Effect of Linguistic and Musical Experience on Distributional Learning of Nonnative Lexical Tones

Purpose

Evidence suggests that extensive experience with lexical tones or musical training provides an advantage in perceiving nonnative lexical tones. This investigation concerns whether such an advantage is evident in learning nonnative lexical tones based on the distributional structure of the input.

Method

Using an established protocol, distributional learning of lexical tones was investigated with tone language (Mandarin) listeners with no musical training (Experiment 1) and nontone language (Australian English) listeners with musical training (Experiment 2). Within each experiment, participants were trained on a bimodal (2-peak) or a unimodal (single peak) distribution along a continuum spanning a Thai lexical tone minimal pair. Discrimination performance on the target minimal pair was assessed before and after training.

Results

Mandarin nonmusicians exhibited clear distributional learning (listeners in the bimodal, but not those in the unimodal condition, improved significantly as a function of training), whereas Australian English musicians did not (listeners in both the bimodal and unimodal conditions improved as a function of training).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that veridical perception of lexical tones is not sufficient for distributional learning of nonnative lexical tones to occur. Rather, distributional learning appears to be modulated by domain-specific pitch experience and is constrained possibly by top-down interference.

from #Audiology via xlomafota13 on Inoreader http://article/doi/10.1044/2016_JSLHR-S-16-0080/2610303/Effect-of-Linguistic-and-Musical-Experience-on
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Effect of Linguistic and Musical Experience on Distributional Learning of Nonnative Lexical Tones

Purpose

Evidence suggests that extensive experience with lexical tones or musical training provides an advantage in perceiving nonnative lexical tones. This investigation concerns whether such an advantage is evident in learning nonnative lexical tones based on the distributional structure of the input.

Method

Using an established protocol, distributional learning of lexical tones was investigated with tone language (Mandarin) listeners with no musical training (Experiment 1) and nontone language (Australian English) listeners with musical training (Experiment 2). Within each experiment, participants were trained on a bimodal (2-peak) or a unimodal (single peak) distribution along a continuum spanning a Thai lexical tone minimal pair. Discrimination performance on the target minimal pair was assessed before and after training.

Results

Mandarin nonmusicians exhibited clear distributional learning (listeners in the bimodal, but not those in the unimodal condition, improved significantly as a function of training), whereas Australian English musicians did not (listeners in both the bimodal and unimodal conditions improved as a function of training).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that veridical perception of lexical tones is not sufficient for distributional learning of nonnative lexical tones to occur. Rather, distributional learning appears to be modulated by domain-specific pitch experience and is constrained possibly by top-down interference.

from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://article/doi/10.1044/2016_JSLHR-S-16-0080/2610303/Effect-of-Linguistic-and-Musical-Experience-on
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Effect of Linguistic and Musical Experience on Distributional Learning of Nonnative Lexical Tones

Purpose

Evidence suggests that extensive experience with lexical tones or musical training provides an advantage in perceiving nonnative lexical tones. This investigation concerns whether such an advantage is evident in learning nonnative lexical tones based on the distributional structure of the input.

Method

Using an established protocol, distributional learning of lexical tones was investigated with tone language (Mandarin) listeners with no musical training (Experiment 1) and nontone language (Australian English) listeners with musical training (Experiment 2). Within each experiment, participants were trained on a bimodal (2-peak) or a unimodal (single peak) distribution along a continuum spanning a Thai lexical tone minimal pair. Discrimination performance on the target minimal pair was assessed before and after training.

Results

Mandarin nonmusicians exhibited clear distributional learning (listeners in the bimodal, but not those in the unimodal condition, improved significantly as a function of training), whereas Australian English musicians did not (listeners in both the bimodal and unimodal conditions improved as a function of training).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that veridical perception of lexical tones is not sufficient for distributional learning of nonnative lexical tones to occur. Rather, distributional learning appears to be modulated by domain-specific pitch experience and is constrained possibly by top-down interference.

from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://article/doi/10.1044/2016_JSLHR-S-16-0080/2610303/Effect-of-Linguistic-and-Musical-Experience-on
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Pressurized Wideband Absorbance Findings in Healthy Neonates: A Preliminary Study

Purpose

The present study aimed to establish normative data for wideband absorbance (WBA) measured at tympanometric peak pressure (TPP) and 0 daPa and to assess the test–retest reliability of both measurements in healthy neonates.

Method

Participants of this cross-sectional study included 99 full-term neonates (165 ears) with mean chronological age of 46.7 hrs (SD = 26.3 hrs). Of the 99 neonates, 58 were Malay, 28 were Indian, and 13 were Chinese. The neonates who passed high-frequency (1 kHz) tympanometry, acoustic stapedial reflex, and distortion product otoacoustic emission screening tests were assessed using a pressurized WBA test (wideband tympanometry). To reduce the number of measurement points, the WBA responses were averaged to 16 one-third octave frequency bands from 0.25 to 8 kHz. A mixed-model analysis of variance was applied to the data to investigate the effects of frequency, ear, gender, and ethnicity on WBA. The analysis of variance was also used to compare between WBA measured at TPP and 0 daPa. An interclass correlation coefficient test was applied at each of the 16 frequency bands to measure the test–retest reliability of WBA at TPP and 0 daPa.

Results

Both WBA measurements at TPP and 0 daPa exhibited a multipeaked pattern with 2 maxima at 1.25–1.6 kHz and 6.3 kHz and 2 minima at 0.5 and 4 kHz. The mean WBA measured at TPP was significantly higher than that measured at 0 daPa at 0.25, 0.4, 0.5, 1.25, and 1.6 kHz only. A normative data set was developed for absorbance at TPP and at 0 daPa. There was no significant effect of ethnicity, gender, and ear on both measurements of WBA. The test–retest reliability of WBA at TPP and 0 daPa was high with the interclass correlation coefficient ranging from 0.77 to 0.97 across the frequencies.

Conclusions

Normative data of WBA measured at TPP and 0 daPa for neonates were provided in the present study. Although WBA at TPP was slightly higher than the WBA measured at 0 daPa at some frequencies below 2 kHz, the WBA patterns of the 2 measurements were nearly identical. Moreover, the test–retest reliability of both WBA measurements was high.

from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://article/doi/10.1044/2017_JSLHR-H-17-0120/2654699/Pressurized-Wideband-Absorbance-Findings-in
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The Influence of Executive Functions on Phonemic Processing in Children Who Do and Do Not Stutter

Purpose

The aim of the present study was to investigate dual-task performance in children who stutter (CWS) and those who do not to investigate if the groups differed in the ability to attend and allocate cognitive resources effectively during task performance.

Method

Participants were 24 children (12 CWS) in both groups matched for age and sex. For the primary task, participants performed a phoneme monitoring in a picture–written word interference task. For the secondary task, participants made pitch judgments on tones presented at varying (short, long) stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) from the onset of the picture.

Results

The CWS were comparable to the children who do not stutter in performing the monitoring task although the SOA-based performance differences in this task were more variable in the CWS. The CWS were also significantly slower in making tone decisions at the short SOA and showed a trend for making more errors in this task.

Conclusions

The findings are interpreted to suggest higher dual-task cost effects in CWS. A potential explanation for this finding requiring further testing and confirmation is that the CWS show reduced efficiency in attending to the tone stimuli while simultaneously prioritizing attention to the phoneme-monitoring task.

from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://article/doi/10.1044/2017_JSLHR-S-17-0033/2654663/The-Influence-of-Executive-Functions-on-Phonemic
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Children's Comprehension of Object Relative Sentences: It's Extant Language Knowledge That Matters, Not Domain-General Working Memory

Purpose

The aim of this study was to determine whether extant language (lexical) knowledge or domain-general working memory is the better predictor of comprehension of object relative sentences for children with typical development. We hypothesized that extant language knowledge, not domain-general working memory, is the better predictor.

Method

Fifty-three children (ages 9–11 years) completed a word-level verbal working-memory task, indexing extant language (lexical) knowledge; an analog nonverbal working-memory task, representing domain-general working memory; and a hybrid sentence comprehension task incorporating elements of both agent selection and cross-modal picture-priming paradigms. Images of the agent and patient were displayed at the syntactic gap in the object relative sentences, and the children were asked to select the agent of the sentence.

Results

Results of general linear modeling revealed that extant language knowledge accounted for a unique 21.3% of variance in the children's object relative sentence comprehension over and above age (8.3%). Domain-general working memory accounted for a nonsignificant 1.6% of variance.

Conclusions

We interpret the results to suggest that extant language knowledge and not domain-general working memory is a critically important contributor to children's object relative sentence comprehension. Results support a connectionist view of the association between working memory and object relative sentence comprehension.

Supplemental Materials

http://ift.tt/2y59ZcY

from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://article/doi/10.1044/2017_JSLHR-L-16-0422/2654662/Childrens-Comprehension-of-Object-Relative
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A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Predictors of Expressive-Language Outcomes Among Late Talkers

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to explore the literature on predictors of outcomes among late talkers using systematic review and meta-analysis methods. We sought to answer the question: What factors predict preschool-age expressive-language outcomes among late-talking toddlers?

Method

We entered carefully selected search terms into the following electronic databases: Communication & Mass Media Complete, ERIC, Medline, PsycEXTRA, Psychological and Behavioral Sciences, and PsycINFO. We conducted a separate, random-effects model meta-analysis for each individual predictor that was used in a minimum of 5 studies. We also tested potential moderators of the relationship between predictors and outcomes using metaregression and subgroup analysis. Last, we conducted publication-bias and sensitivity analyses.

Results

We identified 20 samples, comprising 2,134 children, in a systematic review. According to the results of the meta-analyses, significant predictors of expressive-language outcomes included toddlerhood expressive-vocabulary size, receptive language, and socioeconomic status. Nonsignificant predictors included phrase speech, gender, and family history.

Conclusions

To our knowledge this is the first synthesis of the literature on predictors of outcomes among late talkers using meta-analysis. Our findings clarify the contributions of several constructs to outcomes and highlight the importance of early receptive language to expressive-language development.

Supplemental Materials

http://ift.tt/2yeQuj2

from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://article/doi/10.1044/2017_JSLHR-L-16-0310/2654661/A-Systematic-Review-and-MetaAnalysis-of-Predictors
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