Across languages, certain syllables are systematically preferred to others (e.g., "plaf > ptaf"). Here, we examine whether these preferences arise from motor simulation. In the simulation account, ill-formed syllables (e.g., "ptaf") are disliked because their motor plans are harder to simulate. Four experiments compared…

Difficulty listening in noisy environments is a common complaint of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the mechanisms underlying such auditory processing challenges are unknown. This preliminary study investigated auditory attention deployment in adults with ASD. Participants were instructed to maintain or switch attention…

How does prior linguistic knowledge modulate learning in verbal auditory statistical learning (SL) tasks? Here, we address this question by assessing to what extent the frequency of syllabic co-occurrences in the learners' native language determines SL performance. We computed the frequency of co-occurrences of syllables in spoken Spanish through…

Purpose: The "bouba-kiki" (BK) effect refers to associations between visual shapes and auditory pseudonames. Thus, when tested, people tend to associate the pseudowords "bouba" and "kiki" with round or spiky shapes, respectively. This association requires cross-modal sensory integration. The ability to integrate…

The teaching of error detection is a complicated process, made more so by our evolving understanding of the psychological processes involved with attention itself. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of listener attention on the error detection process. Guiding research questions were as follows: (1) In what ways does directing…

Purpose: Congenital deafness not only delays auditory development but also hampers the ability to perceive nonspeech and speech signals. This study aimed to use auditory event-related potentials to explore the mismatch negativity (MMN), P3a, negative wave (Nc), and late discriminative negativity (LDN) components in children with and without…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine how "multiple" types of signal processing activated "together" influence listeners' preferences. Method: Participants were adults with mild to moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss. Stimuli were spatialized low-context sentences mixed with six-talker babble at 3 and 8…

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the different degeneration processes of categorical perception (CP) of Mandarin lexical tones in the normal aging population and the pathological aging population with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Method: In Experiment I, we compared the identification and discrimination of Tone 1 and Tone 2 across young…

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether suprasegmental speech perception contributes unique variance in predictions of reading decoding and comprehension for prelingually deaf children using two devices, at least one of which is a cochlear implant (CI). Method: A total of 104, 5- to 9-year-old CI recipients completed tests of…

This study uses factor mixture modelling of the Short Sensory Profile (SSP) at two time points to describe subgroups of young autistic and typically-developing children. This approach allows separate SSP subscales to influence overall SSP performance differentially across subgroups. Three subgroups were described, one including almost all…

Purpose: Pitch plays an important role in auditory perception of music and language. This study provides a systematic review with meta-analysis to investigate whether individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have enhanced pitch processing ability and to identify the potential factors associated with processing differences between ASD and…

Longer free time between presentation of verbal list items often leads to better immediate serial recall. The present series of three experiments demonstrates that this beneficial effect of time is more general than has been known: It is found for verbal items presented visually and auditorily (Experiments 1 and 2), and also when people engage in…

Over the past 50 years, scientists have made amazing discoveries about the origins of human language acquisition. Central to this field of study is the process by which infants' perceptual sensitivities gradually align with native language structure, known as "perceptual narrowing." Perceptual narrowing offers a theoretical account of…

The present study seeks to determine whether superior musical hearing is correlated with successful production of second language (L2) intonation patterns. Fifty Polish speakers of English at the university level were recorded before and after an extensive two-semester accent training course in English. Participants were asked to read aloud a…

Fetal hearing experiences shape the linguistic and musical preferences of neonates. From the very first moment after birth, newborns prefer their native language, recognize their mother's voice, and show a greater responsiveness to lullabies presented during pregnancy. Yet, the neural underpinnings of this experience inducing plasticity have…