Is the focusing of visual attention object-based, space-based, both, or neither? Attentional focusing latencies in hierarchically structured compound-letter objects were examined, orthogonally manipulating global size (larger vs. smaller) and organizational complexity (two-level structure vs. three-level structure). In a dynamic focusing task,…

Statistical learning--implicit learning of statistical regularities within sensory input--is a way of acquiring structure within continuous sensory environments. Statistics computation, initially shown to be involved in word segmentation, has been demonstrated to be a general mechanism that operates across domains, across time and space, and…

Background: Children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are known to have an atypical visual perception, with deficits in automatic Gestalt formation and an enhanced processing of visual details. In addition, they are sometimes found to have difficulties in emotion processing. Methods: In three experiments, we investigated whether 7-to-11-year…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate musical timbre perception in cochlear-implant (CI) listeners using a multidimensional scaling technique to derive a timbre space. Methods: Sixteen stimuli that synthesized western musical instruments were used (McAdams, Winsberg, Donnadieu, De Soete, & Krimphoff, 1995). Eight CI listeners and…

Children with cerebral palsy (CP) often have problems with arithmetic, but the development of numerical abilities in these children has received only minor attention. In comparison, detailed accounts have been written on the arithmetic abilities of typically developing children, but a theoretical framework is still lacking. A promising perspective…

Purpose: This article addresses auditory processing disorder (APD) from a language-based perspective. The author asks speech-language pathologists to evaluate the functionality (or not) of APD as a diagnostic category for children and adolescents with language-learning and academic difficulties. Suggestions are offered from a…

Purpose: This article outlines the author's conceptualization of the key mechanisms that are engaged in the processing of spoken language, referred to as the spoken language processing model. The act of processing what is heard is very complex and involves the successful intertwining of auditory, cognitive, and language mechanisms. Spoken language…

Purpose: To provide a personal perspective on auditory processing disorder (APD), with reference to the recent clinical forum on APD and the needs of clinical speech-language pathologists and audiologists. Method: The Medical Research Council-Institute of Hearing Research (MRC-IHR) has been engaged in research into APD and auditory learning for 8…

Although there is much research on infants' ability to orient in space, little is known regarding the information they use to do so. This research uses a rotating room to evaluate the relative contribution of visual and vestibular information to location of a target following bodily rotation. Adults responded precisely on the basis of visual flow…

The ability to statistically segment a continuous auditory stream is one of the most important preparations for initiating language learning. Such ability is available to human infants at 8 months of age, as shown by a behavioral measurement. However, behavioral study alone cannot determine how early this ability is available. A recent study using…

Pigeons responded in a perceptual categorization task with six different stimuli (shades of gray), three of which were to be classified as "light" or "dark", respectively. Reinforcement probability for correct responses was varied from 0.2 to 0.6 across blocks of sessions and was unequal for correct light and dark responses. Introduction of a new…

The cognitive causes as well as the neurological and genetic basis of developmental dyslexia, a complex disorder of written language acquisition, are intensely discussed with regard to multiple-deficit models. Accumulating evidence has revealed dyslexics' impairments in a variety of tasks requiring visual attention. The heterogeneity of these…

When other individuals move, we interpret their movements as discrete, hierarchically-organized, goal-directed actions. However, the mechanisms that integrate visible movement features into actions are poorly understood. Here, we consider two sequence learning mechanisms--transitional probability-based (TP) and position-based encoding…

In a recent critique Boles and Barth (2011) argue that their prior study investigating asymmetry/performance relationships (Boles, Barth, & Merrill, 2008) uncovered the "true" association (i.e., negative correlation) between lateralization of visual lexical processes and word recognition performance. They contend that our study reporting positive…

Purpose: In this study, the authors investigated the effects of age on the use of fundamental frequency differences([delta]F[subscript 0]) in the perception of competing synthesized vowels in simulations of electroacoustic and cochlear-implant hearing. Method: Twelve younger listeners with normal hearing and 13 older listeners with (near) normal…