Comparing content and timing predictions in music and speech: How domain and musical training shape our predictions

Prediction is a fundamental aspect of cognition that allows us to anticipate what is about to occur, and when. However, little is known about how these predictions are related, and whether they differ depending on stimulus domain (i.e., music, speech).

To investigate these questions, content and timing predictability were comparably manipulated within melodies and sentences to investigate effects on completion judgements for good and bad note/word endings as a measure of prediction sensitivity. Musicians (n=26) and non-musicians (n=26) were recruited to investigate effects of music training on prediction in music, and possible relationships between prediction sensitivity in music and speech.

Different result patterns were found for content and timing manipulations depending on domain and musical training. For melodies, timing predictability influenced sensitivity independently of content predictability and musical training. For sentences, timing predictability only influenced musicians when speech content was predictable, suggesting an interaction between content and timing related to musical training. Content predictability influenced sensitivity more for sentences than melodies, whereas timing predictability influenced melodies more than sentences.

Musicians were more sensitive than non-musicians for melodies, and for sentences with unpredictable content. These differences were not accounted for by working memory capacity.

Overall, these results suggest that content and timing affect music and speech sensitivity in different ways, perhaps depending on the relative importance of these cues for each domain, and also the musical expertise of the listener. These findings have implications for understanding different types of prediction in the brain, and effects of expertise on predictive processing.