title: Individual differences in the perception of melodic contours and pitch-accent timing in speech: Support for domain-generality of pitch processing.
abstract: Do the same mechanisms underlie processing of music and language? Recent investigations of this question have yielded inconsistent results. Likely factors contributing to discrepant findings are use of small samples and failure to control for individual differences in cognitive ability. We investigated the relationship between music and speech prosody processing, while controlling for cognitive ability. Participants (n = 179) completed a battery of cognitive ability tests, the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA) to assess music perception, and a prosody test of pitch peak timing discrimination (early, as in insight vs. late, incite). Structural equation modeling revealed that only music perception was a significant predictor of prosody test performance. Music perception accounted for 34.5% of variance on prosody test performance; cognitive abilities and music training added only about 8%. These results indicate musical pitch and temporal processing are highly predictive of pitch discrimination in speech processing, even after controlling for other possible predictors of this aspect of language processing.
authors.affiliation: Department of English, George Mason University.
authors.forename: Tuuli H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Morrill
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Michigan State University.
authors.forename: J Devin
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: McAuley
authors.affiliation: Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorder, Michigan State University.
authors.forename: Laura C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Dilley
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Michigan State University.
authors.forename: David Z
authors.initials: DZ
authors.lastname: Hambrick
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009146:Music; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010898:Pitch Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult