Vered Shakuf - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Vered Shakuf

Cognition and emotion, May 19, 2024

Proceedings of Fechner Day, 2010

Presented with color words printed in various colors, participants can attend selectively to the ... more Presented with color words printed in various colors, participants can attend selectively to the words but cannot attend selectively to the colors. This failure of selective attention, known as the Stroop effect, is the single most popularly studied phenomenon in current cognitive science. Recent studies demonstrated the effect of color-word correlation on the Stroop effect, thereby challenging accounts of automatic reading. However, virtually all Stroop studies to date employed equal base rates of colors and color words, which may not reflect real-life probabilities. Uneven base rates can, in turn, influence performance, favoring semantically congruent or incongruent stimuli. In a series of experiments, we tested the effect of base rate in tandem with that of color-word correlation. The results showed that marginal frequencies affect selective attention and must be taken into consideration when designing or interpreting future studies.

Proceedings of Fechner Day, 2011

The Stroop Effect (SE) documents the failure to ignore the carrier color word when people report ... more The Stroop Effect (SE) documents the failure to ignore the carrier color word when people report its ink color (Stroop, 1935). Despite the vast amount of Stroop research, a few studies only investigated the effect of input selection—object-based or space-based—on the SE. The results were inconclusive. Moreover, the studies showing object-based modulation of the SE used the classic, integrated Stroop task, whereas studies showing space-based modulation typically used the spatially-separated version of the Stroop task. In this study we employed spatially separated Stroop displays to study the effect of object-based selection on the SE. The results showed larger SEs when the word and the color patch were part of the same object. This suggests improved processing of all features of an attended object, even if irrelevant to the task.

Auditory Perception & Cognition

Journal of Cultural Cognitive Science

This study investigated the universality of emotional prosody in perception of discrete emotions ... more This study investigated the universality of emotional prosody in perception of discrete emotions when semantics is not available. In two experiments the perception of emotional prosody in Hebrew and German by listeners who speak one of the languages but not the other was investigated. Having a parallel tool in both languages allowed to conduct controlled comparisons. In Experiment 1, 39 native German speakers with no knowledge of Hebrew and 80 native Israeli speakers rated Hebrew sentences spoken with four different emotional prosodies (anger, fear, happiness, sadness) or neutral. The Hebrew version of the Test for Rating of Emotions in Speech (T-RES) was used for this purpose. Ratings indicated participants’ agreement on how much the sentence conveyed each of four discrete emotions (anger, fear, happiness and sadness). In Experient 2, 30 native speakers of German, and 24 Israeli native speakers of Hebrew who had no knowledge of German rated sentences of the German version of the T-...

JMIR Serious Games

Background The number of serious games for cognitive training in aging (SGCTAs) is proliferating ... more Background The number of serious games for cognitive training in aging (SGCTAs) is proliferating in the market and attempting to combat one of the most feared aspects of aging—cognitive decline. However, the efficacy of many SGCTAs is still questionable. Even the measures used to validate SGCTAs are up for debate, with most studies using cognitive measures that gauge improvement in trained tasks, also known as near transfer. This study takes a different approach, testing the efficacy of the SGCTA—Effectivate—in generating tangible far-transfer improvements in a nontrained task—the Eye tracking of Word Identification in Noise Under Memory Increased Load (E-WINDMIL)—which tests speech processing in adverse conditions. Objective This study aimed to validate the use of a real-time measure of speech processing as a gauge of the far-transfer efficacy of an SGCTA designed to train executive functions. Methods In a randomized controlled trial that included 40 participants, we tested 20 (50%...

Frontiers in Neuroscience

Older adults process emotions in speech differently than do young adults. However, it is unclear ... more Older adults process emotions in speech differently than do young adults. However, it is unclear whether these age-related changes impact all speech channels to the same extent, and whether they originate from a sensory or a cognitive source. The current study adopted a psychophysical approach to directly compare young and older adults’ sensory thresholds for emotion recognition in two channels of spoken-emotions: prosody (tone) and semantics (words). A total of 29 young adults and 26 older adults listened to 50 spoken sentences presenting different combinations of emotions across prosody and semantics. They were asked to recognize the prosodic or semantic emotion, in separate tasks. Sentences were presented on the background of speech-spectrum noise ranging from SNR of −15 dB (difficult) to +5 dB (easy). Individual recognition thresholds were calculated (by fitting psychometric functions) separately for prosodic and semantic recognition. Results indicated that: (1). recognition thr...

Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 2014

Selective attention, an essential part of daily activity, is often impaired in people with Alzhei... more Selective attention, an essential part of daily activity, is often impaired in people with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Usually, it is measured by the color-word Stroop test. However, there is no universal agreement whether performance on the Stroop task changes significantly in AD patients; or if so, whether an increase in Stroop effects reflects a decrease in selective attention, a slowing in generalized speed of processing (SOP), or is the result of degraded color-vision. The current study investigated the impact of AD on Stroop performance and its potential sources in a meta-analysis and mathematical modeling of 18 studies, comparing 637 AD patients with 977 healthy age-matched participants. We found a significant increase in Stroop effects for AD patients, across studies. This AD-related change was associated with a slowing in SOP. However, after correcting for a bias in the distribution of latencies, SOP could only explain a moderate portion of the total variance (25%). Moreo...

Presented with color words printed in various colors, participants can attend selectively to the ... more Presented with color words printed in various colors, participants can attend selectively to the words but cannot attend selectively to the colors. This failure of selective attention, known as the Stroop effect, is the single most popularly studied phenomenon in current cognitive science. Recent studies demonstrated the effect of color-word correlation on the Stroop effect, thereby challenging accounts of automatic reading. However, virtually all Stroop studies to date employed equal base rates of colors and color words, which may not reflect real-life probabilities. Uneven base rates can, in turn, influence performance, favoring semantically congruent or incongruent stimuli. In a series of experiments, we tested the effect of base rate in tandem with that of color-word correlation. The results showed that marginal frequencies affect selective attention and must be taken into consideration when designing or interpreting future studies.

International Journal of Audiology

Objective: COVID-19 social isolation restrictions have accelerated the need to adapt clinical ass... more Objective: COVID-19 social isolation restrictions have accelerated the need to adapt clinical assessment tools to telemedicine. Remote adaptations are of special importance for populations at risk, e.g. older adults and individuals with chronic medical comorbidities. In response to this urgent clinical and scientific need, we describe a remote adaptation of the T-RES (Oron et al. 2020; IJA), designed to assess the complex processing of spoken emotions, based on identification and integration of the semantics and prosody of spoken sentences. Design: We present iT-RES, an online version of the speech-perception assessment tool, detailing the challenges considered and solution chosen when designing the telehealth tool. We show a preliminary validation of performance against the original lab-based T-RES. Study sample: A between-participants design, within two groups of 78 young adults (T-RES, n ¼ 39; iT-RES, n ¼ 39). Results: i-TRES performance closely followed that of T-RES, with no group differences found in the main trends, identification of emotions, selective attention, and integration. Conclusions: The design of iT-RES mapped the main challenges for remote auditory assessments, and solutions taken to address them. We hope that this will encourage further efforts for telehealth adaptations of clinical services, to meet the needs of special populations and avoid halting scientific research.

9th International Conference on Speech Prosody 2018

International Journal of Audiology

Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research

Proceedings of Fechner Day, 2010

Proceedings of Fechner Day, 2011

Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR, 2016

Our aim is to explore the complex interplay of prosody (tone of speech) and semantics (verbal con... more Our aim is to explore the complex interplay of prosody (tone of speech) and semantics (verbal content) in the perception of discrete emotions in speech. We implement a novel tool, the Test for Rating of Emotions in Speech. Eighty native English speakers were presented with spoken sentences made of different combinations of 5 discrete emotions (anger, fear, happiness, sadness, and neutral) presented in prosody and semantics. Listeners were asked to rate the sentence as a whole, integrating both speech channels, or to focus on one channel only (prosody or semantics). We observed supremacy of congruency, failure of selective attention, and prosodic dominance. Supremacy of congruency means that a sentence that presents the same emotion in both speech channels was rated highest; failure of selective attention means that listeners were unable to selectively attend to one channel when instructed; and prosodic dominance means that prosodic information plays a larger role than semantics in p...

International Journal of Audiology

Purpose: Our aim is to explore the complex interplay of prosody (tone of speech) and semantics (v... more Purpose: Our aim is to explore the complex interplay of prosody (tone of speech) and semantics (verbal content) in the perception of discrete emotions in speech. Method: We implement a novel tool, the Test for Rating of Emotions in Speech. Eighty native English speakers were presented with spoken sentences made of different combinations of 5 discrete emotions (anger, fear, happiness, sadness, and neutral) presented in prosody and semantics. Listeners were asked to rate the sentence as a whole, integrating both speech channels, or to focus on one channel only (prosody or semantics). Results: We observed supremacy of congruency, failure of selective attention, and prosodic dominance. Supremacy of congruency means that a sentence that presents the same emotion in both speech channels was rated highest; failure of selective attention means that listeners were unable to selectively attend to one channel when instructed; and prosodic dominance means that prosodic information plays a larger role than semantics in processing emotional speech. Conclusions: Emotional prosody and semantics are separate but not separable channels, and it is difficult to perceive one without the influence of the other. Our findings indicate that the Test for Rating of Emotions in Speech can reveal specific aspects in the processing of emotional speech and may in the future prove useful for understanding emotion-processing deficits in individuals with pathologies.

Cognition and emotion, May 19, 2024

Proceedings of Fechner Day, 2010

Presented with color words printed in various colors, participants can attend selectively to the ... more Presented with color words printed in various colors, participants can attend selectively to the words but cannot attend selectively to the colors. This failure of selective attention, known as the Stroop effect, is the single most popularly studied phenomenon in current cognitive science. Recent studies demonstrated the effect of color-word correlation on the Stroop effect, thereby challenging accounts of automatic reading. However, virtually all Stroop studies to date employed equal base rates of colors and color words, which may not reflect real-life probabilities. Uneven base rates can, in turn, influence performance, favoring semantically congruent or incongruent stimuli. In a series of experiments, we tested the effect of base rate in tandem with that of color-word correlation. The results showed that marginal frequencies affect selective attention and must be taken into consideration when designing or interpreting future studies.

Proceedings of Fechner Day, 2011

The Stroop Effect (SE) documents the failure to ignore the carrier color word when people report ... more The Stroop Effect (SE) documents the failure to ignore the carrier color word when people report its ink color (Stroop, 1935). Despite the vast amount of Stroop research, a few studies only investigated the effect of input selection—object-based or space-based—on the SE. The results were inconclusive. Moreover, the studies showing object-based modulation of the SE used the classic, integrated Stroop task, whereas studies showing space-based modulation typically used the spatially-separated version of the Stroop task. In this study we employed spatially separated Stroop displays to study the effect of object-based selection on the SE. The results showed larger SEs when the word and the color patch were part of the same object. This suggests improved processing of all features of an attended object, even if irrelevant to the task.

Auditory Perception & Cognition

Journal of Cultural Cognitive Science

This study investigated the universality of emotional prosody in perception of discrete emotions ... more This study investigated the universality of emotional prosody in perception of discrete emotions when semantics is not available. In two experiments the perception of emotional prosody in Hebrew and German by listeners who speak one of the languages but not the other was investigated. Having a parallel tool in both languages allowed to conduct controlled comparisons. In Experiment 1, 39 native German speakers with no knowledge of Hebrew and 80 native Israeli speakers rated Hebrew sentences spoken with four different emotional prosodies (anger, fear, happiness, sadness) or neutral. The Hebrew version of the Test for Rating of Emotions in Speech (T-RES) was used for this purpose. Ratings indicated participants’ agreement on how much the sentence conveyed each of four discrete emotions (anger, fear, happiness and sadness). In Experient 2, 30 native speakers of German, and 24 Israeli native speakers of Hebrew who had no knowledge of German rated sentences of the German version of the T-...

JMIR Serious Games

Background The number of serious games for cognitive training in aging (SGCTAs) is proliferating ... more Background The number of serious games for cognitive training in aging (SGCTAs) is proliferating in the market and attempting to combat one of the most feared aspects of aging—cognitive decline. However, the efficacy of many SGCTAs is still questionable. Even the measures used to validate SGCTAs are up for debate, with most studies using cognitive measures that gauge improvement in trained tasks, also known as near transfer. This study takes a different approach, testing the efficacy of the SGCTA—Effectivate—in generating tangible far-transfer improvements in a nontrained task—the Eye tracking of Word Identification in Noise Under Memory Increased Load (E-WINDMIL)—which tests speech processing in adverse conditions. Objective This study aimed to validate the use of a real-time measure of speech processing as a gauge of the far-transfer efficacy of an SGCTA designed to train executive functions. Methods In a randomized controlled trial that included 40 participants, we tested 20 (50%...

Frontiers in Neuroscience

Older adults process emotions in speech differently than do young adults. However, it is unclear ... more Older adults process emotions in speech differently than do young adults. However, it is unclear whether these age-related changes impact all speech channels to the same extent, and whether they originate from a sensory or a cognitive source. The current study adopted a psychophysical approach to directly compare young and older adults’ sensory thresholds for emotion recognition in two channels of spoken-emotions: prosody (tone) and semantics (words). A total of 29 young adults and 26 older adults listened to 50 spoken sentences presenting different combinations of emotions across prosody and semantics. They were asked to recognize the prosodic or semantic emotion, in separate tasks. Sentences were presented on the background of speech-spectrum noise ranging from SNR of −15 dB (difficult) to +5 dB (easy). Individual recognition thresholds were calculated (by fitting psychometric functions) separately for prosodic and semantic recognition. Results indicated that: (1). recognition thr...

Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 2014

Selective attention, an essential part of daily activity, is often impaired in people with Alzhei... more Selective attention, an essential part of daily activity, is often impaired in people with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Usually, it is measured by the color-word Stroop test. However, there is no universal agreement whether performance on the Stroop task changes significantly in AD patients; or if so, whether an increase in Stroop effects reflects a decrease in selective attention, a slowing in generalized speed of processing (SOP), or is the result of degraded color-vision. The current study investigated the impact of AD on Stroop performance and its potential sources in a meta-analysis and mathematical modeling of 18 studies, comparing 637 AD patients with 977 healthy age-matched participants. We found a significant increase in Stroop effects for AD patients, across studies. This AD-related change was associated with a slowing in SOP. However, after correcting for a bias in the distribution of latencies, SOP could only explain a moderate portion of the total variance (25%). Moreo...

Presented with color words printed in various colors, participants can attend selectively to the ... more Presented with color words printed in various colors, participants can attend selectively to the words but cannot attend selectively to the colors. This failure of selective attention, known as the Stroop effect, is the single most popularly studied phenomenon in current cognitive science. Recent studies demonstrated the effect of color-word correlation on the Stroop effect, thereby challenging accounts of automatic reading. However, virtually all Stroop studies to date employed equal base rates of colors and color words, which may not reflect real-life probabilities. Uneven base rates can, in turn, influence performance, favoring semantically congruent or incongruent stimuli. In a series of experiments, we tested the effect of base rate in tandem with that of color-word correlation. The results showed that marginal frequencies affect selective attention and must be taken into consideration when designing or interpreting future studies.

International Journal of Audiology

Objective: COVID-19 social isolation restrictions have accelerated the need to adapt clinical ass... more Objective: COVID-19 social isolation restrictions have accelerated the need to adapt clinical assessment tools to telemedicine. Remote adaptations are of special importance for populations at risk, e.g. older adults and individuals with chronic medical comorbidities. In response to this urgent clinical and scientific need, we describe a remote adaptation of the T-RES (Oron et al. 2020; IJA), designed to assess the complex processing of spoken emotions, based on identification and integration of the semantics and prosody of spoken sentences. Design: We present iT-RES, an online version of the speech-perception assessment tool, detailing the challenges considered and solution chosen when designing the telehealth tool. We show a preliminary validation of performance against the original lab-based T-RES. Study sample: A between-participants design, within two groups of 78 young adults (T-RES, n ¼ 39; iT-RES, n ¼ 39). Results: i-TRES performance closely followed that of T-RES, with no group differences found in the main trends, identification of emotions, selective attention, and integration. Conclusions: The design of iT-RES mapped the main challenges for remote auditory assessments, and solutions taken to address them. We hope that this will encourage further efforts for telehealth adaptations of clinical services, to meet the needs of special populations and avoid halting scientific research.

9th International Conference on Speech Prosody 2018

International Journal of Audiology

Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research

Proceedings of Fechner Day, 2010

Proceedings of Fechner Day, 2011

Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR, 2016

Our aim is to explore the complex interplay of prosody (tone of speech) and semantics (verbal con... more Our aim is to explore the complex interplay of prosody (tone of speech) and semantics (verbal content) in the perception of discrete emotions in speech. We implement a novel tool, the Test for Rating of Emotions in Speech. Eighty native English speakers were presented with spoken sentences made of different combinations of 5 discrete emotions (anger, fear, happiness, sadness, and neutral) presented in prosody and semantics. Listeners were asked to rate the sentence as a whole, integrating both speech channels, or to focus on one channel only (prosody or semantics). We observed supremacy of congruency, failure of selective attention, and prosodic dominance. Supremacy of congruency means that a sentence that presents the same emotion in both speech channels was rated highest; failure of selective attention means that listeners were unable to selectively attend to one channel when instructed; and prosodic dominance means that prosodic information plays a larger role than semantics in p...

International Journal of Audiology

Purpose: Our aim is to explore the complex interplay of prosody (tone of speech) and semantics (v... more Purpose: Our aim is to explore the complex interplay of prosody (tone of speech) and semantics (verbal content) in the perception of discrete emotions in speech. Method: We implement a novel tool, the Test for Rating of Emotions in Speech. Eighty native English speakers were presented with spoken sentences made of different combinations of 5 discrete emotions (anger, fear, happiness, sadness, and neutral) presented in prosody and semantics. Listeners were asked to rate the sentence as a whole, integrating both speech channels, or to focus on one channel only (prosody or semantics). Results: We observed supremacy of congruency, failure of selective attention, and prosodic dominance. Supremacy of congruency means that a sentence that presents the same emotion in both speech channels was rated highest; failure of selective attention means that listeners were unable to selectively attend to one channel when instructed; and prosodic dominance means that prosodic information plays a larger role than semantics in processing emotional speech. Conclusions: Emotional prosody and semantics are separate but not separable channels, and it is difficult to perceive one without the influence of the other. Our findings indicate that the Test for Rating of Emotions in Speech can reveal specific aspects in the processing of emotional speech and may in the future prove useful for understanding emotion-processing deficits in individuals with pathologies.