Dynamic melody recognition : distinctiveness and the role of musical expertise.

Bailes, Freya

Abstract

The hypothesis that melodies are recognized at moments when they exhibit a distinctive musical pattern was tested. In a melody recognition experiment, point-of-recognition (POR) data were gathered from 32 listeners (16 musicians and 16 nonmusicians) judging 120 melodies. A series of models of melody recognition were developed, resulting from a stepwise multiple regression of two classes of information relating to melodic familiarity and melodic distinctiveness. Melodic distinctiveness measures were assembled through statistical analyses of over 15,000 Western themes and melodies. A significant model, explaining 85% of the variance, entered measures primarily of timing distinctiveness and pitch distinctiveness, but excluding familiarity, as predictors of POR. Differences between nonmusician and musician models suggest a processing shift from momentary to accumulated information with increased exposure to music. Supplemental materials for this article may be downloaded from http://mc.psychonomic-journals.org/content/supplemental.

Citation

Bailes, F. (2010). Dynamic melody recognition : distinctiveness and the role of musical expertise. Memory & cognition, 38(5), 641-650. https://doi.org/10.3758/MC.38.5.641

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 8, 2010
• Publication Date: 2010-07
• Deposit Date: Nov 13, 2014
• Journal: Memory & Cognition
• Print ISSN: 0090-502X
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 38
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 641-650
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/MC.38.5.641
• Keywords: Serial position; Musical training; Familiarity rating; Music perception; Scale degree
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/467296
• Additional Information: REF 2014 submission!
• Contract Date: Nov 13, 2014