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Clemente A, Kaplan TM, Pearce MT. Perceptual representations mediate effects of stimulus properties on liking for music. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2024; 1533:169-180. [PMID: 38319962 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2024]
Abstract
Perceptual pleasure and its concomitant hedonic value play an essential role in everyday life, motivating behavior and thus influencing how individuals choose to spend their time and resources. However, how pleasure arises from perception of sensory information remains relatively poorly understood. In particular, research has neglected the question of how perceptual representations mediate the relationships between stimulus properties and liking (e.g., stimulus symmetry can only affect liking if it is perceived). The present research addresses this gap for the first time, analyzing perceptual and liking ratings of 96 nonmusicians (power of 0.99) and finding that perceptual representations mediate effects of feature-based and information-based stimulus properties on liking for a novel set of melodies varying in balance, contour, symmetry, or complexity. Moreover, variability due to individual differences and stimuli accounts for most of the variance in liking. These results have broad implications for psychological research on sensory valuation, advocating a more explicit account of random variability and the mediating role of perceptual representations of stimulus properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Clemente
- Human Evolution and Cognition Research Group, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical Research, L'Hospitalet De Llobregat, Spain
- School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Thomas M Kaplan
- School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Marcus T Pearce
- School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
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2
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Marjieh R, Harrison PMC, Lee H, Deligiannaki F, Jacoby N. Timbral effects on consonance disentangle psychoacoustic mechanisms and suggest perceptual origins for musical scales. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1482. [PMID: 38369535 PMCID: PMC11258268 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45812-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/20/2024] Open
Abstract
The phenomenon of musical consonance is an essential feature in diverse musical styles. The traditional belief, supported by centuries of Western music theory and psychological studies, is that consonance derives from simple (harmonic) frequency ratios between tones and is insensitive to timbre. Here we show through five large-scale behavioral studies, comprising 235,440 human judgments from US and South Korean populations, that harmonic consonance preferences can be reshaped by timbral manipulations, even as far as to induce preferences for inharmonic intervals. We show how such effects may suggest perceptual origins for diverse scale systems ranging from the gamelan's slendro scale to the tuning of Western mean-tone and equal-tempered scales. Through computational modeling we show that these timbral manipulations dissociate competing psychoacoustic mechanisms underlying consonance, and we derive an updated computational model combining liking of harmonicity, disliking of fast beats (roughness), and liking of slow beats. Altogether, this work showcases how large-scale behavioral experiments can inform classical questions in auditory perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raja Marjieh
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
- Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
| | - Peter M C Harrison
- Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
- Centre for Music and Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Harin Lee
- Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Fotini Deligiannaki
- Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute for AI Safety and Security, Bonn, Germany
| | - Nori Jacoby
- Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
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3
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Cheung VKM, Harrison PMC, Koelsch S, Pearce MT, Friederici AD, Meyer L. Cognitive and sensory expectations independently shape musical expectancy and pleasure. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20220420. [PMID: 38104601 PMCID: PMC10725761 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Expectation is crucial for our enjoyment of music, yet the underlying generative mechanisms remain unclear. While sensory models derive predictions based on local acoustic information in the auditory signal, cognitive models assume abstract knowledge of music structure acquired over the long term. To evaluate these two contrasting mechanisms, we compared simulations from four computational models of musical expectancy against subjective expectancy and pleasantness ratings of over 1000 chords sampled from 739 US Billboard pop songs. Bayesian model comparison revealed that listeners' expectancy and pleasantness ratings were predicted by the independent, non-overlapping, contributions of cognitive and sensory expectations. Furthermore, cognitive expectations explained over twice the variance in listeners' perceived surprise compared to sensory expectations, suggesting a larger relative importance of long-term representations of music structure over short-term sensory-acoustic information in musical expectancy. Our results thus emphasize the distinct, albeit complementary, roles of cognitive and sensory expectations in shaping musical pleasure, and suggest that this expectancy-driven mechanism depends on musical information represented at different levels of abstraction along the neural hierarchy. This article is part of the theme issue 'Art, aesthetics and predictive processing: theoretical and empirical perspectives'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent K. M. Cheung
- Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc., Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0022, Japan
- Department of Neuropsychology, Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc., Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0022, Japan
- Institute of Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan
| | - Peter M. C. Harrison
- Centre for Music and Science, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Music, 11 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DP, UK
- Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London, E1 4NS, UK
| | - Stefan Koelsch
- Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, 5009, Norway
| | - Marcus T. Pearce
- Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London, E1 4NS, UK
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus N, 8200, Denmark
| | - Angela D. Friederici
- Department of Neuropsychology, Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc., Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0022, Japan
| | - Lars Meyer
- Research Group Language Cycles, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig 04103, Germany
- Clinic for Phoniatrics and Pedaudiology, University Hospital Münster, Münster, 48149, Germany
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4
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Breaden Madden G, Herff SA, Beveridge S, Jabusch HC. Emotional cherry picking: the role of personality and goal orientation in selective emotion regulation for musical practice. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1201442. [PMID: 37575416 PMCID: PMC10415679 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1201442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Emotion regulation is an important part of optimising performance and successful goal pursuit in practice-based tasks such as making music. Musicians may regulate their own emotions during the course of their musical practice in order to improve their performance and ultimately attain their practice-related goals. The specific emotions they target may depend upon their personality traits but may also relate to the nature of their goal orientation, and the interaction between the two. This study investigates whether the emotions desired by musicians in their musical practice were dependent on their personality traits and Mastery goal orientation (the desire to master musical and technical skills). Methods Via an online questionnaire, 421 musicians completed a personality scale and answered questions relating to their mastery practice goals. They also completed emotion scales indicating how strongly they desired to increase or decrease the intensity of specific emotions when practicing. Results Overall, musicians preferred to up-regulate positive rather than negative emotions [paired t(420) = 58.13, p < 0.001]. Bayesian Mixed Effects models showed that personality traits affected musicians' desire to regulate specific emotions. For example, higher levels of Agreeableness predicted greater desire to increase positive but not negative emotions, whereas Extraversion predicted greater desire to increase anger [Est. = 0.05, SE = 0.03, Odds (Est. > 0) = 43.03] but not positive emotions. The inclusion of Mastery goal orientation either amplified or mitigated these effects in several cases, and also introduced new trait-emotion relationships. Findings confirm a general hedonic principle underlying the emotions musicians desired in their musical practice. However, predicted by personality traits, musicians also sometimes sought to increase the intensity of unpleasant emotions. Discussion These findings complement existing research that suggests that some Mastery-oriented musicians may seek an emotional state consisting of both positive and negative emotions. This and future studies on this topic may contribute to a better understanding of individual differences in emotion regulation ability as a potential aspect of individualised musical practice strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerard Breaden Madden
- Institute of Musicians’ Medicine (IMM), University of Music Carl Maria Von Weber, Dresden, Germany
| | - Steffen A. Herff
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Scott Beveridge
- Institute of Musicians’ Medicine (IMM), University of Music Carl Maria Von Weber, Dresden, Germany
| | - Hans-Christian Jabusch
- Institute of Musicians’ Medicine (IMM), University of Music Carl Maria Von Weber, Dresden, Germany
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5
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Kurzom N, Lorenzi I, Mendelsohn A. Increasing the complexity of isolated musical chords benefits concurrent associative memory formation. Sci Rep 2023; 13:7563. [PMID: 37161040 PMCID: PMC10169783 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-34345-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2022] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The effects of background music on learning and memory are inconsistent, partially due to the intrinsic complexity and diversity of music, as well as variability in music perception and preference. By stripping down musical harmony to its building blocks, namely discrete chords, we explored their effects on memory formation of unfamiliar word-image associations. Chords, defined as two or more simultaneously played notes, differ in the number of tones and inter-tone intervals, yielding varying degrees of harmonic complexity, which translate into a continuum of consonance to dissonance percepts. In the current study, participants heard four different types of musical chords (major, minor, medium complex, and high complex chords) while they learned new word-image pairs of a foreign language. One day later, their memory for the word-image pairs was tested, along with a chord rating session, in which they were required to assess the musical chords in terms of perceived valence, tension, and the extent to which the chords grabbed their attention. We found that musical chords containing dissonant elements were associated with higher memory performance for the word-image pairs compared with consonant chords. Moreover, tension positively mediated the relationship between roughness (a key feature of complexity) and memory, while valence negatively mediated this relationship. The reported findings are discussed in light of the effects that basic musical features have on tension and attention, in turn affecting cognitive processes of associative learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nawras Kurzom
- Sagol Department of Neurobiology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
- The Institute of Information Processing and Decision Making (IIPDM), University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
| | - Ilaria Lorenzi
- Sagol Department of Neurobiology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- The Institute of Information Processing and Decision Making (IIPDM), University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Avi Mendelsohn
- Sagol Department of Neurobiology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- The Institute of Information Processing and Decision Making (IIPDM), University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
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6
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Lahdelma I, Eerola T. Data-driven theory formulation or theory-driven data interpretation?: Comment on "Consonance and dissonance perception. A critical review of the historical sources, multidisciplinary findings, and main hypotheses" by Di Stefano et al. Phys Life Rev 2023; 45:56-59. [PMID: 37148786 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2023] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
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7
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Pino Escobar G, Tuninetti A, Antoniou M, Escudero P. Understanding preschoolers' word learning success in different scenarios: disambiguation meets statistical learning and eBook reading. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1118142. [PMID: 37139006 PMCID: PMC10150025 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1118142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Children's ability to learn new words during their preschool years is crucial for further academic success. Previous research suggests that children rely on different learning mechanisms to acquire new words depending on the available context and linguistic information. To date, there is limited research integrating different paradigms to provide a cohesive view of the mechanisms and processes involved in preschool children's word learning. We presented 4 year-old children (n = 47) with one of three different novel word-learning scenarios to test their ability to connect novel words to their correspondent referents without explicit instruction to do so. The scenarios were tested with three exposure conditions of different nature: (i) mutual exclusivity-target novel word-referent pair presented with a familiar referent, prompting fast-mapping via disambiguation, (ii) cross-situational-target novel word-referent pair presented next to an unfamiliar referent prompting statistically tracking the target pairs across trials, and (iii) eBook - target word-referent pairs presented within an audio-visual electronic storybook (eBook), prompting inferring meaning incidentally. Results show children succeed at learning the new words above chance in all three scenarios, with higher performance in eBook and mutual exclusivity than in cross-situational word learning. This illustrates children's astounding ability to learn while coping with uncertainty and varying degrees of ambiguity, which are common in real-world situations. Findings extend our understanding of how preschoolers learn new words more or less successfully depending on specific word learning scenarios, which should be taken into account when working on vocabulary development for school readiness in the preschool years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gloria Pino Escobar
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
- *Correspondence: Gloria Pino Escobar,
| | - Alba Tuninetti
- Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - Mark Antoniou
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Paola Escudero
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
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8
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Escudero P, Smit EA, Mulak KE. Explaining L2 Lexical Learning in Multiple Scenarios: Cross-Situational Word Learning in L1 Mandarin L2 English Speakers. Brain Sci 2022; 12:1618. [PMID: 36552078 PMCID: PMC9775897 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12121618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2022] [Revised: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Adults commonly struggle with perceiving and recognizing the sounds and words of a second language (L2), especially when the L2 sounds do not have a counterpart in the learner's first language (L1). We examined how L1 Mandarin L2 English speakers learned pseudo English words within a cross-situational word learning (CSWL) task previously presented to monolingual English and bilingual Mandarin-English speakers. CSWL is ambiguous because participants are not provided with direct mappings of words and object referents. Rather, learners discern word-object correspondences through tracking multiple co-occurrences across learning trials. The monolinguals and bilinguals tested in previous studies showed lower performance for pseudo words that formed vowel minimal pairs (e.g., /dit/-/dɪt/) than pseudo word which formed consonant minimal pairs (e.g., /bɔn/-/pɔn/) or non-minimal pairs which differed in all segments (e.g., /bɔn/-/dit/). In contrast, L1 Mandarin L2 English listeners struggled to learn all word pairs. We explain this seemingly contradicting finding by considering the multiplicity of acoustic cues in the stimuli presented to all participant groups. Stimuli were produced in infant-directed-speech (IDS) in order to compare performance by children and adults and because previous research had shown that IDS enhances L1 and L2 acquisition. We propose that the suprasegmental pitch variation in the vowels typical of IDS stimuli might be perceived as lexical tone distinctions for tonal language speakers who cannot fully inhibit their L1 activation, resulting in high lexical competition and diminished learning during an ambiguous word learning task. Our results are in line with the Second Language Linguistic Perception (L2LP) model which proposes that fine-grained acoustic information from multiple sources and the ability to switch between language modes affects non-native phonetic and lexical development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola Escudero
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour, and Development, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Eline A. Smit
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour, and Development, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
- Department of Linguistics, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Karen E. Mulak
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour, and Development, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
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9
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Smit EA, Milne AJ, Sarvasy HS, Dean RT. Emotional responses in Papua New Guinea show negligible evidence for a universal effect of major versus minor music. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0269597. [PMID: 35767551 PMCID: PMC9242494 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0269597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Music is a vital part of most cultures and has a strong impact on emotions [1-5]. In Western cultures, emotive valence is strongly influenced by major and minor melodies and harmony (chords and their progressions) [6-13]. Yet, how pitch and harmony affect our emotions, and to what extent these effects are culturally mediated or universal, is hotly debated [2, 5, 14-20]. Here, we report an experiment conducted in a remote cloud forest region of Papua New Guinea, across several communities with similar traditional music but differing levels of exposure to Western-influenced tonal music. One hundred and seventy participants were presented with pairs of major and minor cadences (chord progressions) and melodies, and chose which of them made them happier. The experiment was repeated by 60 non-musicians and 19 musicians in Sydney, Australia. Bayesian analyses show that, for cadences, there is strong evidence that greater happiness was reported for major than minor in every community except one: the community with minimal exposure to Western-like music. For melodies, there is strong evidence that greater happiness was reported for those with higher mean pitch (major melodies) than those with lower mean pitch (minor melodies) in only one of the three PNG communities and in both Sydney groups. The results show that the emotive valence of major and minor is strongly associated with exposure to Western-influenced music and culture, although we cannot exclude the possibility of universality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eline Adrianne Smit
- Department of Linguistics, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Milperra, NSW, Australia
| | - Andrew J. Milne
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Milperra, NSW, Australia
| | - Hannah S. Sarvasy
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Milperra, NSW, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Roger T. Dean
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Milperra, NSW, Australia
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AUDIO ANALYSIS REVEALS MUTUAL ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN CLIENTS’ AND THERAPISTS’ VOCAL TIMBRES IN GUIDED IMAGERY AND MUSIC SESSIONS. ARTS IN PSYCHOTHERAPY 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.aip.2022.101937] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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11
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Smit EA, Milne AJ, Escudero P. Music Perception Abilities and Ambiguous Word Learning: Is There Cross-Domain Transfer in Nonmusicians? Front Psychol 2022; 13:801263. [PMID: 35401340 PMCID: PMC8984940 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.801263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2021] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Perception of music and speech is based on similar auditory skills, and it is often suggested that those with enhanced music perception skills may perceive and learn novel words more easily. The current study tested whether music perception abilities are associated with novel word learning in an ambiguous learning scenario. Using a cross-situational word learning (CSWL) task, nonmusician adults were exposed to word-object pairings between eight novel words and visual referents. Novel words were either non-minimal pairs differing in all sounds or minimal pairs differing in their initial consonant or vowel. In order to be successful in this task, learners need to be able to correctly encode the phonological details of the novel words and have sufficient auditory working memory to remember the correct word-object pairings. Using the Mistuning Perception Test (MPT) and the Melodic Discrimination Test (MDT), we measured learners’ pitch perception and auditory working memory. We predicted that those with higher MPT and MDT values would perform better in the CSWL task and in particular for novel words with high phonological overlap (i.e., minimal pairs). We found that higher musical perception skills led to higher accuracy for non-minimal pairs and minimal pairs differing in their initial consonant. Interestingly, this was not the case for vowel minimal pairs. We discuss the results in relation to theories of second language word learning such as the Second Language Perception model (L2LP).
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Affiliation(s)
- Eline A. Smit
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Canberra, ACT, Australia
- *Correspondence: Eline A. Smit,
| | - Andrew J. Milne
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Paola Escudero
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Canberra, ACT, Australia
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12
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McGregor KK, Smolak E, Jones M, Oleson J, Eden N, Arbisi-Kelm T, Pomper R. What Children with Developmental Language Disorder Teach Us About Cross-Situational Word Learning. Cogn Sci 2022; 46:e13094. [PMID: 35122309 PMCID: PMC9285947 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2021] [Revised: 12/20/2021] [Accepted: 12/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) served as a test case for determining the role of extant vocabulary knowledge, endogenous attention, and phonological working memory abilities in cross‐situational word learning. First‐graders (Mage = 7 years; 3 months), 44 with typical development (TD) and 28 with DLD, completed a cross‐situational word‐learning task comprised six cycles, followed by retention tests and independent assessments of attention, memory, and vocabulary. Children with DLD scored lower than those with TD on all measures of learning and retention, a performance gap that emerged in the first cycle of the cross‐situational protocol and that we attribute to weaknesses in initial encoding. Over cycles, children with DLD learned words at a similar rate as their TD peers but they were less flexible in their strategy use, demonstrating a propose‐but‐verify approach but never a statistical aggregation approach. Also, they drew upon different mechanisms to support their learning. Attention played a greater role for the children with DLD, whereas extant vocabulary size played a greater role for the children with TD. Children navigate the problem space of cross‐situational learning via varied routes. This conclusion is offered as motivation for theorists to capture all learners, not just the most typical ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karla K McGregor
- Center for Childhood Deafness, Language and Learning, Boys Town National Research Hospital.,Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Iowa
| | - Erin Smolak
- Center for Childhood Deafness, Language and Learning, Boys Town National Research Hospital
| | | | | | - Nichole Eden
- Center for Childhood Deafness, Language and Learning, Boys Town National Research Hospital
| | - Timothy Arbisi-Kelm
- Center for Childhood Deafness, Language and Learning, Boys Town National Research Hospital
| | - Ronald Pomper
- Center for Childhood Deafness, Language and Learning, Boys Town National Research Hospital
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13
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Lahdelma I, Eerola T, Armitage J. Is Harmonicity a Misnomer for Cultural Familiarity in Consonance Preferences? Front Psychol 2022; 13:802385. [PMID: 35153957 PMCID: PMC8833847 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.802385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2021] [Accepted: 01/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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14
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Abstract
The perception of consonance and dissonance in intervals and chords is influenced by psychoacoustic and cultural factors. Past research has provided conflicting observations about the role of frequency in assessing musical consonance that may stem from comparisons of limited frequency bands without much theorizing or modeling. Here we examine the effect of register on perceptual consonance of chords. Based on two acoustic principles, we predict a decrease in consonance at low frequencies (roughness) and a decrease of consonance at high frequencies (sharpness). Due to these two separate principles, we hypothesize that frequency will have a curvilinear impact on consonance. A selection of tetrads varying in consonance were presented in seven registers spanning 30 to 2600 Hz. Fifty-five participants rated the stimuli in an online experiment. The effect of register on consonance ratings was clear and largely according to the predictions; The low registers impacted consonance negatively and the highest two registers also received significantly lower consonance ratings than the middle registers. The impact of register on consonance could be accurately described with a cubic relationship. Overall, the influence of roughness was more pronounced on consonance ratings than sharpness. Together, these findings clarify previous empirical efforts to model the effect of frequency on consonance through basic acoustic principles. They further suggest that a credible account of consonance and dissonance in music needs to incorporate register.
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Lahdelma I, Athanasopoulos G, Eerola T. Sweetness is in the ear of the beholder: chord preference across United Kingdom and Pakistani listeners. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2021; 1502:72-84. [PMID: 34240419 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2021] [Revised: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
The majority of research in the field of music perception has been conducted with Western participants, and it has remained unclear which aspects of music perception are culture dependent, and which are universal. The current study compared how participants unfamiliar with Western music (people from the Khowar and Kalash tribes native to Northwest Pakistan with minimal exposure to Western music) perceive affect (positive versus negative) in musical chords compared with United Kingdom (UK) listeners, as well as the overall preference for these chords. The stimuli consisted of four distinct chord types (major, minor, augmented, and chromatic) and were played as both vertical blocks (pitches presented concurrently) and arpeggios (pitches presented successively). The results suggest that the Western listener major-positive minor-negative affective distinction is opposite for Northwest Pakistani listeners, arguably because of the reversed prevalence of these chords in the two music cultures. The aversion to the harsh dissonance of the chromatic cluster is present cross-culturally, but the preference for the consonance of the major triad varies between UK and Northwest Pakistani listeners, depending on cultural familiarity. Our findings imply not only notable cultural variation but also commonalities in chord perception across Western and non-Western listeners.
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Affiliation(s)
- Imre Lahdelma
- Department of Music, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | | | - Tuomas Eerola
- Department of Music, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
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Athanasopoulos G, Eerola T, Lahdelma I, Kaliakatsos-Papakostas M. Harmonic organisation conveys both universal and culture-specific cues for emotional expression in music. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0244964. [PMID: 33439887 PMCID: PMC7806179 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2020] [Accepted: 12/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous research conducted on the cross-cultural perception of music and its emotional content has established that emotions can be communicated across cultures at least on a rudimentary level. Here, we report a cross-cultural study with participants originating from two tribes in northwest Pakistan (Khow and Kalash) and the United Kingdom, with both groups being naïve to the music of the other respective culture. We explored how participants assessed emotional connotations of various Western and non-Western harmonisation styles, and whether cultural familiarity with a harmonic idiom such as major and minor mode would consistently relate to emotion communication. The results indicate that Western concepts of harmony are not relevant for participants unexposed to Western music when other emotional cues (tempo, pitch height, articulation, timbre) are kept relatively constant. At the same time, harmonic style alone has the ability to colour the emotional expression in music if it taps the appropriate cultural connotations. The preference for one harmonisation style over another, including the major-happy/minor-sad distinction, is influenced by culture. Finally, our findings suggest that although differences emerge across different harmonisation styles, acoustic roughness influences the expression of emotion in similar ways across cultures; preference for consonance however seems to be dependent on cultural familiarity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Tuomas Eerola
- Dept of Music, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Imre Lahdelma
- Dept of Music, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
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