Modeling attention to music

In this project, I use a combination of computational modeling, psychophysics, eye-tracking, and electroencephalography (EEG) to measure and predict dynamic attention to auditory stimuli. Specifically, I aim to 1) assess the potential of a stimulus-driven linear oscillator model to predict attention to complex musical stimuli and 2) determine the relationship between ocular and cortical responses to auditory rhythms and whether pupil dynamics can index auditory attention in a manner similar to EEG signatures.

Papers related to this project:

Fink, L., Hurley, B., Geng, J. & Janata, P. (2018). A linear oscillator model predicts dynamic temporal attention and pupillary sensorimotor synchronization to rhythmic musical patterns. Journal of Eye Movement Research, 11(2):12. DOI: 10.16910/jemr.11.2.12.

Hurley, B., Fink, L., & Janata, P. (2018). Mapping the dynamic allocation of attention in musical patterns. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance. Advance online publication. DOI: 10.1037/xhp0000563

Recent conference presentation about an extension of this project:

In this video I discuss the possibility of predicting listeners’ absorption into music from their pupils.

Groove Enhancement Machine (GEM)

This project involves a real-time adaptive music making device to enhance motor synchrony and subjective enjoyment between groups of people tapping together. Our paper about this project is published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. All code and hardware specifications required to build the device are publicly available.

Fink, L.K., Alexander, P.C., & Janata, P. (2022). The Groove Enhancement Machine (GEM): A multi-person adaptive metronome to manipulate sensorimotor synchronization and subjective enjoyment. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 16:916551. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.916551.

This short documentary, directed by Joerg Altekruse, highlights an early prototype of the project, as well as related work in the Janata Lab.

Below is a recent talk given at the Rhythm, Perception & Production Workshop (2021) which provides a preliminary overview of the project:

Mobile eye-tracking

I am currently using Pupil Labs’ mobile eye-tracking glasses in a variety of music/neuroscience projects.

For example, in a recent pilot study, we asked whether the eye movement patterns of pianists performing from memory are consistent across mutliple performances on different days. Basically, we wanted to know if eye movements become a (subconsciously) rehearsed and stable aspect of the full body memorized musical performance. You can listen to me talk about our prelimary results here!

Conference on Music and Eye-Tracking

In August 2017 and July 2022, Elke Lange and I organized the Conference on Music & Eye-Tracking, which was held at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt, Germany.

2017 Conference Program:

After the 2017 conference, we edited a Special Issue on Music and Eye-Tracking, published in the Journal of Eye Movement Research.

Fink, L., Lange, E. & Groner, R. (2019). The application of eye-tracking in music research. Journal of Eye Movement Research, 11(2):1. DOI: 10.16910/jemr.11.2.1.

2022 Conference Program:

Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC)

I served for three years as the lead Graduate Writing Fellow in the University of California Davis’s Writing Across the Curriculum program. In this role, I managed a team of six Graduate Writing Fellows and acted as a liason between graduate fellows and faculty. The WAC fellows hold one-on-one writing consultations with graduate students and postdocs from any discipline, offer writing retreats and workshops, as well as specialized programs such as the Graduate Certificate in Writing Theory and Practice and the Writing Partner Program. I developed the curriculum for the Graduate Certificate in Writing Theory and Practice, along with WAC peers Tori White and Julia Ribeiro. Our reflections and insights as a graduate writing consultant team have recently been published in Praxis:

Wittstock, S., Sperber, L., Kirk, G., McCarty, K., de Sola-Smith, K., Wade, J., Simon, M., Fink, L. (2022). Making what we know explicit: Perspectives from graduate writing consultants on supporting graduate writers. Praxis: A Writing Center Journal, 19(2). https://www.praxisuwc.com/192-wittstock-et-al.

I also conducted numerous research projects which were presented at the following conferences:

Mikovits, M., Sperber, L., Fink, L. & Prebel, J. (2019, March). Writing Fellows as Agents of Transfer: Training in Threshold Concepts to Support Campus-Wide Sites of Writing. Symposium presented at the College Composition and Communication Convention, Pittsburgh, PA.

Fink, L., Ribeiro, J., & White, V. (2018, March). Transforming graduate writing experiences: A new Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) certificate program. Symposium presented at the College Composition and Communication Convention, Kansas City, MO.

Bright, A., Singleton, J., Fink, L., & Rodger, K. (2017, March). Cultivating a Rhetorical Consciousness: Supporting Graduate Student Writers Across the Curriculum. Symposium presented at the College Composition and Communication Convention, Portland, OR.

Fink, L. & Rodger, K. (2016, June). Mapping neuroscience through professional writing. Talk presented at the International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference, Ann Arbor, MI.