Native experience with a tone language enhances pitch discrimination and the timing of neural responses to pitch change
Native tone language experience has been linked with alterations in the production and perception of pitch in language, as well as with the brain response to linguistic and non-linguistic tones. Here we use two experiments to address whether these changes apply to the discrimination of simple pitch...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2011-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00146/full |
| _version_ | 1819141022437867520 |
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| author | Ryan J Giuliano Peter Q Pfordresher Emily M Stanley Shalini eNarayana Nicole Y. Y. Wicha Nicole Y. Y. Wicha |
| author_facet | Ryan J Giuliano Peter Q Pfordresher Emily M Stanley Shalini eNarayana Nicole Y. Y. Wicha Nicole Y. Y. Wicha |
| author_sort | Ryan J Giuliano |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Native tone language experience has been linked with alterations in the production and perception of pitch in language, as well as with the brain response to linguistic and non-linguistic tones. Here we use two experiments to address whether these changes apply to the discrimination of simple pitch changes and pitch intervals. ERPs were recorded from native Mandarin speakers and a control group during a same/different task with pairs of pure tones differing only in pitch height, and with pure tone pairs differing only in interval distance. Behaviorally, Mandarin speakers were more accurate than controls at detecting both pitch and interval changes, showing a sensitivity to small pitch changes and interval distances that was absent in the control group. Converging evidence from ERPs obtained during the same tasks revealed an earlier response to change relative to no-change trials in Mandarin speakers, as well as earlier differentiation of trials by change direction relative to controls. These findings illustrate the cross-domain influence of language experience on the perception of pitch, suggesting that the native use of tonal pitch contours in language leads to a general enhancement in the acuity of pitch representations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T11:47:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e25cd3d6721f4debb67e33451afe713e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T11:47:51Z |
| publishDate | 2011-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-e25cd3d6721f4debb67e33451afe713e2022-12-21T18:27:06ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782011-08-01210.3389/fpsyg.2011.0014610060Native experience with a tone language enhances pitch discrimination and the timing of neural responses to pitch changeRyan J Giuliano0Peter Q Pfordresher1Emily M Stanley2Shalini eNarayana3Nicole Y. Y. Wicha4Nicole Y. Y. Wicha5University of OregonUniversity at Buffalo, State University of New YorkUniversity of DelawareUniversity of Texas Health Science Center at San AntonioUniversity of Texas at San AntonioUniversity of Texas Health Science Center at San AntonioNative tone language experience has been linked with alterations in the production and perception of pitch in language, as well as with the brain response to linguistic and non-linguistic tones. Here we use two experiments to address whether these changes apply to the discrimination of simple pitch changes and pitch intervals. ERPs were recorded from native Mandarin speakers and a control group during a same/different task with pairs of pure tones differing only in pitch height, and with pure tone pairs differing only in interval distance. Behaviorally, Mandarin speakers were more accurate than controls at detecting both pitch and interval changes, showing a sensitivity to small pitch changes and interval distances that was absent in the control group. Converging evidence from ERPs obtained during the same tasks revealed an earlier response to change relative to no-change trials in Mandarin speakers, as well as earlier differentiation of trials by change direction relative to controls. These findings illustrate the cross-domain influence of language experience on the perception of pitch, suggesting that the native use of tonal pitch contours in language leads to a general enhancement in the acuity of pitch representations.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00146/fullAuditory PerceptionPitch Discriminationneural plasticityauditory cognitive neuroscienceEvent Related PotentialsMandarin Chinese |
| spellingShingle | Ryan J Giuliano Peter Q Pfordresher Emily M Stanley Shalini eNarayana Nicole Y. Y. Wicha Nicole Y. Y. Wicha Native experience with a tone language enhances pitch discrimination and the timing of neural responses to pitch change Frontiers in Psychology Auditory Perception Pitch Discrimination neural plasticity auditory cognitive neuroscience Event Related Potentials Mandarin Chinese |
| title | Native experience with a tone language enhances pitch discrimination and the timing of neural responses to pitch change |
| title_full | Native experience with a tone language enhances pitch discrimination and the timing of neural responses to pitch change |
| title_fullStr | Native experience with a tone language enhances pitch discrimination and the timing of neural responses to pitch change |
| title_full_unstemmed | Native experience with a tone language enhances pitch discrimination and the timing of neural responses to pitch change |
| title_short | Native experience with a tone language enhances pitch discrimination and the timing of neural responses to pitch change |
| title_sort | native experience with a tone language enhances pitch discrimination and the timing of neural responses to pitch change |
| topic | Auditory Perception Pitch Discrimination neural plasticity auditory cognitive neuroscience Event Related Potentials Mandarin Chinese |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00146/full |
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