The syntax-meter interface in spoken language and music: Same, different, or individually variable?

Abstract

Considerable debate surrounds syntactic processing similarities in language and music. Yet few studies have investigated how syntax interacts with meter considering that metrical regularity varies across domains. Furthermore, there are reports on individual differences in syntactic and metrical structure processing in music and language. Thus, a direct comparison of individual variation in syntax and meter processing across domains is warranted. In a behavioral (Experiment 1) and EEG study (Experiment 2), participants engaged in syntactic processing tasks with sentence- and melody stimuli that were more or less metrically regular, and followed a preferred or non-preferred (but correct) syntactic structure. We further employed a range of cognitive diagnostic tests, parametrically indexed verbal- and musical abilities using a principal component analysis, and correlated cognitive factors with the behavioral and ERP results (Experiment 3). Based on previous results in the language domain, we expected that a regular meter would facilitate the syntactic integration of non-preferred syntax. While syntactic discrimination was better in regular than irregular meter conditions in both domains (Experiment 1), a P600 effect indicated different integration costs during the processing of syntactic complexities in the two domains (Experiment 2). Metrical regularity altered the P600 response to preferred syntax in language while it modulated non-preferred syntax processing in music. Moreover, experimental results yielded within-domain individual differences, and identified continuous metrics of musical ability more beneficial than grouping musicians or non-musicians (Experiment 3). These combined results suggest that the meter-syntax interface differs uniquely in how it forms syntactic preferences in language and music.