Musical Advantage in Thai Tone Word Learning

The relationship between music training and language performance has received considerable attention. Some studies showed that musicians outperform nonmusicians in tone word learning. However, the perceptual strategies driving these advantages remain unclear. This study examined (1) whether musicians and nonmusicians differed in their weighting for individual acoustic cues, (2) whether musicians outperformed nonmusicians in Thai tone discrimination and Thai tone word learning, and (3) whether musicians’ and nonmusicians’ weighting of the individual acoustic cues could predict their tone word learning accuracy. Twenty-four Cantonese musicians and 23 Cantonese nonmusicians participated in a speeded Thai tone AX discrimination task and a seven-session Thai tone word learning task over two days. Musicians outperformed nonmusicians in tone word learning. INDSCAL analysis estimated individual weights for three F0 dimensions: D1 (F0 slope), D2 (onset F0), and D3 (offset F0). No significant group differences in the overall cue weighting were found. The weighting of F0 slope benefited both groups in tone word learning but the weighting of offset F0 only aided musicians. The results suggest that musicians’ superior tone word learning abilities may originate from their enhanced ability to use acoustic cues to construct tonal representations at the phonological level. This process facilitates more efficient phonological encoding in tone word learning.