Abstract
Music and language are complex hierarchical systems in which individual elements are systematically combined to form larger, syntactic structures. Suggestions that music and language share syntactic processing resources have relied on evidence that syntactic violations in music interfere with syntactic processing in language. However, syntactic violations may affect auditory processing in non-syntactic ways, accounting for reported interference effects. To investigate the factors contributing to interference effects, we assessed recall of visually presented sentences and word-lists when accompanied by background auditory stimuli differing in syntactic structure and auditory distraction: melodies without violations, scrambled melodies, melodies that alternate in timbre, and environmental sounds. In Experiment 1, one-timbre melodies interfered with sentence recall, and increasing both syntactic complexity and distraction by scrambling melodies increased this interference. In contrast, three-timbre melodies reduced interference on sentence recall, presumably because alternating instruments interrupted auditory streaming, reducing pressure on long-distance syntactic structure building. Experiment 2 confirmed that participants were better at discriminating syntactically coherent one-timbre melodies than three-timbre melodies. Together, these results illustrate that syntactic processing and auditory streaming interact to influence sentence recall, providing implications for theories of shared syntactic processing and auditory distraction.
Highlights
Music and language are two diverse, complex, rule-based systems that on the surface appear extremely different; current theory highlights a number of similarities between them
In a follow-up to Koelsch et al.[18], Steinbeis and Koelsch (2008)[22] replicated the finding that the left anterior negativity (LAN) was reduced when concurrently paired with an out-of-key chord, and observed that the early right anterior negativity (ERAN)—an event-related potential (ERP) component elicited by errors in music syntax—was reduced in amplitude when paired with violations in language
A repeated measures (RM) analysis of variance (ANOVA) on only the same trial accuracies depending on the pairing manipulation showed no main effect of timbre, F(1, 40) = 0.06, p = 0.94, a main effect of pairing type, F(1.68, 67.17) = 20.75, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.34 (Greenhouse-Geisser correction reported as the assumption of sphericity was violated χ2(2) = 8.27, p = 0.02), and no interaction effect, F(2, 80) = 1.87, p = 0.16
Summary
Music and language are two diverse, complex, rule-based systems that on the surface appear extremely different; current theory highlights a number of similarities between them. Auditory streaming and early syntactic structure building are considered to be largely automatic, and can occur without attention[9,11,12] Both the SSIRH and the SEH suggest shared processing between music and language syntax, and predict interference effects (lowered performance) when music and language simultaneously place high demands on syntactic processing resources. These theories have primarily been tested and developed based on experiments introducing syntactic violations or ambiguities into the stimuli, such as out-of-key or unexpected chords or notes in music, and grammatical and semantic errors in language. These studies suggest that the concurrent presentation of demanding music and language syntax creates a processing difficulty that can be observed by a decreased brain response to the violations, and that this effect is enhanced by attention
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
