Audiovisual Interval Size Estimation Is Associated with Early Musical Training.

Although pitch is a fundamental attribute of auditory perception, substantial individual differences exist in our ability to perceive differences in pitch. Little is known about how these individual differences in the auditory modality might affect crossmodal processes such as audiovisual perception...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mary Kathryn Abel, H Charles Li, Frank A Russo, Gottfried Schlaug, Psyche Loui
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2016-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5070837?pdf=render
_version_ 1819238400219152384
author Mary Kathryn Abel
H Charles Li
Frank A Russo
Gottfried Schlaug
Psyche Loui
author_facet Mary Kathryn Abel
H Charles Li
Frank A Russo
Gottfried Schlaug
Psyche Loui
author_sort Mary Kathryn Abel
collection DOAJ
description Although pitch is a fundamental attribute of auditory perception, substantial individual differences exist in our ability to perceive differences in pitch. Little is known about how these individual differences in the auditory modality might affect crossmodal processes such as audiovisual perception. In this study, we asked whether individual differences in pitch perception might affect audiovisual perception, as it relates to age of onset and number of years of musical training. Fifty-seven subjects made subjective ratings of interval size when given point-light displays of audio, visual, and audiovisual stimuli of sung intervals. Audiovisual stimuli were divided into congruent and incongruent (audiovisual-mismatched) stimuli. Participants' ratings correlated strongly with interval size in audio-only, visual-only, and audiovisual-congruent conditions. In the audiovisual-incongruent condition, ratings correlated more with audio than with visual stimuli, particularly for subjects who had better pitch perception abilities and higher nonverbal IQ scores. To further investigate the effects of age of onset and length of musical training, subjects were divided into musically trained and untrained groups. Results showed that among subjects with musical training, the degree to which participants' ratings correlated with auditory interval size during incongruent audiovisual perception was correlated with both nonverbal IQ and age of onset of musical training. After partialing out nonverbal IQ, pitch discrimination thresholds were no longer associated with incongruent audio scores, whereas age of onset of musical training remained associated with incongruent audio scores. These findings invite future research on the developmental effects of musical training, particularly those relating to the process of audiovisual perception.
first_indexed 2024-12-23T13:35:37Z
format Article
id doaj.art-08823f9c641a4b2ca2b553d3bb25cb71
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1932-6203
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-23T13:35:37Z
publishDate 2016-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj.art-08823f9c641a4b2ca2b553d3bb25cb712022-12-21T17:45:01ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032016-01-011110e016358910.1371/journal.pone.0163589Audiovisual Interval Size Estimation Is Associated with Early Musical Training.Mary Kathryn AbelH Charles LiFrank A RussoGottfried SchlaugPsyche LouiAlthough pitch is a fundamental attribute of auditory perception, substantial individual differences exist in our ability to perceive differences in pitch. Little is known about how these individual differences in the auditory modality might affect crossmodal processes such as audiovisual perception. In this study, we asked whether individual differences in pitch perception might affect audiovisual perception, as it relates to age of onset and number of years of musical training. Fifty-seven subjects made subjective ratings of interval size when given point-light displays of audio, visual, and audiovisual stimuli of sung intervals. Audiovisual stimuli were divided into congruent and incongruent (audiovisual-mismatched) stimuli. Participants' ratings correlated strongly with interval size in audio-only, visual-only, and audiovisual-congruent conditions. In the audiovisual-incongruent condition, ratings correlated more with audio than with visual stimuli, particularly for subjects who had better pitch perception abilities and higher nonverbal IQ scores. To further investigate the effects of age of onset and length of musical training, subjects were divided into musically trained and untrained groups. Results showed that among subjects with musical training, the degree to which participants' ratings correlated with auditory interval size during incongruent audiovisual perception was correlated with both nonverbal IQ and age of onset of musical training. After partialing out nonverbal IQ, pitch discrimination thresholds were no longer associated with incongruent audio scores, whereas age of onset of musical training remained associated with incongruent audio scores. These findings invite future research on the developmental effects of musical training, particularly those relating to the process of audiovisual perception.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5070837?pdf=render
spellingShingle Mary Kathryn Abel
H Charles Li
Frank A Russo
Gottfried Schlaug
Psyche Loui
Audiovisual Interval Size Estimation Is Associated with Early Musical Training.
PLoS ONE
title Audiovisual Interval Size Estimation Is Associated with Early Musical Training.
title_full Audiovisual Interval Size Estimation Is Associated with Early Musical Training.
title_fullStr Audiovisual Interval Size Estimation Is Associated with Early Musical Training.
title_full_unstemmed Audiovisual Interval Size Estimation Is Associated with Early Musical Training.
title_short Audiovisual Interval Size Estimation Is Associated with Early Musical Training.
title_sort audiovisual interval size estimation is associated with early musical training
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5070837?pdf=render
work_keys_str_mv AT marykathrynabel audiovisualintervalsizeestimationisassociatedwithearlymusicaltraining
AT hcharlesli audiovisualintervalsizeestimationisassociatedwithearlymusicaltraining
AT frankarusso audiovisualintervalsizeestimationisassociatedwithearlymusicaltraining
AT gottfriedschlaug audiovisualintervalsizeestimationisassociatedwithearlymusicaltraining
AT psycheloui audiovisualintervalsizeestimationisassociatedwithearlymusicaltraining