Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Fixed Action Patterns01:06

Fixed Action Patterns

A fixed action pattern (FAP) is a specific, hard-wired sequence of behaviors that occurs in response to an external stimulus, called a sign stimulus. The behavior is “fixed” because it is essentially unchangeable—proceeding similarly across individuals of a species every time it occurs.
Synesthesia01:27

Synesthesia

Synesthesia is a remarkable condition where stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People with synesthesia experience a blending or crossing of their senses, such as sight and sound, leading to cross-modal sensations. In this condition, the stimulation of one sense, such as hearing a number or musical note, triggers an experience of another sense, like sensing a specific color, taste, or smell. People...
Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon01:10

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

The tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon is a cognitive experience characterized by a temporary inability to retrieve specific information from memory despite having a strong feeling of knowing the information. Although individuals cannot access the target word or detail, they frequently recall related elements, such as its initial letter, syllable count, or context. This partial retrieval often causes frustration, as one might recognize a familiar face or know that a name starts with a specific...
Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

Frequency-dependent Selection

When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.Positive Frequency-Dependent SelectionIn positive...
Pleiotropy01:33

Pleiotropy

Pleiotropy is the phenomenon in which a single gene impacts multiple, seemingly unrelated phenotypic traits. For example, defects in the SOX10 gene cause Waardenburg Syndrome Type 4, or WS4, which can cause defects in pigmentation, hearing impairments, and an absence of intestinal contractions necessary for elimination. This diversity of phenotypes results from the expression pattern of SOX10 in early embryonic and fetal development. SOX10 is found in neural crest cells that form melanocytes,...
Prosopagnosia01:24

Prosopagnosia

Prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, is the inability to recognize faces. In severe cases, individuals with prosopagnosia may not recognize close family members, including parents and spouses, by their faces. For instance, someone with prosopagnosia might walk past their child in a crowd, only realizing their mistake upon noticing their child's distinctive backpack or favorite jacket. Prosopagnosia specifically impairs facial recognition, while the recognition of other objects or...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

The specificity of sequential statistical learning: Statistical learning accumulates predictive information from unstructured input but is dissociable from (declarative) memory for words.

Cognition·2025
Same author

Transitional probabilities outweigh frequency of occurrence in statistical learning of simultaneously presented visual shapes.

Memory & cognition·2024
Same author

Socio-Cultural Values Are Risk Factors for COVID-19-Related Mortality.

Cross-cultural research : official journal of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research·2024
Same author

Hebbian learning can explain rhythmic neural entrainment to statistical regularities.

Developmental science·2024
Same author

Corrigendum to "When forgetting fosters learning: A neural network model for statistical learning" [Cognition (2021) 104621].

Cognition·2022
Same author

Hebbian, correlational learning provides a memory-less mechanism for Statistical Learning irrespective of implementational choices: Reply to Tovar and Westermann (2022).

Cognition·2022
Same journal

Chemotactic self-organization captures the dynamics of mammalian hair follicle patterning.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Tomographic imaging of superconducting order using particle-hole interference.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Inhibitory potential of autologous neutralizing antibodies sets quantitative limits on the rebound-competent HIV-1 reservoir.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Inferring epidemiological parameters under an infectious phylogeography model with visitor dynamics.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Analytical modeling for suction cup designs for skin-interfaced wearable devices.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Improving cell-free metabolism through direct integration of artificial respiratory chains.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Uncovering Beat Deafness: Detecting Rhythm Disorders with Synchronized Finger Tapping and Perceptual Timing Tasks
09:04

Uncovering Beat Deafness: Detecting Rhythm Disorders with Synchronized Finger Tapping and Perceptual Timing Tasks

Published on: March 16, 2015

Syntax-induced pattern deafness.

Ansgar D Endress1, Marc D Hauser

  • 1Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. ansgar.endress@m4x.org

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|November 19, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The human language syntactic system prevents adults from detecting simple word patterns, unlike other animals. This "syntax-induced pattern deafness" occurs even when the patterns are explicitly taught.

More Related Videos

Assessment of Audio-Tactile Sensory Substitution Training in Participants with Profound Deafness Using the Event-Related Potential Technique
11:39

Assessment of Audio-Tactile Sensory Substitution Training in Participants with Profound Deafness Using the Event-Related Potential Technique

Published on: September 7, 2022

Morphological and Functional Evaluation of Ribbon Synapses at Specific Frequency Regions of the Mouse Cochlea
09:54

Morphological and Functional Evaluation of Ribbon Synapses at Specific Frequency Regions of the Mouse Cochlea

Published on: May 10, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Uncovering Beat Deafness: Detecting Rhythm Disorders with Synchronized Finger Tapping and Perceptual Timing Tasks
09:04

Uncovering Beat Deafness: Detecting Rhythm Disorders with Synchronized Finger Tapping and Perceptual Timing Tasks

Published on: March 16, 2015

Assessment of Audio-Tactile Sensory Substitution Training in Participants with Profound Deafness Using the Event-Related Potential Technique
11:39

Assessment of Audio-Tactile Sensory Substitution Training in Participants with Profound Deafness Using the Event-Related Potential Technique

Published on: September 7, 2022

Morphological and Functional Evaluation of Ribbon Synapses at Specific Frequency Regions of the Mouse Cochlea
09:54

Morphological and Functional Evaluation of Ribbon Synapses at Specific Frequency Regions of the Mouse Cochlea

Published on: May 10, 2019

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Linguistics
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Perceptual systems often impose biased interpretations on sensory input.
  • These interpretations are automatic and limit conscious perception.
  • A similar phenomenon may occur in language processing.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if the human syntactic system hinders the perception of simple word repetition patterns.
  • To determine if syntactic constraints override basic pattern detection in language.

Main Methods:

  • Healthy adults listened to three-word sequences with specific syntactic structures.
  • Participants were tested on their ability to learn repetition patterns within syntactic categories.
  • Comparison was made with learning patterns in nonsyntactic categories and across languages.

Main Results:

  • Adults failed to learn repetition patterns in syntactic categories (e.g., noun-noun-verb).
  • Pattern learning occurred only when sequences were consistent with syntactically possible structures.
  • Learning was successful even with unknown languages, provided syntactic possibility.

Conclusions:

  • The human syntactic system obligatorily interprets word sequences, hindering simpler pattern detection.
  • This "syntax-induced pattern deafness" demonstrates how grammatical processing can obscure basic perceptual learning.
  • Language processing imposes constraints that affect auditory pattern recognition.