been hypothesized as being due to a superiority in the processing of configural information for own-race faces. Here we examined the contributions of both configural and component processing to the own-race advantage. We recruited 48 Caucasian participants in Australia and 48 Chinese participants in…