Temporal Processing and Dichotic Listening in bilingual and non-bilingual descendants

The aim of this study was to analyze the auditory behavior in Pitch(PPS) and Duration(DPS)Pattern Sequence tests and in the Dichotic Listening (Dichotic Digits Test/DDT) of familiar and unfamiliar words (Staggered Spondaic Words/SSW) in Japanese descendants that speak Japanese and Japanese descendants that do not speak Japanese, and to compare these findings with a group of non-Japanese descendants who have no contact with the Japanese language. Method: 60 High School graduates aged 17 to 40 years were evaluated. Subjects were divided into three groups: GJJ, Japanese descendants that speak Brazilian Portuguese and Japanese; GJP, Japanese descendants that speak Portuguese and do not speak Japanese; GBP non-oriental descendants that speak Brazilian Portuguese. All subjects filled in a questionnaire about their languages and musical abilities. Their ability in pattern-recognition tests was assessed by the PPS and DPS tests, their ability to recognize familiar words was tested by DDT and their ability to recognize unfamiliar words was tested by SSW. Results. GJJ and GJP showed higher performances than the group of Brazilians (GBP) in the PPS. Results: show a statistically significant difference among the groups with a higher mean for the SSW results in GJJ compred to GJP and GBP. Conclusion:The results of SSW test seem to be influenced by bilingualism.