Decrease of pitch perception ambiguity in tone language processing

2013 ◽  
Vol 133 (5) ◽  
pp. 3573-3573
Author(s):  
Xiao Perdereau
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Pitch Perception ◽  
Tone Language

scholarly journals Simultaneous bilinguals who do not speak a tone language show enhancement in pitch sensitivity but not in executive function

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liquan Liu ◽  
Ao Chen ◽  
René Kager
Keyword(s):  
Executive Function ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Music Perception ◽  
Pitch Perception ◽  
First Year ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Enhanced Sensitivity ◽  
Musical Pitch ◽  
Tone Discrimination

Abstract Previous studies have reported perceptual advantages, such as when discriminating non-native linguistic or musical pitch differences, among first-year infants growing up in bilingual over monolingual environments. It is unclear whether such effects should be attributed to bilinguals’ enhanced perceptual sensitivity and/or cognitive abilities, and whether such effects would extend to adulthood. Twenty-four Dutch, 24 Dutch simultaneous bilingual (DSB), and 24 Chinese Mandarin speakers were examined by three sets of tasks assessing their linguistic pitch and music perception, executive function, as well as interactions across these modalities. Results showed degrees of advantages for DSB and Chinese participants’ over their Dutch peers in lexical tone discrimination and pitch-related music tasks. In tasks related to executive function, no difference was observed between DSB and Dutch participants, while Chinese participants’ performances were modulated by cognitive interference of language processing. Findings suggest that listeners’ enhanced sensitivity to linguistic and musical pitch may stem from acoustic (DSB) and experience (Chinese) rather than cognitive factors. Moreover, Dutch participants showed robust correlations between their linguistic and musical pitch perception, followed by limited correlations in DSB, and virtually no correlation among Chinese participants, illustrating how distinct language experiences can lead to specific pitch perception patterns between language and music.

scholarly journals Speaking a tone language enhances musical pitch perception in 3-5-year-olds

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. e12503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah C. Creel ◽  
Mengxing Weng ◽  
Genyue Fu ◽  
Gail D. Heyman ◽  
Kang Lee
Keyword(s):  
Pitch Perception ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Musical Pitch

scholarly journals Pitch Perception in Tone Language-Speaking Adults With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorders

i-Perception ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 204166951771120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stella T. T. Cheng ◽  
Gary Y. H. Lam ◽  
Carol K. S. To
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Pitch Perception ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Discrimination Ability ◽  
Speech Stimuli ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Adults With Asd

Enhanced low-level pitch perception has been universally reported in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study examined whether tone language speakers with ASD exhibit this advantage. The pitch perception skill of 20 Cantonese-speaking adults with ASD was compared with that of 20 neurotypical individuals. Participants discriminated pairs of real syllable, pseudo-syllable (syllables that do not conform the phonotactic rules or are accidental gaps), and non-speech (syllables with attenuated high-frequency segmental content) stimuli contrasting pitch levels. The results revealed significantly higher discrimination ability in both groups for the non-speech stimuli than for the pseudo-syllables with one semitone difference. No significant group differences were noted. Different from previous findings, post hoc analysis found that enhanced pitch perception was observed in a subgroup of participants with ASD showing no history of delayed speech onset. The tone language experience may have modulated the pitch processing mechanism in the speakers in both ASD and non-ASD groups.

scholarly journals The effects of ethnicity, musicianship, and tone language experience on pitch perception

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (12) ◽  
pp. 2627-2642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Zheng ◽  
Arthur G Samuel
Keyword(s):  
Asian American ◽  
Chinese Americans ◽  
Pitch Perception ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Transfer Effects ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Alternative Hypotheses

Language and music are intertwined: music training can facilitate language abilities, and language experiences can also help with some music tasks. Possible language–music transfer effects are explored in two experiments in this study. In Experiment 1, we tested native Mandarin, Korean, and English speakers on a pitch discrimination task with two types of sounds: speech sounds and fundamental frequency (F0) patterns derived from speech sounds. To control for factors that might influence participants’ performance, we included cognitive ability tasks testing memory and intelligence. In addition, two music skill tasks were used to examine general transfer effects from language to music. Prior studies showing that tone language speakers have an advantage on pitch tasks have been taken as support for three alternative hypotheses: specific transfer effects, general transfer effects, and an ethnicity effect. In Experiment 1, musicians outperformed non-musicians on both speech and F0 sounds, suggesting a music-to-language transfer effect. Korean and Mandarin speakers performed similarly, and they both outperformed English speakers, providing some evidence for an ethnicity effect. Alternatively, this could be due to population selection bias. In Experiment 2, we recruited Chinese Americans approximating the native English speakers’ language background to further test the ethnicity effect. Chinese Americans, regardless of their tone language experiences, performed similarly to their non–Asian American counterparts in all tasks. Therefore, although this study provides additional evidence of transfer effects across music and language, it casts doubt on the contribution of ethnicity to differences observed in pitch perception and general music abilities.

Language processing is not a race against time

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giosuè Baggio ◽  
Carmelo M. Vicario
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Language System ◽  
Moderating Factors

AbstractWe agree with Christiansen & Chater (C&C) that language processing and acquisition are tightly constrained by the limits of sensory and memory systems. However, the human brain supports a range of cognitive functions that mitigate the effects of information processing bottlenecks. The language system is partly organised around these moderating factors, not just around restrictions on storage and computation.

Cognitive Processing of Miscommunication in Interactive Listening: An Evaluation of Listener Indecision and Cognitive Effort

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Jennifer M. Roche ◽  
Arkady Zgonnikov ◽  
Laura M. Morett
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Mouse Tracking ◽  
Computer Mouse ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Computer Mouse Tracking ◽  
Listening Task ◽  
Processing Effort

Purpose The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the social and cognitive underpinnings of miscommunication during an interactive listening task. Method An eye and computer mouse–tracking visual-world paradigm was used to investigate how a listener's cognitive effort (local and global) and decision-making processes were affected by a speaker's use of ambiguity that led to a miscommunication. Results Experiments 1 and 2 found that an environmental cue that made a miscommunication more or less salient impacted listener language processing effort (eye-tracking). Experiment 2 also indicated that listeners may develop different processing heuristics dependent upon the speaker's use of ambiguity that led to a miscommunication, exerting a significant impact on cognition and decision making. We also found that perspective-taking effort and decision-making complexity metrics (computer mouse tracking) predict language processing effort, indicating that instances of miscommunication produced cognitive consequences of indecision, thinking, and cognitive pull. Conclusion Together, these results indicate that listeners behave both reciprocally and adaptively when miscommunications occur, but the way they respond is largely dependent upon the type of ambiguity and how often it is produced by the speaker.

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