METHOD FOR MODULATING LISTENER ATTENTION TOWARD SYNTHETIC FORMANT TRANSITION CUES IN SPEECH STIMULI FOR TRAINING
First Claim
1. A method for enhancing memory and cognition in an aging adult, utilizing a computing device to provide aural and graphical presentations for training, the aural presentations utilizing computer generated phonemes, the method recording responses from the adult and adapting processing of the computer generated phonemes according to the recorded responses, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a plurality of confusable pairs of phonemes for presentation to the aging adult, each of the phonemes having a consonant portion and a vowel portion;
providing a plurality of stimulus levels for computer processing of the plurality of confusable pairs of phonemes;
selecting a confusable pair of phonemes from the plurality;
graphically presenting on the computing device icons for each phoneme from the confusable pair;
aurally presenting on the computing device a computer generated one of the phonemes from the confusable pair, the computer generation corresponding to a first one of the plurality of stimulus levels, wherein the computer generated phoneme is acoustically processed;
requiring the adult to select one of the icons, corresponding to the aurally presented one of the phonemes; and
recording whether the adult correctly selected an icon corresponding to the aurally presented one of the phonemes;
repeating said steps of selecting a confusable pair through said step of recording, M times, wherein M is an integer;
determining whether the adult correctly responded in at least N % of the presentations, where N is a real number, wherein if the adult correctly responded to at least N % of the presentations;
selecting another one of the plurality of stimulus levels to increase the difficulty of discriminating between the presented phonemes; and
repeating said steps of selecting a confusable pair through said step of determining;
but if the adult did not correctly respond to at least N % of the presentations;
selecting another one of the plurality of stimulus levels to decrease the difficulty of discriminating between the presented phonemes; and
repeating said steps of selecting a confusable pair through said step of determining.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method on a computing device for enhancing the memory and cognitive ability of an older adult by requiring the adult to differentiate between rapidly presented stimuli. The method utilizes a sequence of phonemes from a confusable pair which are systematically manipulated to make discrimination between the phonemes less difficult or more difficult based on the success of the adult, such as processing the consonant and vowel portions of the phonemes by emphasizing the portions, stretching the portions, and/or separating the consonant and vowel portions by time intervals. As the adult improves in auditory processing, the discriminations are made progressively more difficult by reducing the amount of processing to that of normal speech. Introductory phonemes may each include a blend of a formant-synthesized phoneme and an acoustically naturalistic phoneme that substantially replicates the spectro-temporal aspects of a naturally produced phoneme, with the blends progressing from substantially natural-sounding to substantially formant-synthesized.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for enhancing memory and cognition in an aging adult, utilizing a computing device to provide aural and graphical presentations for training, the aural presentations utilizing computer generated phonemes, the method recording responses from the adult and adapting processing of the computer generated phonemes according to the recorded responses, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a plurality of confusable pairs of phonemes for presentation to the aging adult, each of the phonemes having a consonant portion and a vowel portion;
providing a plurality of stimulus levels for computer processing of the plurality of confusable pairs of phonemes;
selecting a confusable pair of phonemes from the plurality;
graphically presenting on the computing device icons for each phoneme from the confusable pair;
aurally presenting on the computing device a computer generated one of the phonemes from the confusable pair, the computer generation corresponding to a first one of the plurality of stimulus levels, wherein the computer generated phoneme is acoustically processed;
requiring the adult to select one of the icons, corresponding to the aurally presented one of the phonemes; and
recording whether the adult correctly selected an icon corresponding to the aurally presented one of the phonemes;
repeating said steps of selecting a confusable pair through said step of recording, M times, wherein M is an integer;
determining whether the adult correctly responded in at least N % of the presentations, where N is a real number, wherein if the adult correctly responded to at least N % of the presentations;
selecting another one of the plurality of stimulus levels to increase the difficulty of discriminating between the presented phonemes; and
repeating said steps of selecting a confusable pair through said step of determining;
but if the adult did not correctly respond to at least N % of the presentations;
selecting another one of the plurality of stimulus levels to decrease the difficulty of discriminating between the presented phonemes; and
repeating said steps of selecting a confusable pair through said step of determining. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method on a computing device for improving the auditory system in aging adults by forcing them to make consonant and vowel discriminations under conditions of forward and backward masking from adjacent vowels and consonants, respectively, the computing device providing a plurality of confusable pairs of phonemes for presentation to the aging adult, each of the phonemes having a consonant portion and a vowel portion, the computing device also providing a plurality of stimulus levels used by the computing device for acoustically processing the plurality of confusable pairs of phonemes, the method comprising:
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selecting a confusable pair of phonemes from the plurality;
graphically presenting on the computing device icons for each phoneme from the confusable pair;
aurally presenting on the computing device a computer generated one of the phonemes from the confusable pair, the computer generation corresponding to a first one of the plurality of stimulus levels, wherein the computer generated phoneme is acoustically processed;
requiring the adult to select one of the icons, corresponding to the aurally presented one of the phonemes; and
recording whether the adult correctly selected an icon corresponding to the aurally presented one of the phonemes;
repeating said steps of selecting a confusable pair through said step of recording, M times, wherein M is an integer;
determining whether the adult correctly responded in at least N % of the presentations, where N is a real number, wherein if the adult correctly responded to at least N % of the presentations;
selecting another one of the plurality of stimulus levels to increase the difficulty of discriminating between the presented phonemes; and
repeating said steps of selecting a confusable pair through said step of determining;
but if the adult did not correctly respond to at least N % of the presentations;
selecting another one of the plurality of stimulus levels to decrease the difficulty of discriminating between the presented phonemes; and
repeating said steps of selecting a confusable pair through said step of determining. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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28. A computer readable memory medium that stores program instructions for enhancing memory and cognition in an aging adult, utilizing a computing device to provide aural and graphical presentations for training, the aural presentations utilizing computer generated phonemes, and to record responses from the adult, adapting processing of the computer generated phonemes according to the recorded responses, wherein the program instructions are executable to perform:
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providing a plurality of confusable pairs of phonemes for presentation to the aging adult, each of the phonemes having a consonant portion and a vowel portion;
providing a plurality of stimulus levels for computer processing of the plurality of confusable pairs of phonemes;
selecting a confusable pair of phonemes from the plurality;
graphically presenting on the computing device icons for each phoneme from the confusable pair;
aurally presenting on the computing device a computer generated one of the phonemes from the confusable pair, the computer generation corresponding to a first one of the plurality of stimulus levels, wherein the computer generated phoneme is acoustically processed;
requiring the adult to select one of the icons, corresponding to the aurally presented one of the phonemes; and
recording whether the adult correctly selected an icon corresponding to the aurally presented one of the phonemes;
repeating said steps of selecting a confusable pair through said step of recording, M times, wherein M is an integer;
determining whether the adult correctly responded in at least N % of the presentations, where N is a real number, wherein if the adult correctly responded to at least N % of the presentations;
selecting another one of the plurality of stimulus levels to increase the difficulty of discriminating between the presented phonemes; and
repeating said steps of selecting a confusable pair through said step of determining;
but if the adult did not correctly respond to at least N % of the presentations;
selecting another one of the plurality of stimulus levels to decrease the difficulty of discriminating between the presented phonemes; and
repeating said steps of selecting a confusable pair through said step of determining. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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Specification