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Perception of Melodic Contour and Intonation in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evidence From Mandarin Speakers

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Abstract

Tone language experience benefits pitch processing in music and speech for typically developing individuals. No known studies have examined pitch processing in individuals with autism who speak a tone language. This study investigated discrimination and identification of melodic contour and speech intonation in a group of Mandarin-speaking individuals with high-functioning autism. Individuals with autism showed superior melodic contour identification but comparable contour discrimination relative to controls. In contrast, these individuals performed worse than controls on both discrimination and identification of speech intonation. These findings provide the first evidence for differential pitch processing in music and speech in tone language speakers with autism, suggesting that tone language experience may not compensate for speech intonation perception deficits in individuals with autism.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Yi Xu for valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. This work was supported by a Grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31470972) to C.J. Ethical approval was Granted by Shanghai Normal University in China, and written informed consents were obtained from all participants’ parents before testing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Education College, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China

    Jun Jiang

  2. Department of Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences, University College London, London, UK

    Fang Liu

  3. Music College, Shanghai Normal University, 100 E. Guilin Road, Shanghai, 200234, China

    Xuan Wan & Cunmei Jiang

  4. Institute of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China

    Cunmei Jiang

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  1. Jun Jiang
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  2. Fang Liu
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  3. Xuan Wan
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  4. Cunmei Jiang
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Correspondence to Cunmei Jiang.

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Jiang, J., Liu, F., Wan, X. et al. Perception of Melodic Contour and Intonation in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evidence From Mandarin Speakers. J Autism Dev Disord 45, 2067–2075 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2370-4

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