Musicality measures and generalization of an artificial dialect of English

Abstract

Wide individual variability exists in the ability to imitate and generalize novel speech and voice patterns, including unfamiliar dialects. Limited research exists examining possible underlying causes of such variability, particularly in the ability to generalized novel dialects. One possible source of individual differences is variability in musicality, either in terms of musical ability or degree of musical training. The current study examines the relationship between musicality and an individual’s ability to generalize an artificial dialect of English to a novel context with minimal exposure. Thirty participants were tested, 15 self-classifying as non-musicians and 15 as musicians. All participants were given Gordon’s Advanced Measures of Music Audiation (AMMA; a musical aptitude test) and the Goldsmith’s Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI, a survey of an individual’s engagement with music). Participants then completed a dialect learning task using an artificial dialect of English (Spinu et al., 2020) in which they are first familiarized with the dialect, then asked to imitate it, then finally generalize it to novel sentences. The effect of both musicality measures on dialect generalization, as well as patterns of individual differences, will be examined.