Although the theoretical importance of perspective taking has long been recognized, surprisingly little work has documented the cognitions associated with attempts to imagine another's point of view. To explore this issue and to determine whether perspective taking increases the likelihood of self-related thoughts, two experiments were carried out. In the first, a thought-listing procedure was used to assess observer cognitions; in the second, a less reactive measure was used. Instructions to imagine the self in the target's position and instructions simply to imagine the target's perspective produced increased levels of self-related cognition relative to a traditional control condition; the imagine-self condition also produced more self-thoughts and fewer target thoughts than did the imagine-target condition. The control condition produced thoughts suggesting that the observers were distancing themselves from the target. Observers receiving no instructions at all reported cognitions that closely resembled those of observers who received imagine-target instructions.

Participants took part in two speech tests. In both tests, a model speaker produced vowel-consonant-vowels (VCVs) in which the initial vowel varied unpredictably in duration. In the simple response task, participants shadowed the initial vowel; when the model shifted to production of any of three CVs (/pa/, /ta/ or /ka/), participants produced a CV that they were assigned to say (one of /pa/, /ta/ or /ka/). In the choice task, participants shadowed the initial vowel; when the model shifted to a CV, participants shadowed that too. We found that, measured from the model's onset of closure for the consonant to the participant's closure onset, response times in the choice task exceeded those in the simple task by just 26 ms. This is much shorter than the canonical difference between simple and choice latencies [100-150 ms according to Luce (1986)] and is near the fastest simple times that Luce reports. The findings imply rapid access to articulatory speech information in the choice task. A second experiment found much longer choice times when the perception-production link for speech could not be exploited. A third experiment and an acoustic analysis verified that our measurement from closure in Experiment 1 provided a valid marker of speakers' onsets of consonant production. A final experiment showed that shadowing responses are imitations of the model's speech. We interpret the findings as evidence that listeners rapidly extract information about speakers' articulatory gestures.

Limitations of particular tests, the advantages of larger test batteries to more broadly examine multiple auditory processes, the degree to which the present results can be generalized clinically to populations without known brain lesions, and other clinical considerations are discussed.

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Auditory training (AT) is an important component of rehabilitation for patients with central auditory processing disorder (CAPD). The present article identifies and describes aspects of AT as they relate to applications in this population. A description of the types of auditory processes along with information on relevant AT protocols that can be used to address these specific deficits is included. Characteristics and principles of effective AT procedures also are detailed in light of research that reflects on their value. Finally, research investigating AT in populations who show CAPD or present with auditory complaints is reported. Although efficacy data in this area are still emerging, current findings support the use of AT for treatment of auditory difficulties.