The ability to understand speech in one’s native language is thought to be universal. This intuitive assumption implies that literate and illiterate individuals share at least the most basic speech processing skill that allows them to recognise spoken words. Our study provides neurophysiological evidence (Mismatch Negativity) against this claim by showing that speech representations stored in literates’ “phonological” lexicon are contaminated by orthographic features. This observation questions the universality of psycholinguistic models of spoken word recognition which have been implemented exclusively based on findings from (highly) literate participants.

Chotiga Pattamadilok, Shuai Wang, Deirdre Bolger, & Anne-Sophie Dubarry.
« Learning to Read Transforms Phonological into Phonographic Representations ».
2025. Scientific Reports 15 (1): 5398. –  @HAL

Handwriting is a complex activity involving temporal and rhythmic organization. We tested whether this graphic movement can be influenced by listening to rhythmic cues. Second and Fifth Graders were asked to trace loops while listening to (i) a melodic background without a metronome, (ii) a melodic background with a slow metronome (1.6 Hz), or (iii) a melodic background with a faster metronome (2.2 Hz). Rhythmic background influenced writing kinematics differently depending on grade and tempo. The youngest group increased their velocity in the presence of the rhythms, whereas the oldest group slowed down in the presence of the slow metronome. This differential effect of tempo suggests that the rhythmic background influences children’s writing differently according to their individual writing frequency.

Margaux Lê, Marianne Jover, Aline Frey, & Jérémy Danna.
Influence of Musical Background on Children’s Handwriting: Effects of Melody and Rhythm
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 252 (2025):106184 –  @HAL