Transformed Up‐Down Methods in Psychoacoustics
01 Feb 1971-Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (Acoustical Society of America)-Vol. 49, Iss: 2, pp 467-477
TL;DR: A broad class of up‐down methods used in psychoacoustics with due emphasis on the related problems of parameter estimation and the efficient placing of observations is described, including examples where conventional techniques are inapplicable.
Abstract: During the past decade a number of variations in the simple up‐down procedure have been used in psychoacoustic testing. A broad class of these methods is described with due emphasis on the related problems of parameter estimation and the efficient placing of observations. The advantages of up‐down methods are many, including simplicity, high efficiency, robustness, small‐sample reliability, and relative freedom from restrictive assumptions. Several applications of these procedures in psychoacoustics are described, including examples where conventional techniques are inapplicable.
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TL;DR: An adaptive psychometric procedure that places each trial at the current most probable Bayesian estimate of threshold is described, taking advantage of the common finding that the human psychometric function is invariant in form when expressed as a function of log intensity.
Abstract: An adaptive psychometric procedure that places each trial at the current most probable Bayesian estimate of threshold is described. The procedure takes advantage of the common finding that the human psychometric function is invariant in form when expressed as a function of log intensity. The procedure is simple, fast, and efficient, and may be easily implemented on any computer.
2,334 citations
TL;DR: The results indicate that neural activity in MT contributes selectively to the perception of motion.
Abstract: Physiological experiments indicate that the middle temporal visual area (MT) of primates plays a prominent role in the cortical analysis of visual motion. We investigated the role of MT in visual perception by examining the effect of chemical lesions of MT on psychophysical thresholds. We trained rhesus monkeys on psychophysical tasks that enabled us to assess their sensitivity to motion and to contrast. For motion psychophysics, we employed a dynamic random dot display that permitted us to vary the intensity of a motion signal in the midst of masking motion noise. We measured the threshold intensity for which the monkey could successfully complete a direction discrimination. In the contrast task, we measured the threshold contrast for which the monkeys could successfully discriminate the orientation of stationary gratings. Injections of ibotenic acid into MT caused striking elevations in motion thresholds, but had little or no effect on contrast thresholds. The results indicate that neural activity in MT contributes selectively to the perception of motion.
1,605 citations
TL;DR: The present data support the phonological theory of dyslexia, while acknowledging the presence of additional sensory and motor disorders in certain individuals.
Abstract: A multiple case study was conducted in order to assess three leading theories of developmental dyslexia: (i) the phonological theory, (ii) the magnocellular (auditory and visual) theory and (iii) the cerebellar theory. Sixteen dyslexic and 16 control university students were administered a full battery of psychometric, phonological, auditory, visual and cerebellar tests. Individual data reveal that all 16 dyslexics suffer from a phonological deficit, 10 from an auditory deficit, four from a motor deficit and two from a visual magnocellular deficit. Results suggest that a phonological deficit can appear in the absence of any other sensory or motor disorder, and is sufficient to cause a literacy impairment, as demonstrated by five of the dyslexics. Auditory disorders, when present, aggravate the phonological deficit, hence the literacy impairment. However, auditory deficits cannot be characterized simply as rapid auditory processing problems, as would be predicted by the magnocellular theory. Nor are they restricted to speech. Contrary to the cerebellar theory, we find little support for the notion that motor impairments, when found, have a cerebellar origin or reflect an automaticity deficit. Overall, the present data support the phonological theory of dyslexia, while acknowledging the presence of additional sensory and motor disorders in certain individuals.
1,366 citations
Cites methods from "Transformed Up‐Down Methods in Psyc..."
...Two independent adaptive tracks, with Levitt’s (1971) rules as modified by Baker & Rosen (2001), were used to estimate the points on the continuum at which the stimuli were labeled as one word of the pair (e....
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...Thresholds were measured monaurally in the right ear using a two-interval two-alternative forced-choice adaptive task tracking 79% correct using Levitt’s (1971) procedure with modifications by Baker & Rosen (2001) to increase efficiency....
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03 Oct 2010
TL;DR: The proposed technology is based on the electrovibration principle, does not use any moving parts and provides a wide range of tactile feedback sensations to fingers moving across a touch surface, which enables the design of a wide variety of interfaces that allow the user to feel virtual elements through touch.
Abstract: We present a new technology for enhancing touch interfaces with tactile feedback. The proposed technology is based on the electrovibration principle, does not use any moving parts and provides a wide range of tactile feedback sensations to fingers moving across a touch surface. When combined with an interactive display and touch input, it enables the design of a wide variety of interfaces that allow the user to feel virtual elements through touch. We present the principles of operation and an implementation of the technology. We also report the results of three controlled psychophysical experiments and a subjective user evaluation that describe and characterize users' perception of this technology. We conclude with an exploration of the design space of tactile touch screens using two comparable setups, one based on electrovibration and another on mechanical vibrotactile actuation.
740 citations
TL;DR: The general development of adaptive procedures is described, and typically, a threshold value is measured using these methods, and, in some cases, other characteristics of the psychometric function underlying perceptual performance, such as slope, may be developed.
Abstract: As research on sensation and perception has grown more sophisticated during the last century, new adaptive methodologies have been developed to increase efficiency and reliability of measurement. An experimental procedure is said to be adaptive if the physical characteristics of the stimuli on each trial are determined by the stimuli and responses that occurred in the previous trial or sequence of trials. In this paper, the general development of adaptive procedures is described, and three commonly used methods are reviewed. Typically, a threshold value is measured using these methods, and, in some cases, other characteristics of the psychometric function underlying perceptual performance, such as slope, may be developed. Results of simulations and experiments with human subjects are reviewed to evaluate the utility of these adaptive procedures and the special circumstances under which one might be superior to another.
735 citations
References
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TL;DR: In this article, a method for making successive experiments at levels x1, x2, ··· in such a way that xn will tend to θ in probability is presented.
Abstract: Let M(x) denote the expected value at level x of the response to a certain experiment. M(x) is assumed to be a monotone function of x but is unknown to the experimenter, and it is desired to find the solution x = θ of the equation M(x) = α, where a is a given constant. We give a method for making successive experiments at levels x1, x2, ··· in such a way that xn will tend to θ in probability.
9,312 citations
TL;DR: The use of the staircase-method is illustrated, its relative merits and demerits are discussed, and a modification is described which overcomes certain of the disadvantages of the method.
Abstract: NOTES AND DISCUSSIONS THE STAIRCASE-METHOD IN PSYCHOPHYSICS A psychophysical method variously referred to as the method of up and downs, 1 the Bekesy audiometric method, 2 or the staircase-method, has come into extensive use in the last few years. The method has several advantages over other more commonly used techniques but it also has some disadvantages. This paper will illustrate the use of the method, will discuss its relative merits and demerits, and will describe a modification which overcomes certain of the disadvantages of the method. The staircase-method is best described by illustrating its use with a specific prob- lem. Suppose the problem is to determine S's absolute, intensive threshold for the sound of a click. The first stimulus that E delivers is a click of some arbitrary intensity. S responds either that he did or did not hear it. If S says 'yes' (he did hear it), the next stimulus is made less intense, and if S says 'no,' the second stimulus is made more intense. If S responds 'yes' to the second stimulus, the third is made less intense, and if he says 'no,' it is made more intense. This procedure is simply continued until some predetermined criterion or 'number of trials' is reached. The results of a series of 30 trials are shown in Fig. 1. The results may be recorded directly on graph-paper; doing so helps E keep the procedure straight. There are a number of ways of determining the intensive value that represents the threshold. The simplest is to compute the mean of the values of a given num- ber of stimuli delivered after the series has reached its final level. This requires an arbitrary decision about when the final level has been reached. The technique, which avoids this difficulty and yields a 50% value, is simply to determine the stimulus above which 50% of the responses are 'yes,'-i.e. in Fig. 1 between 61 and 62 db. Statistical treatment of the results has been discussed by Dixon and Massey, who describe the techniques for determining the means, standard deviations, standard errors, etc., for this type of data.3 The treatments assume, however, that the response to each stimulus is independent of the preceding stimuli and pre- ceding responses. This assumption holds for the examples analyzed, but there is evidence that the assumption does not always hold for human Ss in psychophysical experiments.• The development of techn.iques that take the existing inter-actions into account has not as yet been achieved. W. J. Dixon and F. J. Massey, lnt,.oduction lo Statistical Analysis, 1957, 279· •Georg von Bekesy, A new audiometer, A'la 010-/a,.yngol., 35, 1947, 411-422. •Dixon and Massey, op. cit., 286. • W. S. Verplanck, G. H. Collier, and J. W. Cotton, Nonindependence of succes- sive responses in measurement of the visual threshold, /. exp. Psycho/., 42, 1952, 273-282; Verplanck and Cotton, The dependence of frequencies of seeing on pro- cedural variables: J. Direction and length of series of intensity-ordered stimuli, /. gen. Psycho/., 53, 1955, 37-47; V. L. Senders, Further analysis of response se- quences in the setting of a psychophysical experiment, this JOURNAL, 66, 1 953, 215-229; R. S. Woodworth and Harold Schlosberg, Experimental Psychology, 1954,
1,211 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an adaptive procedure for rapid and efficient psychophysical testing is described, with maximally efficient trial-by-trial sequential decisions at each stimulus level, in a sequence which tends to converge on a selected target level.
Abstract: An adaptive procedure for rapid and efficient psychophysical testing is described. PEST (Parameter Estimation by Sequential Testing) was designed with maximally efficient trial‐by‐trial sequential decisions at each stimulus level, in a sequence which tends to converge on a selected target level. An appendix introduces an approach to measuring test efficiency as applied to psychophysical testing problems.
1,205 citations