Sensorimotor adaptation of pitch for prosody (Dahl et al., 2024)
Creators: name: Dahl, Kimberly L.
name: Cádiz, Manuel Díaz
name: Zuk, Jennifer
name: Guenther, Frank H.
name: E. Stepp, Cara
Publisher: name: ASHA journals
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 420110
subject: Speech pathology
classificationCode: 520405
subject: Psycholinguistics (incl. speech production and comprehension)

description: <b>Purpose:</b> This study examined how speakers adapt to fundamental frequency (<i>f</i><sub>o</sub>) errors that affect the use of prosody to convey linguistic meaning, whether <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> adaptation in that context relates to adaptation in linguistically neutral sustained vowels, and whether cue trading is reflected in responses in the prosodic cues of <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> and amplitude.<b>Method:</b> Twenty-four speakers said vowels and sentences while <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> was digitally altered to induce predictable errors. Shifts in <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> (±200 cents) were applied to the entire sustained vowel and one word (emphasized or unemphasized) in sentences. Two prosodic cues—<i> f</i><sub>o</sub> and amplitude—were extracted. The effects of <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> shifts, shift direction, and emphasis on <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> response magnitude were evaluated with repeated-measures analyses of variance. Relationships between adaptive <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> responses in sentences and vowels and between adaptive <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> and amplitude responses were evaluated with Spearman correlations.<b>Results:</b> Speakers adapted to <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> errors in both linguistically meaningful sentences and linguistically neutral vowels. Adaptive <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> responses of unemphasized words were smaller than those of emphasized words when <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> was shifted upward. There was no relationship between adaptive <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> responses in vowels and emphasized words, but adaptive <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> and amplitude responses were strongly, positively correlated.<b>Conclusions:</b> Sensorimotor adaptation occurs in response to <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> errors regardless of how disruptive the error is to linguistic meaning. Adaptation to <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> errors during sustained vowels may not involve the exact same mechanisms as sensorimotor adaptation as it occurs in meaningful speech. The relationship between adaptive responses in <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> and amplitude supports an integrated model of prosody.<b>Supplemental Material S1.</b> Group mean adaptive response in amplitude to downward (Panel A) and upward (Panel B) shifts in auditory feedback of <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> (±200 cents) during emphasized (blue) and unemphasized (dashed pink) words in running speech. Shaded areas are 95% confidence intervals.<b>Supplemental Material S2.</b> Group mean adaptive response in amplitude to a 200-cent downward shift in auditory feedback of <i>f</i><sub>o</sub> during sustained vowels. Shaded area is 95% confidence interval.<b>Supplemental Material S3.</b> Results of repeated-measures analyses of variance for normalized fundamental frequency (<i>f</i><sub>o</sub>) during sustained vowels and sentences with emphasized and unemphasized words, based on data extracted from the entire vowel/word (full window).Dahl, K. L., Cádiz, M. D., Zuk, J., Guenther, F. H., &amp; Stepp, C. E. (2024). Controlling pitch for prosody: Sensorimotor adaptation in linguistically meaningful contexts. <i>Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 67</i>(2), 440–454. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00460