Perceiving sounds: analytic and synthetic listening, global-local processing and possible links with empathy and self-construal

Perceiving sounds: analytic and synthetic listening, global-local processing and possible links with empathy and self-construal Olga Tsoumani (olga.tsoumani@kuleuven.be) Department of Marketing and Organisation KU Leuven, Bus 3545, 3000 Leuven, Belgium Marie Postma-Nilsenova (m.nilsenova@tilburguniversity.edu) Department of Communication and Information Sciences, Tilburg University, P.O. Box 9013, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands Abstract In two experiments we examined the effects of training on auditory perception bias (Experiment 1), the relationship between auditory perception bias and global-local processing (Experiment 2), as well as the relationship between global- local auditory processing, empathy and self-construal (Experiment 2). The present findings are discussed in relation to their implications for research in auditory perception and the perception of others’ emotional states. Introduction “C'est quoi, le pitch? ” used to be the favorite question of the famous French TV talk show host, Thierry Ardisson, when he was interviewing writers, film makers and politicians alike. Knowing what the pitch is may not just be important on French television but plays an important role in our development of linguistic abilities as well. Starting in early infancy, our early auditory ability to process pitch and detect pitch contour deviations appears to be tightly linked to our ability to extract linguistic rules (Mueller, Friederici, & Mannel, 2012). Pitch pattern perception has been shown to be an important predictor of reading performance both in skilled readers and children with developmental dyslexia (Foxton et al., 2003; Ziegler et al., 2012) and to play a role in L2 acquisition (Wong & Perrachione, 2007). However, pitch processing and production play an important social role in two ways: First, pitch modulation is a carrier of information about speakers' emotions and attitudes (Scherer et al., 1991; Juslin & Laukka, 2003). Second, pitch imitation is exploited in promoting social convergence and status accommodation (Gregory, 1983; Gregory & Hoyt, 1982; Gregory, Webster, & Huang, 1993; Gregory & Webster, 1996; Gregory, Dagan, & Webster, 1997; Gregory & Gallagher, 2002) and expressing ingroup-outgroup bias (Babel, 2009). In sum, an early assessment and training of a listener's ability to process rapid pitch changes in the speech signal could contribute to the development of tools for diagnosis and remediation of different types of language and communication disorders. What makes pitch detection difficult? Pitch is, roughly, the perceptual correlate of fundamental frequency, produced primarily by the vibrations of vocal chords. It is both the most prominent and most elusive component of the complex sound produced by human articulators because its perception is influenced both at the level of primary auditory mechanisms in the ear (which, mainly due to the nonlinearities in the cochlea, may supply input in the fundamental frequency region; Moore, 2003) and at the level of neural processing in the auditory cortex (Schneider et al., 2005). Interestingly, the way complex sounds are perceived seems to differ systematically between individuals: Some listeners – known as f 0 or synthetic/holistic listeners - focus primarily on the region between 50-500 Hz, the region where the fundamental frequency can be found. Others – known as spectral/analytic listeners - rely on analyzing the harmonic constituents of the sound and focus on the spectrum “as a whole” (e.g. von Helmholtz, 1885). A neurological basis has been suggested for this difference, according to which there is a leftward vs. rightward asymmetry of the lateral Heschl’s gyrus for synthetic and analytics listeners, respectively (e.g. Schneider et al., 2005). The auditory perception bias has been almost exclusively analyzed in the context of musical training, but the results of individual studies indicate that it may also affect linguistic performance (Wong & Perrachione, 2007; Wong et al., 2008), as well as pitch imitation (Postma- Nilsenova & Postma, 2012). Most of the research on the synthetic and analytic listener types suggests that their auditory perception bias is a stable individual difference, possibly caused by genetic factors (Dediu & Ladd, 2007; Wong, Chandrasekaran, & Zheng, 2012). However, musical competence and training can affect the listening mode and lead to a shift from spectral to fundamental listening (Seither-Preisler et al., 2007). Also, repeated exposure to stimuli with a missing fundamental frequency over the course of several months appears to facilitate the synthetic listening mode and thus, presumably, to improve pitch perception (Seither-Preisler et al., 2007; Postma-Nilsenova & Postma, 2012). In the first part of our study, we explore the possible effect of training on auditory perception bias. More specifically, we aim to find out whether training subjects into perceiving changes in pitch direction according to changes in fundamental frequency or changes in the spectrum can affect their subsequent listening mode. In the second part of the study, we explore the link between the auditory perception bias and listeners' sensitivity to local