Human response apparatus and method

A human response system for determining the hiatus rate of a neuromotor response of a human subject, comprising in combination:

• transducer means responsive to at least one type of neuromotor response of the subject who is subjected to sensory inputs to the right and left hemispheres of the brain;
• hiatus means connected to said transducer means to determine each successive occurrence of a hiatus between predetermined neuromotor responses of the subject with each hiatus defined as the absence of all monitored neuromotor responses for a predetermined time interval bounded by the predetermined neuromotor responses;
• rate means connected to said hiatus means to determine the average hiatus rate in a given segment of the predetermined neuromotor response of the subject;
• sorting means to sort the average hiatus rate into one of at least two levels of response;
• and
• means to indicate the average time duration of the individual hiatuses for each of the at least two rate levels.

Apparatus for determining human response patterns of a human subject, comprising in combination:

• transducer means responsive to at least one human response of the subject;
• hiatus means connected to the transducer means for determining each of successive hiatuses between human responses of the subject defined as the absence of all monitored human responses for a predetermined time interval bounded by responses of the predetermined human response;
• rate means connected to said hiatus means for determining the rates of the successive hiatuses;
• means to sort the hiatus rates into at least one of two levels;
• and
• output means connected to the sorting means and having an output to represent at least one level of hiatus rates, characterized in that the output means is responsive to both the average hiatus rate and the average time duration of the hiatuses of such level.

An information feedback voice monitoring system, comprising in combination:

• transducer means connected to be responsive to the voice of a subject and to the voice of another in a dialogue setting;
• a control circuit connected to said transducer means;
• means in said control circuit to determine the occurrence of each of successive hesitation pauses in the speech of the subject, each of which hesitation pauses is defined as a joint silence of one second or more bounded by the speech of such subject during a dialogue;
• means in said control circuit to determine the frequency of hesitation pauses in the speech of the subject during a dialogue with said another person;
• a sensory output having signal codes of satisfactory, caution and unsatisfactory associated with a numerical indication of the time duration of the pause;
• and
• a microprocessor connected to the output of said pause and frequency determining means and having an output to said sensory output to emphasize only one signal code of satisfactory, caution or unsatisfactory, depending on the number of pauses per minute being 0 to about 1.5, about 1.5 to 2, and more than 2, respectively, and to indicate the average time duration of those hesitation pauses which fall within the pause per minute range of 0 to about 1.5, about 1.5 to 2, and more than 2, respectively.

A voice monitoring system for determining the voice fluency of a human subject, comprising in combination;

• transducer means responsive to the voice of the subject and to the voice of another with whom the subject may have a dialogue or solely responsive to the voice of the subject engaged in a monologue;
• pause means connected to said transducer means to determine the occurrence of each of successive hesitation pauses in the voice of the subject with each hesitation pause defined as a pause of a time duration longer than in the order of one second of joint silence of both voices bounded by the voice of the subject;
• rate means connected to said pause means to determine the average rate of hesitation pauses in a given voice segment of the subject;
• sorting means to sort the hesitation pauses into at least two levels of fluency;
• and
• means to indicate the average time duration of the individual hesitation pauses for each of the two levels.

The method of determining hiatus frequency and duration of a human neuromotor response, comprising in combination:

• determining the occurrence of each of a plurality of hiatuses in the neuromotor response of a subject, each hiatus defined as a lapse in the continuity of the response;
• measuring the average hiatus rate in a given time segment of a response;
• sorting the hiatuses into at least two rate levels;
• and
• indicating to human sensors the hiatus rate level which was dominant relative to the others of the at least two rate levels and the average hiatus time duration of such level.

The method of determining a human subject's pause frequency and pause duration while having a dialogue, comprising in combination:

• measuring the length of each of one or more pauses in the speech of the subject bounded by speech of the subject and establishing each of such pauses as a hesitation pause when the length thereof exceeds about one second of time;
• determining the rate of hesitation pauses in the speech of said subject while having a dialogue;
• assigning a satisfactory code to those hesitation pauses in the speech of said subject which occur after more than about one minute of speech without a hesitation pause;
• assigning a caution code to the second hesitation pause which occurs during any one minute of the dialogue;
• activating a caution indicator indicating an average of about one to two hesitation pauses per minute;
• and
• determining and displaying the average time duration of the dominant one of the satisfactory and caution code pauses for said subject.