Do speakers of different languages hear music differently? Scientists investigate the effect of “native listening” on non-linguistic sounds February 24, 2016 For a while now, neuroscientists have been wondering whether the distortions in the way we perceive foreign languages related to our knowledge of our mother tongue also characterize how we perceive non-linguistic sounds (e.g., music). A new SISSA study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, shows that, despite many clues
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Dospeakersofdifferentlanguageshearmusicdifferently?
Scientistsinvestigatetheeffectof“nativelistening”onnon-linguisticsoundsFebruary24,2016Forawhilenow,neuroscientistshavebeenwonderingwhetherthedistortionsinthewayweperceiveforeignlanguagesrelatedtoourknowledgeofourmothertonguealsocharacterizehowweperceivenon-linguisticsounds(e.g.,music).AnewSISSAstudy,publishedintheJournalofExperimentalPsychology:Learning,MemoryandCognition,showsthat,despitemanyclues
seeminglypointinginthatdirection,speakersoflanguageswithadifferentrhythmdonotdifferintheirperceptionofnon-linguisticsoundsequences.
Knowledgeofourmothertongueactsasasortofauditory“template”thatinfluencesthewayweperceivethesoundsofotherlanguages(scientistscallthis“nativelistening”).Severalclues,likethefactthatmanyofthecorticalauditoryregionsresponsibleforlinguisticandmusicalprocessingarethesameandtheexistenceofauditoryillusionsdependentonthemothertongueordialect,haveledinvestigatorstohypothesizethatnativelisteningtransfersalsotonon-linguisticsoundstimulisuchasmusic.Toinvestigatethishypothesis,AlanLangus,researchfellowattheInternationalSchoolforAdvancedStudies(SISSA)ofTrieste,MarinaNespor,SISSAprofessor,andothercolleaguesusedthe“iambic–trochaiclaw”,demonstratingthatthereisnotransfertothenon-linguisticdomainandthatthedistortioneffectsarelimitedtolinguisticsounds.Thewaywegroupnoteswithincontinuoussoundsequencesisdeterminedbytheiambic-trochaiclaw(ITL),wherebywetendtopairsoundsofvaryingintensityorpitchintotrocheesandthoseofdifferentdurationintoiambs.Aniambisformedbytwoelementsinwhichthestrongerelementfollowstheweakerone,andatrocheeisexactlytheopposite.Inotherwords,whenwelisten,forexample,toaflowoftonesthatalternatecontinuously–onestrong(S)andoneweak(W),ifwesegmenttheflowintrocheeswehearthesequencesasSW-SW-SW-SW…,butifwedivideitintoiambswehearthesequencewillbeWS-WS-WS-WS…AccordingtotheITL,whensoundsvaryineithervolumeorpitchwetendtopreferthetrochaicpattern,butwhentheyvaryindurationwepreferiambs.Eventhephrasalrhythmofalanguagefollowseitheriambicortrochaicpreferences,andeachlanguagehasitscharacteristicrhythm:somepreferaiambicpattern(e.g.Italian)othersatrochaicone(e.g.TurkishorPersian).Inaseriesofexperiments,Langus,Nesporandcolleaguestestedwhetherthepreferredrhythmofthesubjects’mothertonguesalsotransferredtonon-linguisticsounds(musicaltones),oreventovisualstimuli.“Inpreviousexperiments,wefoundthatiambic-trochaicrhythmsalsoexistinthevisualdomain,andhopefullywewouldfindananalogybetweentheauditoryandvisualdomaingiventheexistenceofvisuallanguages,suchassignlanguagesforthedeaf,”explainsNespor.However,theexperiments,conductedonnativespeakersofItalian,PersianorTurkish,providednegativeresults.Itistrue(“aswereplicatedinourstudy”explainsLangus)thattherhythmofspokenlanguageinfluencedtheperceptionofthesoundsofotherlanguages.“However,we
foundnotransferoftheeffecttotheotherdomainsofnon-linguisticauditoryandvisualstimuli”concludestheresearchscientist.USEFULLINKS:
• Articolooriginale:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26820498
IMAGES:
• Credit:GV(Flickr:https://goo.gl/y18CdF)
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Pressoffice:[email protected]:(+39)0403787644|(+39)366-3677586viaBonomea,26534136TriesteMoreinformationaboutSISSA:www.sissa.it
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