scholarly journals Song Is More Memorable Than Speech Prosody: Discrete Pitches Aid Auditory Working Memory

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Haiduk ◽  
Cliodhna Quigley ◽  
W. Tecumseh Fitch
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Vocal Music ◽  
Auditory Memory ◽  
Musical Experience ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Speech Prosody ◽  
Relative Pitch ◽  
Interesting Difference ◽  
Pitch Contours ◽  
Memory Advantage

Vocal music and spoken language both have important roles in human communication, but it is unclear why these two different modes of vocal communication exist. Although similar, speech and song differ in certain design features. One interesting difference is in the pitch intonation contour, which consists of discrete tones in song, vs. gliding intonation contours in speech. Here, we investigated whether vocal phrases consisting of discrete pitches (song-like) or gliding pitches (speech-like) are remembered better, conducting three studies implementing auditory same-different tasks at three levels of difficulty. We tested two hypotheses: that discrete pitch contours aid auditory memory, independent of musical experience (“song memory advantage hypothesis”), or that the higher everyday experience perceiving and producing speech make speech intonation easier to remember (“experience advantage hypothesis”). We used closely matched stimuli, controlling for rhythm and timbre, and we included a stimulus intermediate between song-like and speech-like pitch contours (with partially gliding and partially discrete pitches). We also assessed participants' musicality to evaluate experience-dependent effects. We found that song-like vocal phrases are remembered better than speech-like vocal phrases, and that intermediate vocal phrases evoked a similar advantage to song-like vocal phrases. Participants with more musical experience were better in remembering all three types of vocal phrases. The precise roles of absolute and relative pitch perception and the influence of top-down vs. bottom-up processing should be clarified in future studies. However, our results suggest that one potential reason for the emergence of discrete pitch–a feature that characterises music across cultures–might be that it enhances auditory memory.

Musical training improves memory for instrumental music, but not vocal music or words

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-159
Author(s):  
Jonathan M. P. Wilbiks ◽  
Sean Hutchins
Keyword(s):  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Vocal Music ◽  
Verbal Material ◽  
The Other ◽  
Musical Experience ◽  
Facilitative Effect ◽  
Musical Excerpts ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Brain

In previous research, there exists some debate about the effects of musical training on memory for verbal material. The current research examines this relationship, while also considering musical training effects on memory for musical excerpts. Twenty individuals with musical training were tested and their results were compared to 20 age-matched individuals with no musical experience. Musically trained individuals demonstrated a higher level of memory for classical musical excerpts, with no significant differences for popular musical excerpts or for words. These findings are in support of previous research showing that while music and words overlap in terms of their processing in the brain, there is not necessarily a facilitative effect between training in one domain and performance in the other.

Tunes and Tones: Music, Language, and Inhibitory Control

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 104-123
Author(s):  
Robert E. Graham ◽  
Usha Lakshmanan
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Pitch Contour ◽  
Musical Experience ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Cognitive Benefits ◽  
Pitch Contours ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Stroop Tasks

Abstract A debate is underway regarding the perceptual and cognitive benefits of bilingualism and musical experience. This study contributes to the debate by investigating auditory inhibitory control in English-speaking monolingual musicians, non-musicians, tone language bilinguals, and non-tone language bilinguals. We predicted that musicians and tone language bilinguals would demonstrate enhanced processing relative to monolinguals and other bilinguals. Groups of monolinguals (N = 22), monolingual musicians (N = 19), non-tone language bilinguals (N = 20) and tone language bilinguals (N = 18) were compared on auditory Stroop tasks to assess domain-transferable processing benefits (e.g. auditory inhibitory control) resulting from potentially shared underlying cognitive mechanisms (Patel, 2003; Bialystok & DePape, 2009). In one task, participants heard the words “high” and “low” presented in high or low pitches, and responded regarding the pitch of the stimuli as quickly as possible. In another task, participants heard the words “rise” or “fall” presented in rising or falling pitch contours, and responded regarding the contour of the stimuli as quickly as possible. Results suggest transferable auditory inhibitory control benefits for musicians across pitch and contour processing, but any possible enhanced processing for speakers of tone languages may be task-dependent, as lexical tone activation may interfere with pitch contour processing.

scholarly journals Nonhuman and Nonhuman-Human Communication: Some Issues and Questions

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene M. Pepperberg
Keyword(s):  
Communication Systems ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Simple Object ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Psittacus Erithacus ◽  
Simple Matter ◽  
Number Of Species

Deciphering nonhuman communication – particularly nonhuman vocal communication – has been a longstanding human quest. We are, for example, fascinated by the songs of birds and whales, the grunts of apes, the barks of dogs, and the croaks of frogs; we wonder about their potential meaning and their relationship to human language. Do these utterances express little more than emotional states, or do they convey actual bits and bytes of concrete information? Humans’ numerous attempts to decipher nonhuman systems have, however, progressed slowly. We still wonder why only a small number of species are capable of vocal learning, a trait that, because it allows for innovation and adaptation, would seem to be a prerequisite for most language-like abilities. Humans have also attempted to teach nonhumans elements of our system, using both vocal and nonvocal systems. The rationale for such training is that the extent of success in instilling symbolic reference provides some evidence for, at the very least, the cognitive underpinnings of parallels between human and nonhuman communication systems. However, separating acquisition of reference from simple object-label association is not a simple matter, as reference begins with such associations, and the point at which true reference emerges is not always obvious. I begin by discussing these points and questions, predominantly from the viewpoint of someone studying avian abilities. I end by examining the question posed by Premack: do nonhumans that have achieved some level of symbolic reference then process information differently from those that have not? I suggest the answer is likely “yes,” giving examples from my research on Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus).

scholarly journals Latar Belakang Pengalaman Musikal dan Kemampuan Dasar Vokalia Mahasiswa Baru Program Studi Sendratasik FBSS Universitas Negeri Padang

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jagar Lumbantoruan
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Music ◽  
Musical Experience ◽  
Music Lessons ◽  
Art Program ◽  
New Students ◽  
The Relationship

The aim of this paper is to get describe the relationship between the students’ background of musical experience and the basic competence of the new students’ vocal music at the art program (sendratasik) of FBSS UNP. It is hoped that this paper can contribute in term of enabling the students to match themselves with demand of vocal the music lessons Keywords: musical experience, ability, vocal

scholarly journals High-capacity auditory memory for vocal communication in a social songbird

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (46) ◽  
pp. eabe0440
Author(s):  
K. Yu ◽  
W. E. Wood ◽  
F. E. Theunissen
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Finch ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
High Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Auditory Memory ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Social Species ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Conditioning Experiments

Effective vocal communication often requires the listener to recognize the identity of a vocalizer, and this recognition is dependent on the listener’s ability to form auditory memories. We tested the memory capacity of a social songbird, the zebra finch, for vocalizer identities using conditioning experiments and found that male and female zebra finches can remember a large number of vocalizers (mean, 42) based solely on the individual signatures found in their songs and distance calls. These memories were formed within a few trials, were generalized to previously unheard renditions, and were maintained for up to a month. A fast and high-capacity auditory memory for vocalizer identity has not been demonstrated previously in any nonhuman animals and is an important component of vocal communication in social species.

scholarly journals Analysis of the interaction between elderly people and a simulated virtual coach

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 6125-6140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel Justo ◽  
Leila Ben Letaifa ◽  
Cristina Palmero ◽  
Eduardo Gonzalez-Fraile ◽  
Anna Torp Johansen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication ◽  
User Behavior ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Physical Aspect ◽  
System Behavior ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Wizard Of Oz ◽  
System A ◽  
Language Analysis ◽  
Simulated System

AbstractThe EMPATHIC project develops and validates new interaction paradigms for personalized virtual coaches (VC) to promote healthy and independent aging. To this end, the work presented in this paper is aimed to analyze the interaction between the EMPATHIC-VC and the users. One of the goals of the project is to ensure an end-user driven design, involving senior users from the beginning and during each phase of the project. Thus, the paper focuses on some sessions where the seniors carried out interactions with a Wizard of Oz driven, simulated system. A coaching strategy based on the GROW model was used throughout these sessions so as to guide interactions and engage the elderly with the goals of the project. In this interaction framework, both the human and the system behavior were analyzed. The way the wizard implements the GROW coaching strategy is a key aspect of the system behavior during the interaction. The language used by the virtual agent as well as his or her physical aspect are also important cues that were analyzed. Regarding the user behavior, the vocal communication provides information about the speaker’s emotional status, that is closely related to human behavior and which can be extracted from the speech and language analysis. In the same way, the analysis of the facial expression, gazes and gestures can provide information on the non verbal human communication even when the user is not talking. In addition, in order to engage senior users, their preferences and likes had to be considered. To this end, the effect of the VC on the users was gathered by means of direct questionnaires. These analyses have shown a positive and calm behavior of users when interacting with the simulated virtual coach as well as some difficulties of the system to develop the proposed coaching strategy.

scholarly journals Vocal communication is multi-sensorimotor coordination within and between individuals

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 572-573
Author(s):  
Daniel Y. Takahashi ◽  
Asif A. Ghazanfar
Keyword(s):  
Cooperative Communication ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Audiovisual Speech ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Sensorimotor Coordination

AbstractSpeech is an exquisitely coordinated interaction among effectors both within and between individuals. No account of human communication evolution that ignores its foundational multisensory characteristics and cooperative nature will be satisfactory. Here, we describe two additional capacities – rhythmic audiovisual speech and cooperative communication – and suggest that they may utilize the very same or similar circuits as those proposed for vocal learning.

scholarly journals Is Relative Pitch Specific to Pitch?

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 1263-1271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josh H. McDermott ◽  
Andriana J. Lehr ◽  
Andrew J. Oxenham
Keyword(s):  
Auditory System ◽  
General Feature ◽  
One Dimension ◽  
Contour Extraction ◽  
Relative Pitch ◽  
Melodic Contour ◽  
Pitch Level ◽  
Pitch Contours ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
Pitch Patterns

Melodies, speech, and other stimuli that vary in pitch are processed largely in terms of the relative pitch differences between sounds. Relative representations permit recognition of pitch patterns despite variations in overall pitch level between instruments or speakers. A key component of relative pitch is the sequence of pitch increases and decreases from note to note, known as the melodic contour. Here we report that contour representations are also produced by patterns in loudness and brightness (an aspect of timbre). The representations of contours in different dimensions evidently have much in common, as contours in one dimension can be readily recognized in other dimensions. Moreover, contours in loudness and brightness are nearly as useful as pitch contours for recognizing familiar melodies that are normally conveyed via pitch. Our results indicate that relative representations via contour extraction are a general feature of the auditory system, and may have a common central locus.

Influence of Musical Experience of Blind and Visually Impaired Young Persons on Performance in Selected Auditory Tasks

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edyta Bogusz-Witczak ◽  
Ewa Skrodzka ◽  
Hanna Turkowska
Keyword(s):  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Auditory Memory ◽  
Musical Experience ◽  
Sound Perception ◽  
Blind And Visually Impaired ◽  
Auditory Tasks ◽  
Visually Impaired Persons ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Visually Impaired Children

AbstractThe impact of musical experience on results concerning sound perception in selected auditory tasks, such as pitch discrimination, pitch-timbre categorization and pitch memorization for blind and visually impaired children and teenagers is discussed. Subjects were divided into three groups: of those with no experience of music, with small musical experience and with substantial musical experience. The blind and visually impaired subjects were investigated, while sighted persons formed reference groups. To date no study has described impact of musical experience on results of such experiments for blind and visually impaired children and teenagers. Our results suggest that blind persons with musical experience may be more sensitive to frequency differences and differences in timbre between two signals as well as may have better short-term auditory memory than blind people with no musical experience. Musical experience of visually impaired persons does not necessary lead to better performance in all conducted auditory tasks.

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