Learning and Retention of Novel Words in Musicians and Nonmusicians

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine whether long-term musical training enhances the ability to perceive and learn new auditory information. Listeners with extensive musical experience were expected to detect, learn, and retain novel words more effectively than participants without musical training. Advantages of musical training were expected to be greater for words learned in multitalker babble compared to quiet. Method Participants consisted of 20 young adult musicians and 20 age-matched nonmusicians, all with normal hearing. In addition to completing word recognition and nonword detection tasks, each participant learned 10 novel words in a rapid word-learning paradigm. All tasks were completed in quiet and in multitalker babble. Next-day retention of the learned words was examined in isolation (recall) and in the context of continuous discourse (detection). Performance was compared across groups and listening conditions. Results Performance was significantly poorer in babble than in quiet on word recognition and nonword detection, but not on word learning, learned-word recall, or learned-word detection. No differences were observed between groups (musicians vs. nonmusicians) on any of the tasks. Conclusions For young normal-hearing adults, auditory experience resulting from long-term music training did not enhance their learning of new auditory information in either favorable (quiet) or unfavorable (babble) listening conditions. This suggests that the formation of semantic and musical representations in memory may be supported by the same underlying auditory processes, such that musical training is simply an extension of an auditory expertise that both musicians and nonmusicians possess.

Music Perception Abilities and Ambiguous Word Learning: Is There Cross-Domain Transfer in Nonmusicians?

“…However, counter-examples to a positive association between music training and speech perception also exist ( Ruggles et al, 2014 ; Boebinger et al, 2015 ; Swaminathan and Schellenberg, 2017 ; Stewart and Pittman, 2021 ). For instance, Swaminathan and Schellenberg (2017) found that rhythm perception skills predicted English listeners’ discrimination of Zulu phonemic contrasts, but only for contrasts that closely resembled English phonemic contrasts.…”

Task-Dependent Effects of Signal Audibility for Processing Speech: Comparing Performance With NAL-NL2 and DSL v5 Hearing Aid Prescriptions at Threshold and at Suprathreshold Levels in 9- to 17-Year-Olds With Hearing Loss

“…A nonword detection task was administered to assess the participants’ ability to differentiate familiar and unfamiliar words within a sentence. Performance is sensitive to age (Pittman et al, 2017), signal-to-babble ratio (Stewart & Pittman, 2021), bandwidth (Pittman, 2019), and hearing loss (Pittman & Schuett, 2013). For this task, 20 three-word phrases (10 per level, randomized) were presented in each condition.…”

The Comparative Analysis of Forgetting and Retention Strategies in Gamification-Based Assessment and Formative-Based Assessment: Their Impact on Motivation for Learning

“…The study by Stewart et al (2021) explored auditory learning in individuals with and without musical training. Although not directly related to our assessment methods, the recognition disparity we observed aligns with their study, suggesting that recognition abilities can vary based on different contexts, even if unrelated to musical training.…”

“…The findings of this research, particularly the significant difference in recognition scores between Gamification-Based Assessment and Formative-Based Assessment, are notably connected to the insights provided by the previously referenced papers. Stewart et al (2021) explored auditory learning in individuals with and without musical training. Although not directly related to our assessment methods, the recognition disparity researcher observed aligns with their study, suggesting that recognition abilities can vary based on different contexts, even if unrelated to musical training.…”