The effect of tone language background on cue integration in pitch perception

Abstract

This study explores the effect of native language and musicality on voice quality cue integration in pitch perception. Previous work by Cui and Kang [(2019). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 146(6), 4086–4096] found no differences in pitch perception strategies between English and Mandarin speakers. The present study asks whether Cantonese listeners may perform differently, as Cantonese consists of multiple level tones. Participants completed two experiments: (i) a forced choice pitch classification experiment involving four spectral slope permutations that vary in fo across an 11 step continuum, and (ii) the MBEMA test that quantifies listeners' musicality. Results show that Cantonese speakers do not differ from English and Mandarin speakers in terms of overall categoricity and perceptual shift, that Cantonese speakers do not have advantages in musicality, and that musicality is a significant predictor for participants' pitch perception strategies. Listeners with higher musicality scores tend to rely more on fo cues than voice quality cues compared to listeners with lower musicality. These findings support the notion that voice quality integration in pitch perception is not language specific, and may be a universal psychoacoustic phenomenon at a non-lexical level.