What Turns Speech Into Song? Investigations of the Speech-to-Song Illusion

In the Speech-to-Song Illusion a spoken phrase is presented repeatedly and begins to sound more like it was being sung. The present study used several different types of stimulus phrases to elicit the SpeechtoSong Illusion to determine the underlying cognitive mechanism responsible for this illusion. Previous stimuli used to elicit the SpeechtoSong Illusion have been phrases extracted from real sentences. We examined whether having a meaningful phrase (in Experiment 1), or even real words (in Experiment 2), were necessary for eliciting this illusion. We also examined how the length of the stimulus impacts the occurrence of the SpeechtoSong Illusion by manipulating the number of words in the repeated phrases (in Experiment 3) and by manipulating the number of syllables in each word of the phrases (in Experiment 4). The results of these 4 experiments support an underlying mechanism as described in Node Structure Theory: satiation of lexical nodes allows for the syllables to "pop out" as music-like beats

An Analysis of Semantic and Phonological Associations Using Network Science

Semantic and phonological systems interact during word processing. However, the current approaches to studying these systems tend to examine them as separate entities with a focus on processes that occur in those systems. An alternative approach is to examine the underlying representations of these systems with the use of the computational and mathematical tools of Network Science. The analysis of language networks, where nodes represent words and edges represent relationships, have shown that network structure influences language processes. The present study analyzes a novel phonological network using collected phonological association data. 1,018 participants provided up to three phonological associates to a cue word. The cue and response words were used as nodes in the phonological association network, and edges were placed between cue and response pairs. The resulting phonological association network structure exhibited several characteristics, like small-world structure and assortative mixing by degree that were similar to the well-studied one-phoneme difference phonological network, but the phonological association network was also different in structure from the well-studied one-phoneme difference phonological network. In addition, three age-related phonological association networks were examined that represented young adulthood, early middle adulthood, and late middle adulthood. However, there was little phonological network structure change across these age-related networks. Lastly, cutting-edge research in Network Science that uses multiplex networks was employed to examine the semantic and phonological systems simultaneously. This multiplex consisted of two layers: semantic associations and phonological associations. Cue and response words were used as nodes and edges were placed between cue and response pairs in their respective layers. The two layers are distinctly different in their network structure as they represent different aspects of the mental lexicon. However, there was overlap between layers, or instances where a pair of words was connected in both the semantic and phonological layers. Regression analyses were conducted to further assess the influence of single-layer and multiplex network structure on behavioral performance. Specifically, the reaction time for visual lexical decision and naming were predicted using semantic degree, phonological degree, aggregated multiplex degree, multidegree, and the interaction between semantic and phonological degree. The results of a model building procedure indicated that all of the degree measures were needed in the regression analysis model, providing evidence that multiplex structure and the interaction between layers is important to word processing. In sum, the findings from this study provide evidence that phonological associations can be used to construct a representation of the phonological system, that phonological network structure does not significantly change with increasing age, and that the multiplex structure is important to language processing

Phonological but not semantic influences on the speech-to-song illusion

In the speech to song illusion, a spoken phrase begins to sound as if it is being sung after several repetitions. Castro et al. (2018) used Node Structure Theory (NST; MacKay, 1987), a model of speech perception and production, to explain how the illusion occurs. Two experiments further test the mechanisms found in NST—priming, activation, and satiation—as an account of the speech to song illusion. In Experiment 1, words varying in the phonological clustering coefficient influenced how quickly a lexical node could recover from satiation, thereby influencing the song-like ratings to lists of words that were high versus low in phonological clustering coefficient. In Experiment 2, we used equivalence testing (i.e., the TOST procedure) to demonstrate that once lexical nodes are satiated the higher level semantic information associated with the word cannot differentially influence song-like ratings to lists of words varying in emotional arousal. The results of these two experiments further support the NST account of the speech to song illusion

The influence of memory on the speech-to-song illusion

In the speech-to-song illusion a spoken phrase is presented repeatedly and begins to sound as if it is being sung. Anecdotal reports suggest that subsequent presentations of a previously heard phrase enhance the illusion, even if several hours or days have elapsed between presentations. In Experiment 1, we examined in a controlled laboratory setting whether memory traces for a previously heard phrase would influence song-like ratings to a subsequent presentation of that phrase. The results showed that word lists that were played several times throughout the experimental session were rated as being more song-like at the end of the experiment than word lists that were played only once in the experimental session. In Experiment 2, we examined if the memory traces that influenced the speech-to-song illusion were abstract in nature or exemplar-based by playing some word lists several times during the experiment in the same voice and playing other word lists several times during the experiment but in different voices. The results showed that word lists played in the same voice were rated as more song-like at the end of the experiment than word lists played in different voices. Many previous studies have examined how various aspects of the stimulus itself influences the perception of the speech-to-song illusion. The results of the present experiments demonstrate that memory traces of the stimulus also influence the speech-to-song illusion

The Resilience of the Phonological Network May Have Implications for Developmental and Acquired Disorders

A central tenet of network science states that the structure of the network influences processing. In this study of a phonological network of English words we asked: how does damage alter the network structure (Study 1)? How does the damaged structure influence lexical processing (Study 2)? How does the structure of the intact network “protect” processing with a less efficient algorithm (Study 3)? In Study 1, connections in the network were randomly removed to increasingly damage the network. Various measures showed the network remained well-connected (i.e., it is resilient to damage) until ~90% of the connections were removed. In Study 2, computer simulations examined the retrieval of a set of words. The performance of the model was positively correlated with naming accuracy by people with aphasia (PWA) on the Philadelphia Naming Test (PNT) across four types of aphasia. In Study 3, we demonstrated another way to model developmental or acquired disorders by manipulating how efficiently activation spread through the network. We found that the structure of the network “protects” word retrieval despite decreases in processing efficiency; words that are relatively easy to retrieve with efficient transmission of priming remain relatively easy to retrieve with less efficient transmission of priming. Cognitive network science and computer simulations may provide insight to a wide range of speech, language, hearing, and cognitive disorders

Unveiling the nature of interaction between semantics and phonology in lexical access based on multilayer networks

An essential aspect of human communication is the ability to access and retrieve information from ones’ ‘mental lexicon’. This lexical access activates phonological and semantic components of concepts, yet the question whether and how these two components relate to each other remains widely debated. We harness tools from network science to construct a large-scale linguistic multilayer network comprising of phonological and semantic layers. We find that the links in the two layers are highly similar to each other and that adding information from one layer to the other increases efficiency by decreasing the network overall distances, but specifically affecting shorter distances. Finally, we show how a multilayer architecture demonstrates the highest efficiency, and how this efficiency relates to weak semantic relations between cue words in the network. Thus, investigating the interaction between the layers and the unique benefit of a linguistic multilayer architecture allows us to quantify theoretical cognitive models of lexical access

Using network science in the language sciences and clinic

A number of variables—word frequency, word length—have long been known to influence language processing. We briefly review the effects in speech perception and production of two more recently examined variables: phonotactic probability and neighborhood density. We then describe a new approach to study language, network science, which is an interdisciplinary field drawing from mathematics, computer science, physics, and other disciplines. In this approach, nodes represent individual entities in a system (i.e., phonological word-forms in the lexicon), links between nodes represent relationships between nodes (i.e., phonological neighbors), and various measures enable researchers to assess the micro-level (i.e., the individual word), the macro-level (i.e., characteristics about the whole system), and the meso-level (i.e., how an individual fits into smaller sub-groups in the larger system). Although research on individual lexical characteristics such as word-frequency has increased our understanding of language processing, these measures only assess the “micro-level.” Using network science, researchers can examine words at various levels in the system, and how each word relates to the many other words stored in the lexicon. Several new findings using the network science approach are summarized to illustrate how this approach can be used to advance basic research as well as clinical practice

By-catch species susceptibilities and potential for survival in Algarve (southern Portugal) deep-water crustacean trawl fishery

Bottom trawling for crustaceans in Portuguese coastal waters is an important fishery in terms of revenue, despite its negative impacts on deep-sea ecosystems. This fishery catches large amounts of unwanted species that were discarded for various reasons before the introduction of the Landing Obligation, which banned the discarding of regulated species. However, where it can be demonstrated that a species has an acceptably high likelihood of survival, exemptions to this ban may be granted. In this study, time-to-mortality was used to estimate immediate mortality rates and identify important biological characteristics determining the susceptibility of 14 by-catch species. most with commercial interest (Conger conger, Galeus melastomus, Helicolenus dactylopterus, Lepidorhombus boscii, Lophius budegassa, Lophius piscatorius, Merluccius merluccius. Micromesistius poutassou, Mullus surmuletus, Phycis blennoides. Scyliorhinus canicula, Trigla lyra. Trachurus trachurus and Trachurus piciuratus). Species with potential to survive after the discarding process were identified and a short-term survival assessment of conger eel (Conger conger) was performed. The results suggest that species with scales, gas bladder and high metabolic rates have higher post-discard mortality. Size was a critical factor determining survival in some species, with smaller individuals dying faster. The short-term survival rate of conger eel was determined to be 84% (95% Cl: 75.5 to 93.3%). The methodology and results from this study can help identify species that may survive the discarding process and factors influencing their survival.MINOUW project - Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union - 634495info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Oxo-Functionalization and Reduction of the Uranyl Ion through Lanthanide-Element Bond Homolysis:Synthetic, Structural, and Bonding Analysis of a Series of Singly Reduced Uranyl-Rare Earth 5f¹-4f^<em>n</em> Complexes

The heterobimetallic complexes [{UO2Ln-(py)2(L)}2], combining a singly reduced uranyl cation and a rare-earth trication in a binucleating polypyrrole Schiff-base macrocycle (Pacman) and bridged through a uranyl oxo-group, have been prepared for Ln = Sc, Y, Ce, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Er, Yb, and Lu. These compounds are formed by the single-electron reduction of the Pacman uranyl complex [UO2(py)(H2L)] by the rare-earth complexes LnIII(A)3 (A = N(SiMe3)2, OC6H3But 2-2,6) via homolysis of a Ln−A bond. The complexes are dimeric through mutual uranyl exo-oxo coordination but can be cleaved to form the trimetallic, monouranyl “ate” complexes [(py)3LiOUO(μ-X)Ln(py)(L)] by the addition of lithium halides. X-ray crystallographic structural characterization of many examples reveals very similar features for monomeric and dimeric series, the dimers containing an asymmetric U2O2 diamond core with shorter uranyl U=O distances than in the monomeric complexes. The synthesis by LnIII−A homolysis allows [5f1-4fn]2 and Li[5f1-4fn] complexes with oxobridged metal cations to be made for all possible 4fn configurations. Variable-temperature SQUID magnetometry and IR, NIR, and EPR spectroscopies on the complexes are utilized to provide a basis for the better understanding of the electronic structure of f-block complexes and their f-electron exchange interactions. Furthermore, the structures, calculated by restricted-core or allelectron methods, are compared along with the proposed mechanism of formation of the complexes. A strong antiferromagnetic coupling between the metal centers, mediated by the oxo groups, exists in the UVSmIII monomer, whereas the dimeric UVDyIII complex was found to show magnetic bistability at 3 K, a property required for the development of single-molecule magnets.JRC.E.6-Actinide researc