Explaining L2 lexical learning in multiple scenarios : cross-situational word learning in L1 Mandarin L2 English speakers

Adults commonly struggle with perceiving and recognizing the sounds and words of a second language (L2), especially when the L2 sounds do not have a counterpart in the learner’s first language (L1). We examined how L1 Mandarin L2 English speakers learned pseudo English words within a cross‐situational word learning (CSWL) task previously presented to monolingual English and bilingual Mandarin‐English speakers. CSWL is ambiguous because participants are not provided with direct mappings of words and object referents. Rather, learners discern word‐object correspondences through tracking multiple co‐occurrences across learning trials. The monolinguals and bilinguals tested in previous studies showed lower performance for pseudo words that formed vowel minimal pairs (e.g., /dit/‐/dɪt/) than pseudo word which formed consonant minimal pairs (e.g., /bɔn/‐/pɔn/) or non‐minimal pairs which differed in all segments (e.g., /bɔn/‐/dit/). In contrast, L1 Mandarin L2 English listeners struggled to learn all word pairs. We explain this seemingly contradicting finding by considering the multiplicity of acoustic cues in the stimuli presented to all participant groups. Stimuli were produced in infant‐directed‐speech (IDS) in order to compare performance by children and adults and because previous research had shown that IDS enhances L1 and L2 acquisition. We propose that the suprasegmental pitch variation in the vowels typical of IDS stimuli might be perceived as lexical tone distinctions for tonal language speakers who cannot fully inhibit their L1 activation, resulting in high lexical competition and diminished learning during an ambiguous word learning task. Our results are in line with the Second Language Linguistic Perception (L2LP) model which proposes that fine‐grained acoustic information from multiple sources and the ability to switch between language modes affects non‐native phonetic and lexical development

PNG Voices: Listening to Australia's Closest Neighbour: Papua New Guinean Perspectives on Australia and the World

In 2021, a broad coalition of researchers embarked on an unprecedented endeavour: to ask hundreds of ordinary Papua New Guineans about the strengths and challenges of Papua New Guinea (PNG), their dreams for PNG’s future, and how they see Australia’s relationship with PNG. PNG is Australia’s closest neighbour, and the single largest recipient of Australian development assistance. The two nations share a prehistory, and more recently, a colonial history. But despite this apparent closeness, few Australians today can say that they know how people in PNG feel about their own communities or about Australia, or about the impacts of Australian tax monies in PNG. The present study, PNG Voices, represents the first time, to our knowledge, that an Australian institution has sought the opinions of a wide swathe of PNG citizens about their realities and their perception of Australia. We asked 536 Papua New Guineans, originating in 21 of PNG’s 22 Provinces, to reflect on: the strengths and assets of their communities and of PNG as a whole; the challenges facing their communities and PNG as a whole; their dreams for their communities; Australia and Australians, and Australia’s relationship with PNG; the types of foreign investment in PNG by different actors. In sum, this has been the first major survey of Papua New Guinean attitudes toward PNG and Australia’s role in it. The key findings of PNG Voices do not always make for easy reading. Some readers may find points of dissonance between how some in PNG view Australia and how the Australia-PNG relationship is framed and understood by Australian policymakers. Let those points, along with the detail and subtleties of the responses as a whole, guide renewed reflection on Australia’s relationship with PNG and, perhaps, recalibration of Australian policies with our closest neighbour

The need for composite models of music perception : consonance in tuning systems (familiar or unfamiliar) cannot be explained by a single predictor

In the article “Consonance preferences within an unconventional tuning system,” Friedman and colleagues (2021) examine consonance ratings of a large range of dyads and triads from the Bohlen-Pierce chromatic just (BPCJ) scale. The study is designed as a replication of a recent paper by Bowling, Purves, and Gill (2018), which proposes that perception of consonance in dyads, triads, and tetrads can be predicted by their harmonic similarity to human vocalisations. In this commentary, we would like to correct some interpretations regarding Friedman et al.’s (2021) discussion of our paper (Smit, Milne, Dean, & Weidemann, 2019), as well as express some concerns regarding the statistical methods used. We also propose a stronger emphasis on the use of, as named by Friedman et al., composite models as a range of recent evidence strongly suggests that no single acoustic measure can fully predict the complex experience of consonance

Investigating orthographic versus auditory cross-situational word learning with online and laboratory-based testing

Research has shown that novel words can be learned through the mechanism of statistical or cross-situational word learning (CSWL). So far, CSWL studies using adult populations have focused on the presentation of spoken words. However, words can also be learned through their written form. This study compared auditory and orthographic presentations of novel words with different degrees of phonological overlap using CSWL in a laboratory-based and an online-based approach. In our analyses, we first compared accuracy across modalities, with our findings showing more accurate recognition performance for CSWL when novel words were presented through their written forms (orthographic condition) rather than through their spoken forms (auditory condition). Bayesian modeling suggested that accuracy for the orthographic condition was higher in the laboratory compared to online, whereas performance in the auditory condition was similar across both experiments. We discuss the implications of our findings for presentation modality and the benefits of our online testing protocol for future research

Audio analysis reveals mutual associations between clients' and therapists' vocal timbres in guided imagery and music sessions

Existing literature broadly demonstrates that a therapist's tone of voice affects interpersonal and therapy outcomes, and qualities of human voice tone (pitch, volume, rhythm, speed and intensity) influence human interaction and attachment. However, little empirical and systematic evidence surrounds the use of voice in Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) and other psychotherapeutic practices. This exploratory study investigates the use of acoustic analysis to report on ways in which therapists’ and clients’ voices attune with each other and the music in GIM practice. Seven volunteer university student participants each attended a single GIM session with a qualified GIM therapist. Audio recordings of the session were made using a multi-channel recording device and 61 excerpts of the recordings were then analysed using the MIRToolbox for Matlab. It was found that acoustic features of the client's voice predicted acoustic features of the therapist's voice more commonly than the other way round (therapist predicting client). Furthermore, both such predictions occurred more commonly than they did for acoustic features of the music predicting acoustic features of either the therapist or client. These results suggest the client's voice influences the therapist's voice more than the therapist's voice influences the client's, and the music is the least influential. This study developed a reliable methodology for data collection and analysis to examine interactions between the client and therapist voices and music in GIM practice and provides further insights for clinical practice and training, enhancing sensitivity to vocal interactions and attunement

[In Press] Evaluative conditioning of responses to unfamiliar chords by exposure to valenced images

The extent to which emotional responses to musical elements are influenced by their past associations with specific emotional responses is largely unknown. To assess this possibility, the present study tested whether pairing positive, negative, or neutral chords from an unfamiliar musical system (a microtonal Bohlen-Pierce tuning) with positively or negatively valenced pictures would have an effect on subsequent liking ratings. The microtonal chords used in this experiment had been previously rated, independent of any other affective input, in an earlier experiment; this allows us to class each chord as intrinsically positive, negative, or neutral. It was found that exposure with an image increases liking ratings independent of the valence of the images, compared with no exposure which supports a mere exposure effect; but, interestingly, we did not find substantial evidence for evaluative conditioning. Results are discussed in light of theoretical accounts of evaluative conditioning and musical implications