I would like to get a new hearing aid for my son. James is recently separated from his wife and has to care for their 22 month old son alone during the day and every other weekend, he is working and paying child support for his other child from a different relationship, and helps out with his son. Most weeks when he pays his bills he has no money for food, but he doesn’t complain he just is happy to get time with his kids. James has been deaf since he was 2 and is a very happy young man and doing his best to make it on his own. My husband and I help when we can but the other day James told me his hearing aid isn’t working right and he can’t hear with it, when he showed it to me I was shocked it worked at all he has had to glue it together. I know he can’t afford one and I would like to get one for him because he really needs it.

Name: Sue Bryan

From: Gentry, AR

Phone: (479)640-6685

Have you ever felt like you were hearing sounds that were not actually there? Like your ears were “filling in” gaps?

It is actually quite normal and scientists at Maastricht University in The Netherlands are studying this mechanism by which the human brain “fills in” sound.

The human ear picks up on many sounds at a time and many different sounds compete for attention. When you focus on a single sound – say, someone talking – other sounds can interrupt it. When this happens, the brain may actually fill in information that your ears do not actually pick up. For instance, if a word is interrupted by a loud crash in the middle of someone’s speech, our brains seem to fill in the information that we missed, giving us the illusion that we heard the complete word.

Scientists say that this may influence the design of future hearing aids.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091125134655.htm

The mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the auditory event-related potential can be used to study automatic perceptual inference. This study was designed to explore “Conditional Inference” in the MMN system – the capacity of the auditory system to use current input to switch between inference models in memory. We presented a “Random” sequence comprising a standard repeating sound occasionally interrupted by a change in frequency, duration or intensity (louder or softer). We also presented the same sequence with a conditional linkage between deviants – that is, frequency and duration deviants always followed an intensity change. We explored whether the auditory system could use intensity deviance to change the inference from “expect the standard to repeat” to “expect a frequency or duration violation” and quantified this as the proportion decline in the MMN elicited to duration and frequency deviant sounds in the linked versus random sequence. We report three main outcomes on a sample of 25 healthy young adults: (1) there was a significant conditional inference effect (a reduction in MMN amplitude in linked versus random sequences) to duration but not frequency deviants; (2) larger simple MMN and larger conditional inference effect on duration MMN were correlated with higher Digit Span; and (3) the conditional inference effect but not simple MMN to duration deviants, was strongly correlated with working memory ability (rs=.78, p<.001). The results are discussed with respect to the differential cognitive demands of simple MMN and conditional inference, and the possible involvement of prefrontal cortex in implementing conditional inference in the MMN system.

from Brain Research

A new study seems to show that children with developmental dyslexia might have trouble focusing on a teacher’s voice when there’s a lot of background noise (other kids, lockers closing, chairs scraping on the floor, etc.) 

The study, which was published in the November 12 issue of “Neuron, ” suggests that kids with developmental dyslexia (problems with reading and spelling) have difficulty separating speech from noise the way non-dyslexic children do.

I’m not thrilled by the fact that the article only suggests accommodations in the classroom – such as placing the child in the front of the class or using wireless technologies to help the child hear the teacher better. There really should have been a mention of cognitive skills therapy. It’s the most effective way to essentially eradicate dyslexia. Treat the root cause – don’t just treat the symptoms!!

Here’s the study:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170738.php

It may sound strange but we read with our ears. A recent study at Northwestern provides clear evidence to support the groundbreaking theories developed by the late Alfred Tomatis, M.D. in the mid twentieth century about the role the ear plays in reading.

The vast majority of school-aged children can focus on the voice of a teacher amid the cacophony of the typical classroom thanks to a brain that automatically focuses on relevant, predictable and repeating auditory information, according to new research from Northwestern University.

But for children with developmental dyslexia, the teacher’s voice may get lost in the background noise of banging lockers, whispering children, playground screams and scraping chairs, the researchers say. Their study appears in the Nov. 12 issue of Neuron.

Recent scientific studies suggest that children with developmental dyslexia — a neurological disorder affecting reading and spelling skills in 5 to 10 percent of school aged children — have difficulties separating relevant auditory information from competing noise.

The research from Northwestern University’s Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory not only confirms those findings but presents biological evidence that children who report problems hearing speech in noise also suffer from a measurable neural impairment that adversely affects their ability to make use of regularities in the sound environment.

“The ability to sharpen or fine-tune repeating elements is crucial to hearing speech in noise because it allows for superior ‘tagging’ of voice pitch, an important cue in picking out a particular voice within background noise,” said Nina Kraus, Hugh Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences and Neurobiology and director of the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory.

In the article “Context-dependent encoding in the human auditory brainstem relates to hearing speech-in-noise: Implications for developmental dyslexia,” Kraus and co-investigators Bharath Chandrasekaran, Jane Hornickel, Erika Skoe and Trent Nicol demonstrate that the remarkable ability of the brain to tune into relevant aspects in the soundscape is carried out by an adaptive auditory system that continuously changes its activity based on the demands of context.1  Click here for full article.

These findings are consistent with part of the underlying theories behind our work at Advanced Brain Technologies. This research and studies on musical training at Northwestern provides support to warrant further studies on the potential of using music listening therapy (The Listening Program®) as an intervention for struggling readers.

1 Retrieved November 12, 2009 http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-11/nu-nbf110309.php

Though we often hear about the three learning styles (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic), it does not hurt for us to take a fresh look at each style and what suggestions are available for teaching to each learning style.  In addition, there is a fourth style–the visual-spatial learner–that is worth investigating.

For more information on these learning styles, take a look at the links in this article.

“Approximately 20 to 30 percent of the school-aged population remembers what is heard; 40 percent recalls well visually the things that are seen or read; many must write or use their fingers in some manipulative way to help them remember basic facts; other people cannot internalize information or skills unless they use them in real-life activities such as actually writing a letter to learn the correct format.” (Teaching Students to Read Through Their Individual Learning Styles, Marie Carbo, Rita Dunn, and Kenneth Dunn; Prentice-Hall, 1986, p.13.).  Taken from http://school.familyeducation.com/intelligence/teaching-methods/38519.html

on October 27, 2007.

The Visual Learner

Is among 40% of learners

Remembers faces not names

Thinks in pictures

Has a good imagination

Has to see it

Is usually neat, orderly

Likes descriptions

Is distracted by disorder

Is usually quiet

Becomes impatient with listening

Makes plans in advance

Organizes by list making

Succeeds when directions are written

The Visual Learner should

Read text before lectures

Take notes during lectures

Use charts, pictures, & diagrams

Map material to be retained

Preview chapter headings

Underline keywords/highlight text

Stare into space to try and see material

Watch videos and films when appropriate

Use an assignment log

The Auditory Learner

Is among 30% of learners

Will listen to music for hours

Enjoys having stories read

Vocalizes while reading

Is distracted by noise

Remembers name not face

Talks extensively

Uses Phonics

Uses auditory word attack skills

Hums, shouts, sings in class

Doesn’t necessarily find matching clothes important, but can justify choice

Succeeds when directions are read aloud and when speeches are required

The Auditory Learner should

Read the text aloud

Explain material to someone else

Tape material & listen repeatedly

Orally test self

Turn material into a song and sing it

Restate material in own words

Have someone else read it to them

Listen to books on tape

Vocalize in head when reading aloud is not possible

The Kinesthetic/Tactile Learner

Is among 30% of learners

Learns by doing

Is generally a poor speller

Needs to touch

Is impulsive

Needs manipulatives

Loves games

Breaks & sharpens pencils regularly

Is neat but disheveled through moving

Is easily distracted during visual tasks

Is easily distracted during auditory tasks

Needs constant movement

Remembers action rather than sights/sounds

The Kinesthetic Learner should

Find practical application for information

Do projects/experiments

Write or illustrate information

Move finger or paper down page while reading

Do a physical activity such as jumping rope or bouncing a ball while memorizing facts

Use 3 x 5 cards with Q & A to flip

Act out material

Take notes in lectures

Visual, Kinesthetic, and Auditory information from:

Parker, Leonard W.  (2005, October). Parker’s Learning Modalities [Electronic Form]. Retrieved October 21, 2007, from Liberty University Blackboard.

The Visual-Spatial Learner

Thinks in pictures rather than in words

Learns better visually than auditorily

Learns all-at-once, when the light bulb goes on

Does not learn from repetition & drill

Needs to see the big picture before details

Is non-sequential (does not learn step-by-step in which most teachers teach)

Knows things without being able to explain how or why

Solves problems in unusual ways

Has a vivid imagination

Remembers what he sees, forgets what he hears

Is terrible at spelling

Can visualize objects from different perspectives

Is organizationally impaired

Often loses track of time

Has illegible handwriting

Can feel what others are feeling

Tends to be musically, artistically, or mechanically inclined

Hates speaking in front of a group

From: http://www.visualspatial.org/

traffic jam alert

merging alert

source

source (japanese)

The selection of one of two concurrent speech messages for comprehension was investigated in healthy young adults in two event-related potential experiments. The stories were presented from virtual locations located 30 degrees to the left and right azimuth by convolving the speech message by the appropriate head-related transfer function determined for each individual participant. In addition, task irrelevant probe stimuli were presented in rapid sequence from the same virtual locations. In experiment 1, phoneme probes (/da/ voiced by the same talkers as attended and unattended messages) and band-pass filtered noise probes were presented. Phoneme probes coinciding with the attended message gave rise to a fronto-central negativity similar to the Nd-attention effect relative to the phoneme probes coinciding with the unattended speech message, whereas noise probes from the attended message’s location showed a more positive frontal ERP response compared to probes from the unattended location resembling the so-called rejection positivity. In experiment 2, phoneme probes (as in exp. 1) and frequency-shifted (+400 Hz) were compared. The latter were characterized by a succession of negative and positive components that were modulated by location. The results suggest that at least two different neural mechanisms contribute to stream segregation in a cocktail-party setting: enhanced neural processing of stimuli matching the attended message closely (indexed by the Nd-effect) and rejection of stimuli that do not match the attended message at the attended location only (indexed by the rejection positivity).

from Brain Research

Creating rapport with another person increases understanding and that sense of connection. In this writing I will be talking about ways to gain rapport with another person. Before we discuss how to gain rapport with another person you should understand about representational systems.

In the post “Going through the world” I had touched on the subject of the map and model of the world. We use our five senses to make the map and model of the world around us.

We use predicates of those senses to describe our world as we experience things. As an example here is a short list of predicates one might be using:

VISUAL

• See
• Picture
• Look
• Notice
• Imagine
• Appear

AUDITORY

• Tell
• Ring
• Loud
• Mention
• Interview
• Discuss

KINESTHETIC (feel/do)

• Grasp
• Feel
• Hold
• Hunch
• Flow
• Softly

OLFACTORY (smell)

• Aroma
• Essence
• Musty
• Sweet
• Dank

GUSTATORY (taste)

• Bitter
• Flat
• Spicy
• Tangy

UNSPECIFIED

• Advise
• Decide
• Know
• Think
• Understand

Phrases you might become aware of as you listen to people talk are as follows:

VISUAL

• Bird’s eye view.
• Beyond a shadow of …
• In light of …
• Showing off

AUDITORY

• Afterthought
• Outspoken
• Tongue-tied
• To tell the truth
• Tuned in/tuned out

KINESTHETIC (feel)

• All washed up
• Come to grips with
• Not following you
• Slipped my mind
• Boils down to

Understand these two list are not a complete list of predicates and phrases. But as you listen to yourself and others around you speak, you can become in tune with the predicates and really get a grasp on how what is said relates to how you can see clearly what is being said.

Now, with this understanding one other piece of human behavior is helpful in knowing about. Did you know how we breathe is an indication of the representational system we are using at that moment in time?

Generally, when a person is using or is in a kinesthetic mode they will be breathing from below the mid-line of the body and their speech will be slow and thought out. When people are in auditory mode breathing occurs more mid-line and speech patterns are more like a song or has a rhythm to it. While in a visual mode people tend to talk really fast and are breathing from higher in the chest. This is an important distinction you should make in noticing both from where you or another is breathing and what choice of words are being used.

On to the good stuff now that you understand about representational systems and phrases.

The first way to gain rapport with another person (this includes you) is to use the words they use. You have a partial list of predicates just begin to use the same predicates people use and it is like you are talking their language. So in other words match the words they use to gain rapport.

If a person is using visual predicates and you use auditory predicates as you communicate there is a disconnect and less of a feeling of understanding.

There are other kinds of things one can match to gain rapport with another person. Matching is the process of adjusting some aspect of your external behavior to approximate those of another persons behavior. For example, when the other person tilts his/her head to their left, you adjust the tilt of your head in a similar fashion to match his/her particular movement.

Ways to match others are as follows:

WHOLE BODY MATCHING

Adjust your body to approximate the other person’s postural shifts.

BODY PART MATCHING

Pace any consistent or stylistic use of body movements; i.e. eye blinks, breathing.

HALF BODY MATCHING

Match the upper or lower portion of another persons body.

HEAD/SHOULDERS ANGLE PATTERNS … PREDICATES

Match characteristic poses that another person offers with his/her head, shoulders and predicates.

INDIRECT MATCHING (Cross-Over Mirroring)

Using one aspect of your behavior to match a different aspect of another person’s behavior; i.e. adjusting the tempo of voice to match the other person’s rate of breathing/ pacing the other person’s eye blinks with your finger or head nods.

With this not being a complete list of all the ways you can match a person I’d like to mention one last method of gaining rapport with others. The last method is to literally assume rapport. If you want to gain rapport with someone you don’t know if you begin to talk to them as if you knew them all your life there is an unconscious communication that takes place between you and the other person. One of the most effective ways I do it is before you begin to talk with another person just remember someone you already have a relationship with and go into the tone of voice you would use with them and the facial expressions and all the other unconscious behavior will fill in. It is helpful to really go into the state of actually knowing this new person as if you knew them your whole life. See what you would see, hear what you would hear, and feel as you would feel.

Now as you “Go through the world” isn’t it interesting how easily you can make the kinds of connections you want with others and yourself, wasn’t it?

James

Auditory-related

Wired for Speech by Clifford Nass and Scott Brave

Auditory Interfaces: The Use of Non-speech Audio at the Interface (unfinished book) by Buxton, Graver, Bly

Visual-related

The human factors of transport signs, by Cándida Castro, Tim Horberry

Human Factors-related

An Introduction to Human Factors Engineering, 2nd ed, by Wickens, Lee, Liu, Becker

Engineering Psychology and Human Performance, 3rd ed, by Wickens, Hollands

Driver Distraction: Theory, Effects, and Mitigation, by Regan, Lee, Young

Designing and Engineering Time: The Psychology of Time Perception in Software by Steven C. Seow Ph.D.

http://www.thefuntheory.com

Just a great example of persuasive technology! Now.. thinking of applying it while driving..

When I bring home iced doughnuts from shopping there is  a feeding frenzy in my household. I noticed though that Twinling1 loves to savour the icing, taking time to eat slowly; Twinling2 loves to inhale the icing, and licks it off quickly then tries to take the icing off Twinling1’s doughnut because he eats so slow. Mister4 eats it all together in one big hit and then complains that he can’t have another.

Watching them interact  made me think of how we as writers get our words down on paper.

Some writers start off with dialogue, others use description, still others use a combination of character dialogue mixed with descriptive narrative.

What type of writer are you? Do you hear the conversation and write it down?

Do you see the action and get that down on paper then go back and work out what they’re saying?

Or are you a combination of seeing it, hearing it and being part of the action?

A theory of behavioural management states that there are three types of learners, I’d like to change that to writers. Three types of writers. Visual; Auditory; and Kinesthetic.

Visual writers see the action happening, they describe in great detail what the scenery looks like, describes the characters appearance and so forth.

Auditory writers start with dialogue, what the characters are saying. They concentrate on sounds and then go back and put in details like scenery, hair colour etc.

Kinesthetic writers go for action, what the characters are doing, how they’re running away from something or someone (if that’s what the story calls for). They do include dialogue and a little bit of scenery, but they’re concentrating on the action.

If you know how you write then you can see the weaknesses you have and work on them. I need more work on description and depth of character, so I’m reading up on ways to improve this. If dialogue is your weakness there are many great websites/blogs/books which address how you might strengthen this part of your writing.

I think I’m a mixture, I get dialogue down quickly, but I also look at the movement of the scene, so I guess I’m  leaning  more towards Kinesthetic writer. I like to be part of the action, and get it all down. But I do have to go back and put in all the descriptive stuff.

So tell us, what type of writer are you?

First off, when you’re thinking, do you hear your thoughts with your ears? What if Jesus were a woman? What defines how cute two people are together? Have a pair of twins ever married another pair of twins?

Definitive or postoperative radiation therapy (RT) is commonly used for the management of intracranial and extracranial head and neck tumors. Because of the variability of tumor location and dimensions, sparing of nontarget normal tissue and organs may not be possible. Treatment modalities that deliver the highest doses of radiation to the auditory system include stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (FSRT) for the treatment of vestibular schwannomas (VS), and fractionated radiotherapy (FRT) or intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for the treatment of head and neck malignancies. Radiation therapy for VS is unique because of its involvement of the inner ear and preexisting auditory and vestibular dysfunction. Auditory and vestibular dysfunction following RT for VS may be limited by limiting the total dose of cranial nerve VIII irradiation and by fractionation.

from Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America

Visual predicates are one thing – but auditory predicates are another – and how do you know if someone is accessing auditorily even if they aren’t speaking? Sound like magic?

Being able to communicate to another’s rep system they are using in that moment is very advantageous – especially when landing the next contract or piece of work, or efficiently getting your point of view across, or well – you know like me you can always see what you hear when you know when you want that certain someone or something too – like magic?

As we know, people are not always visual, auditory, kinesthetic or auditory digital – but cycle through depending on context, environment etc. As NLP practitioners, refining your sensory acuity to do this with ease takes practice.

As for our Dan Carter’s kicking efforts against the Wallabies last Saturday – I was 100 % accurate in seeing where the ball was going to go before he kicked it again! My other half -who is quite hard to impress, now thinks its magic too. Well done to the All Blacks on the win. Thanks to the tv director, we got the close up of Dan’s face and shoulders as he was lining up the posts before he moved to take the kick. Its so awesome what you can do with Master Prac level. I’ll teach you how to do it at the next Master Prac study in Wellington.

We’re seeing more and more sports people using NLP coaches to help refine their performance on and off the field of play. Multi sports professional Steve Gurney has been using NLP for some time now, and some gyms are using NLP techniques in their training practices.

But for this week – see what you hear, notice what you notice, and let me know if you bounce off the crossbars.

One of the most popular models of learning styles is the VAK model which stands for Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic.  It is important for Internet entrepreneurs to be aware of their learning styles as this would help them tailor their training and development accordingly.  Let’s look at each in turn:

• Visual – an individual learns best by sight, e.g. watching demos, videos and pictures;  and reading books and articles
• Auditory – an individual learns best by sound, e.g. listening to audio tapes and conference calls and participating in conference calls
• Kinesthetic – an individual learns best by physical activities, e.g. touching, feeling, rehearsing scripts

It is important to note at this point that an individual may have a strong preference for one learning style or a combination of learning styles.  Increasingly, online marketing businesses offer various training options to assist their entrepreneurs, e.g. conference calls, articles, webinars and videos.  By knowing her preferred learning style, an entrepreneur could then decide which training methods to prioritise.  She does not need to do all training as it would be a waste of time.

Here’s a simple method to determine your learning style.  Below is a list of questions with three possible answers to each question.  Choose the answer which closely resembles you for each question.  All A answers are visual, B, auditory and C kinaesthetic.  At the end add up the scores.  The highest score is your preferred learning style.  If the scores are similar or the same it indicates that you have a near perfect mix of learning styles and you may wish to use all training methods.  If you have one clear winner that’s your preferred learning style and so on. 

My favourite way of teaching someone something new is to:

1. Write them a step by step guide
2. Teach them orally
3. Show them how it’s done

My best way of learning a new skill is by:

1. Watching a demonstration
2. Seeking clarification of what I am required to do
3. Practising or rehearsing the skill until it is perfect

The easiest way I can remember something is by:

1. Making notes
2. Reciting
3. Practising or rehearsing

My favourite revision technique is:

1. Making revision notes
2. Recording my notes and playing them over and over
3. Doing mock exams

 My favourite pastimes include:

1. Watching television
2. Talking on the phone
3. Cleaning the house or playing sports

I concentrate best by:

1. Focusing on objects
2. Talking through issues
3. Pacing up and down

This is just a simple technique.  There are more advanced techniques.  One example, is to rate each answer by order of preference instead of just picking the favourite one.  Either way, it is important for the entrepreneur to identify his learning style as this will ensure he picks the right training methods to drive his business forward.