The Influence of Language- and Musical Experience on Speech Perception

Swierstra, Maya (2022) The Influence of Language- and Musical Experience on Speech Perception. Bachelor's Thesis, Artificial Intelligence.

Preview	Text Bachelor Thesis final draft.pdf Download (246kB) | Preview
	Text Toestemming.pdf Restricted to Registered users only Download (120kB)

Abstract

Speech sounds come in through the ears and are then interpreted and understood in the brain. Speech perception is a field of study that researches how humans perceive, recognise and understand speech. Language experience during the first year of life has a big effect on perception of speech. One of the differences in language experience in this first year can be the difference between tonal languages and non-tonal languages. Tonal languages are languages in which pitch is used to convey a difference in meaning between words. Previous research has shown that experience with a tonal language provides an advantage for distinguishing between lexical tones in another tonal language. Additionally, in an experiment about tonal language in combination with music, it has been found that experience with a tonal language decreases performance in determining differences in pitch. The current research investigates the performance in distinguishing between sounds when native Dutch speakers are presented with minimal pairs in Dutch, pseudowords, Akan and pure tones. Additionally, an analysis is performed taking into account the musical background of the participants. It is found that response times are significantly higher for words in Akan than for Dutch words, pseudowords and pure tones. Additionally, no significant difference in response times was found between participants with a musical background and participants with no musical background.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor's Thesis)
Supervisor name:	Tsiwah, F.
Degree programme:	Artificial Intelligence
Thesis type:	Bachelor's Thesis
Language:	English
Date Deposited:	19 Jul 2022 09:44
Last Modified:	19 Jul 2022 14:39
URI:	https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/28022

Actions (login required)

View Item