More Like this

1. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder are impaired in absolute but not relative pitch and duration matching in speech and song imitation

   https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2569  

   Wang, Li ; Pfordresher, Peter_Q ; Jiang, Cunmei ; Liu, Fang ( July 2021 , Autism Research)

   Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit atypical imitation. However, few studies have identified clear quantitative characteristics of vocal imitation in ASD. This study investigated imitation of speech and song in English‐speaking individuals with and without ASD and its modulation by age. Participants consisted of 25 autistic children and 19 autistic adults, who were compared to 25 children and 19 adults with typical development matched on age, gender, musical training, and cognitive abilities. The task required participants to imitate speech and song stimuli with varying pitch and duration patterns. Acoustic analyses of the imitation performance suggested that individuals with ASD were worse than controls on absolute pitch and duration matching for both speech and song imitation, although they performed as well as controls on relative pitch and duration matching. Furthermore, the two groups produced similar numbers of pitch contour, pitch interval‐, and time errors. Across both groups, sung pitch was imitated more accurately than spoken pitch, whereas spoken duration was imitated more accurately than sung duration. Children imitated spoken pitch more accurately than adults when it came to speech stimuli, whereas age showed no significant relationship to song imitation. These results reveal a vocal imitation deficit across speech and music domains in ASD that is specific to absolute pitch and duration matching. This finding provides evidence for shared mechanisms between speech and song imitation, which involves independent implementation of relative versus absolute features.

   Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit atypical imitation of actions and gestures. Characteristics of vocal imitation in ASD remain unclear. By comparing speech and song imitation, this study shows that individuals with ASD have a vocal imitative deficit that is specific to absolute pitch and duration matching, while performing as well as controls on relative pitch and duration matching, across speech and music domains.

    

   more » « less
2. Do Explicit Instruction and High Variability Phonetic Training Improve Nonnative Speakers’ Mandarin Tone Productions?

   https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12619  

   WIENER, SETH ; CHAN, MARJORIE_K_M ; ITO, KIWAKO ( January 2020 , The Modern Language Journal)

   This study examines the putative benefits of explicit phonetic instruction, high variability phonetic training, and their effects on adult nonnative speakers’ Mandarin tone productions. Monolingual first language (L1) English speakers (n= 80), intermediate second language (L2) Mandarin learners (n= 40), and L1 Mandarin speakers (n= 40) took part in a multiday Mandarin‐like artificial language learning task. Participants were asked to repeat a syllable–tone combination immediately after hearing it. Half of all participants were exposed to speech from 1 talker (low variability) while the other half heard speech from 4 talkers (high variability). Half of the L1 English participants were given daily explicit instruction on Mandarin tone contours, while the other half were not. Tone accuracy was measured by L1 Mandarin raters (n= 104) who classified productions according to their perceived tonal category. Explicit instruction of tone contours facilitated L1 English participants’ production of rising and falling tone contours. High variability input alone had no main effect on participants’ productions but interacted with explicit instruction to improve participants’ productions of high‐level tone contours. These results motivate an L2 tone production training approach that consists of explicit tone instruction followed by gradual exposure to more variable speech.

    

   more » « less
3. Observing gesture at learning enhances subsequent phonological and semantic processing of L2 words: An N400 study

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2023.105327  

   Morett, Laura M ( November 2023 , Brain and Language)

   This study employed the N400 event-related potential (ERP) to investigate how observing different types of gestures at learning affects the subsequent processing of L2 Mandarin words differing in lexical tone by L1 English speakers. The effects of pitch gestures conveying lexical tones (e.g., upwards diagonal movements for rising tone), semantic gestures conveying word meanings (e.g., waving goodbye for to wave), and no gesture were compared. In a lexical tone discrimination task, larger N400s for Mandarin target words mismatching vs. matching Mandarin prime words in lexical tone were observed for words learned with pitch gesture. In a meaning discrimination task, larger N400s for English target words mismatching vs. matching Mandarin prime words in meaning were observed for words learned with pitch and semantic gesture. These findings provide the first neural evidence that observing gestures during L2 word learning enhances subsequent phonological and semantic processing of learned L2 words. 

   more » « less
4. Observing gestures during L2 word learning facilitates differentiation between unfamiliar speech sounds and word meanings

   Morett, Laura M ( August 2023 , Proceedings of the Cognitive Science Society)

   Goldwater, M ; Angora, F ; Hayes, B ; Ong, D (Ed.)

   This study investigated how observing pitch gestures conveying lexical tones and representational gestures conveying word meanings when learning L2 Mandarin words differing in lexical tone affects their subsequent semantic and phonological processing in L1 English speakers using the N400 event-related potential (ERP). Larger N400s for English target words mismatching vs. matching Mandarin prime words in meaning were observed for words learned with pitch and representational gesture, but not no gesture. Additionally, larger N400s for Mandarin target words mismatching vs. matching Mandarin prime words in lexical tone were observed for words learned with pitch gesture, but not representational or no gesture. These findings provide the first ERP evidence that observing gestures conveying phonological and semantic information during L2 word learning enhances subsequent phonological and semantic processing of learned L2 words. 

   more » « less
5. Mechanisms of voice control related to prosody in autism spectrum disorder and first‐degree relatives

   https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2156  

   Patel, Shivani P. ; Kim, Jason H. ; Larson, Charles R. ; Losh, Molly ( June 2019 , Autism Research)

   Differences in prosody (e.g., intonation, rhythm) are among the most obvious language‐related impairments in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and significantly impact communication. Subtle prosodic differences have also been identified in a subset of clinically unaffected first‐degree relatives of individuals with ASD, and may reflect genetic liability to ASD. This study investigated the neural basis of prosodic differences in ASD and first‐degree relatives through analysis of feedforward and feedback control involved in the planning, production, self‐monitoring, and self‐correction of speech by using a pitch‐perturbed auditory feedback paradigm during sustained vowel and speech production. Results revealed larger vocal response magnitudes to pitch‐perturbed auditory feedback across tasks in ASD and ASD parent groups, with differences in sustained vowel production driven by parents who displayed subclinical personality and language features associated with ASD (i.e., broad autism phenotype). Both ASD and ASD parent groups exhibited increased response onset latencies during sustained vowel production, while the ASD parent group exhibited decreased response onset latencies during speech production. Vocal response magnitudes across tasks were associated with prosodic atypicalities in both individuals with ASD and their parents. Exploratory event‐related potential (ERP) analyses in a subgroup of participants during the sustained vowel task revealed reduced P1 ERP amplitudes in the ASD group, with similar trends observed in parents. Overall, results suggest underdeveloped feedforward systems and neural attenuation in detecting audio‐vocal feedback may contribute to ASD‐related prosodic atypicalities. Importantly, results implicate atypical audio‐vocal integration as a marker of genetic risk to ASD, evident in ASD and among clinically unaffected relatives.Autism Res2019, 12: 1192–1210. © 2019 The Authors.Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Researchpublished by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

   Previous research has identified atypicalities in prosody (e.g., intonation) in individuals with ASD and a subset of their first‐degree relatives. In order to better understand the mechanisms underlying prosodic differences in ASD, this study examined how individuals with ASD and their parents responded to unexpected differences in what they heard themselves say to modify control of their voice (i.e., audio‐vocal integration). Results suggest that disruptions to audio‐vocal integration in individuals with ASD contribute to ASD‐related prosodic atypicalities, and the more subtle differences observed in parents could reflect underlying genetic liability to ASD.

    

   more » « less