Context effects on musical chord categorization: Different forms of top-down feedback in speech and music?

Bob McMurray; Joel L Dennhardt; Andrew Struck-Marcell

doi:10.1080/03640210802222021

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Context effects on musical chord categorization: Different forms of top-down feedback in speech and music?

Bob McMurray, Joel L Dennhardt and Andrew Struck-Marcell

Cognitive science, Vol.32(5), pp.893-920

07/2008

DOI: 10.1080/03640210802222021

PMCID: PMC3073321

PMID: 21490878

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Abstract

A critical issue in perception is the manner in which top-down expectancies guide lower-level perceptual processes. In speech, a common paradigm is to construct continua ranging between two phonetic endpoints and to determine how higher level lexical context influences the perceived boundary. We applied this approach to music, presenting subjects with major/minor triad continua after brief musical contexts. Two experiments yielded results that differed from classic results in speech perception. In speech, context generally expands the category of the expected stimuli. We found the opposite in music: the major/minor boundary shifted toward the expected category, contracting it. Together, these experiments support the hypothesis that musical expectancy can feed back to affect lower-level perceptual processes. However, it may do so in a way that differs fundamentally from what has been seen in other domains.

Interactive Activation

Feedback

Triad Identification

Context Effects

Music Perception

Speech Perception

Perceptual Categorization

Details

Title: Subtitle: Context effects on musical chord categorization: Different forms of top-down feedback in speech and music?
Creators: Bob McMurray - Dept. of Psychology, University of Iowa
Joel L Dennhardt - Dept. of Psychology, University of Iowa
Andrew Struck-Marcell - Royal College of Music, London
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Cognitive science, Vol.32(5), pp.893-920
DOI: 10.1080/03640210802222021
PMID: 21490878
PMCID: PMC3073321
NLM abbreviation: Cogn Sci
ISSN: 0364-0213
eISSN: 1551-6709
Language: English
Date published: 07/2008
Academic Unit: Communication Sciences and Disorders; Linguistics; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Otolaryngology
Record Identifier: 9984070285202771

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