The ecology of self-monitoring effects on memory of verbal productions: Does speaking to someone make a difference?

Memorisation and implicit perceptual learning are enhanced for preferred musical intervals and chords

“…(2) in accordance with previous studies investigating mismatch detection responses to occasional deviant stimuli (Näätänen et al, 2007;Wiens et al, 2019), more negative voltages should be recorded following the presentation of deviant as compared with standard intervals, within the latency range corresponding to mismatch detection responses (Justen & Herbert, 2018;Sams et al, 1985). More importantly for the present study, in line with the hypothesized link between implicit perceptual learning and beauty experience, we expect to observe greater mismatch detection responses for more appreciated intervals (indicating more effective perceptual learning dynamics).…”

“…MAJ = Major triad chord; DIM = Diminished triad chord. verify that they were actually paying attention, and that they all employed the same memorisation strategy (repetition out loud has been shown to be a very effective memorisation strategy by previous research; Lafleur & Boucher, 2015). Subsequently, a question mark appeared at the centre of the screen indicating to participants they had to evaluate the beauty of the previously presented musical chord (Aesthetic Judgement) on a 1 to 9 Likert scale (1 indicates ugly triads and 9 beautiful triads; Sarasso, Ronga, et al, 2019b;Sarasso, Ronga, et al, 2020b).…”

“…Differently from Experiment 1, where the single notes composing the interval were presented in sequence, to explore the EEG response to each stimulus, we opted for the simultaneous presentation of the interval. Mismatch detection responses registered with the EEG are sensitive to the absolute pitch difference between frequency standard and frequency deviant sounds, with greater mismatch responses to more distant (in terms of pitch) deviant sounds (Näätänen et al, 2007;Sams et al, 1985). Given this evidence, and similarly to previous studies (Sarasso, Ronga, et al, 2019b), we employed fifth and tritones two-note intervals, instead of the three-note triads employed in Experiment 1.…”

“…Oddball paradigms are usually employed to study electrophysiological mismatch detection responses associated with the identification of unexpected events such as infrequent sounds (Halgren et al, 1980;Näätänen et al, 2007). The presentation of an oddball (rare) sound, embedded in a stream of standard sounds, induces an enhancement of auditory evoked responses that can be recorded with the EEG (Justen & Herbert, 2018;Kennan et al, 2002;Sams et al, 1985). Mismatch detection responses are considered a well-validated index of implicit perceptual learning of sensory regularities (Garrido et al, 2009;Garrido et al, 2016;Rose et al, 2005).…”

Showing our seams: A reply to Eric Funkhouser

“…We may also benefit from talking to ourselves for another reason: the architecture of the mind may impose certain limits on how information is shared via internal channels, limits that may be overcome by using different pathways. This suggestion is highly speculative, but there is some evidence in its favour, such as the finding that people better recall words they have spoken aloud than those they have merely read (Lafleur & Boucher 2014). As Dennett notes, a cognitive architecture with restricted pathways for internal sharing of information might encourage the habit of asking oneself questions aloud, or otherwise externalising thoughts, thereby blazing "a valuable new communicative trail between one's internal components" (Dennett 2015: 45).…”