Abstract
The natural rhythms of speech help a listener follow what is being said, especially in noisy conditions. There is increasing evidence for links between rhythm abilities and language skills; however, the role of rhythm-related expertise in perceiving speech in noise is unknown. The present study assesses musical competence (rhythmic and melodic discrimination), speech-in-noise perception and auditory working memory in young adult percussionists, vocalists and non-musicians. Outcomes reveal that better ability to discriminate rhythms is associated with better sentence-in-noise (but not words-in-noise) perception across all participants. These outcomes suggest that sensitivity to rhythm helps a listener understand unfolding speech patterns in degraded listening conditions, and that observations of a “musician advantage” for speech-in-noise perception may be mediated in part by superior rhythm skills.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 79-87 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Cognitive Processing |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 1 2016 |
Funding
The authors wish to thank Britta Swedenborg, Emily Spitzer and Andrea Azem for assistance with data collection and processing, and Trent Nicol, Kali Woodruff Carr, Travis White-Schwoch and Adam Tierney who provided comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health grant F31DC014891-01 to J.S., the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) and Knowles Hearing Center, Northwestern University.
Keywords
- Auditory
- Language
- Listening
- Music
- Rhythm
- Speech-in-noise perception
- Temporal processing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Artificial Intelligence