• search hit 2 of 2
Back to Result List

An Exploration of Rhythmic Grouping of Speech Sequences by French- and German-Learning Infants

  • Rhythm in music and speech can be characterized by a constellation of several acoustic cues. Individually, these cues have different effects on rhythmic perception: sequences of sounds alternating in duration are perceived as short-long pairs (weak-strong/iambic pattern), whereas sequences of sounds alternating in intensity or pitch are perceived as loud-soft, or high-low pairs (strong-weak/trochaic pattern). This perceptual bias—called the Iambic-Trochaic Law (ITL)–has been claimed to be an universal property of the auditory system applying in both the music and the language domains. Recent studies have shown that language experience can modulate the effects of the ITL on rhythmic perception of both speech and non-speech sequences in adults, and of non-speech sequences in 7.5-month-old infants. The goal of the present study was to explore whether language experience also modulates infants’ grouping of speech. To do so, we presented sequences of syllables to monolingual French- and German-learning 7.5-month-olds. Using the HeadturnRhythm in music and speech can be characterized by a constellation of several acoustic cues. Individually, these cues have different effects on rhythmic perception: sequences of sounds alternating in duration are perceived as short-long pairs (weak-strong/iambic pattern), whereas sequences of sounds alternating in intensity or pitch are perceived as loud-soft, or high-low pairs (strong-weak/trochaic pattern). This perceptual bias—called the Iambic-Trochaic Law (ITL)–has been claimed to be an universal property of the auditory system applying in both the music and the language domains. Recent studies have shown that language experience can modulate the effects of the ITL on rhythmic perception of both speech and non-speech sequences in adults, and of non-speech sequences in 7.5-month-old infants. The goal of the present study was to explore whether language experience also modulates infants’ grouping of speech. To do so, we presented sequences of syllables to monolingual French- and German-learning 7.5-month-olds. Using the Headturn Preference Procedure (HPP), we examined whether they were able to perceive a rhythmic structure in sequences of syllables that alternated in duration, pitch, or intensity. Our findings show that both French- and German-learning infants perceived a rhythmic structure when it was cued by duration or pitch but not intensity. Our findings also show differences in how these infants use duration and pitch cues to group syllable sequences, suggesting that pitch cues were the easier ones to use. Moreover, performance did not differ across languages, failing to reveal early language effects on rhythmic perception. These results contribute to our understanding of the origin of rhythmic perception and perceptual mechanisms shared across music and speech, which may bootstrap language acquisition.show moreshow less

Export metadata

Additional Services

Search Google Scholar Statistics
Metadaten
Author details:Nawal Abboub, Natalie Boll-AvetisyanORCiDGND, Anjali BhataraORCiD, Barbara HöhleORCiDGND, Thierry NazziORCiD
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00292
ISSN:1662-5161
Title of parent work (English):Frontiers in human neuroscienc
Publisher:Frontiers Research Foundation
Place of publishing:Lausanne
Publication type:Article
Language:English
Year of first publication:2016
Publication year:2016
Release date:2020/03/22
Tag:french-learning infants; german-learning infants; grouping; iambic-trochaic law; language acquisition; perceptual biases; prosody
Volume:10
Number of pages:12
First page:6707
Last Page:6712
Funding institution:Agence Nationale de la Recherche-Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [ANR-13-FRAL-0010, DFG Ho 1960/15-1]; Labex EFL [ANR-10-LABX-0083]
Peer review:Referiert
Institution name at the time of the publication:Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Exzellenzbereich Kognitionswissenschaften
Accept ✔
This website uses technically necessary session cookies. By continuing to use the website, you agree to this. You can find our privacy policy here.