245 research outputs found
Artificial Grammar Learning of Melody Is Constrained by Melodic Inconsistency: Narmour's Principles Affect Melodic Learning
No full textConsiderable evidence suggests that people acquire artificial grammars incidentally and implicitly, an indispensable capacity for the acquisition of music or language. However, less research has been devoted to exploring constraints affecting incidental learning. Within the domain of music, the extent to which Narmour's (1990) melodic principles affect implicit learning of melodic structure was experimentally explored. Extending previous research (Rohrmeier, Rebuschat & Cross, 2011), the identical finite-state grammar is employed having terminals (the alphabet) manipulated so that melodies generated systematically violated Narmour's principles. Results indicate that Narmour-inconsistent melodic materials impede implicit learning. This further constitutes a case in which artificial grammar learning is affected by prior knowledge or processing constraints.Microsoft Research (Microsoft European PhD Scholarship Programme)Arts & Humanities Research Council (Great Britain
Core principles of melodic organisation emerge from transmission chains with random melodies
No full textMusic is a product of both biological and cultural evolution. Cultural transmission is the engine of cultural evolution and may play a role in the establishment of musical universals. Here, we examined how transmission dynamics can shape melodic features in music. Specifically, we tested whether random melodic seeds, in their transformation, take on properties known to characterise music within or even across cultures. Using an iterated learning paradigm, we investigated the transmission of random melodic seeds through a chain of non-musician participants (N = 64). We found that melodies reproduced vocally between “generations” became more similar to known musical scales, exhibited a predominance of consonant intervals, and reduced the number of scale degrees used. Additionally, we observed the previously documented tendency for large intervals to be followed by a change in direction, as well as features common to both music and speech including phrase-final lengthening and the Zipfian distribution of signalling units. As participants' vocalisations converged towards greater memorability, they exhibited decreased entropy, and their contours became smoother and more consistent. Finally, certain short melodic patterns became prominent motifs within the incipient musical “traditions” simulated by the chains. These emerging features may reflect a process shaped by (i) cognitive bottlenecks such as learnability; (ii) statistical properties of the processes and structures involved in inter-generational vocal transmission; but also by (iii) idiosyncratic cultural artefacts specific to the lab samples employed. Overall, our results demonstrate that fundamental aspects of melodic structure emerge naturally through the process of cultural transmission, as simulated in the lab.DCM
Processing of hierarchical syntactic structure in music
No full textHierarchical structure with nested nonlocal dependencies is a key feature of human language and can be identified theoretically in most pieces of tonal music. However, previous studies have argued against the perception of such structures in music. Here, we show processing of nonlocal dependencies in music. We presented chorales by J. S. Bach and modified versions in which the hierarchical structure was rendered irregular whereas the local structure was kept intact. Brain electric responses differed between regular and irregular hierarchical structures, in both musicians and nonmusicians. This finding indicates that, when listening to music, humans apply cognitive processes that are capable of dealing with long-distance dependencies resulting from hierarchically organized syntactic structures. Our results reveal that a brain mechanism fundamental for syntactic processing is engaged during the perception of music, indicating that processing of hierarchical structure with nested nonlocal dependencies is not just a key component of human language, but a multidomain capacity of human cognition
Implicit Learning of Recursive Context-Free Grammars
No full textContext-free grammars are fundamental for the description of linguistic syntax. However, most artificial grammar learning experiments have explored learning of simpler finite-state grammars, while studies exploring context-free grammars have not assessed awareness and implicitness. This paper explores the implicit learning of context-free grammars employing features of hierarchical organization, recursive embedding and long-distance dependencies. The grammars also featured the distinction between left-and right-branching structures, as well as between centre-and tail-embedding, both distinctions found in natural languages. People acquired unconscious knowledge of relations between grammatical classes even for dependencies over long distances, in ways that went beyond learning simpler relations (e.g. n-grams) between individual words. The structural distinctions drawn from linguistics also proved important as performance was greater for tail-embedding than centre-embedding structures. The results suggest the plausibility of implicit learning of complex context-free structures, which model some features of natural languages. They support the relevance of artificial grammar learning for probing mechanisms of language learning and challenge existing theories and computational models of implicit learning
sj-zip-1-msx-10.1177_10298649221122245 – Supplemental material for Hearing functional harmony in jazz: A perceptual study on music-theoretical accounts of extended tonality
No full textSupplemental material, sj-zip-1-msx-10.1177_10298649221122245 for Hearing functional harmony in jazz: A perceptual study on music-theoretical accounts of extended tonality by Gabriele Cecchetti, Steffen A. Herff, Christoph Finkensiep, Daniel Harasim and Martin A. Rohrmeier in Musicae Scientiae</p
sj-zip-2-msx-10.1177_10298649221122245 – Supplemental material for Hearing functional harmony in jazz: A perceptual study on music-theoretical accounts of extended tonality
No full textSupplemental material, sj-zip-2-msx-10.1177_10298649221122245 for Hearing functional harmony in jazz: A perceptual study on music-theoretical accounts of extended tonality by Gabriele Cecchetti, Steffen A. Herff, Christoph Finkensiep, Daniel Harasim and Martin A. Rohrmeier in Musicae Scientiae</p
sj-docx-3-msx-10.1177_10298649221122245 – Supplemental material for Hearing functional harmony in jazz: A perceptual study on music-theoretical accounts of extended tonality
No full textSupplemental material, sj-docx-3-msx-10.1177_10298649221122245 for Hearing functional harmony in jazz: A perceptual study on music-theoretical accounts of extended tonality by Gabriele Cecchetti, Steffen A. Herff, Christoph Finkensiep, Daniel Harasim and Martin A. Rohrmeier in Musicae Scientiae</p
sj-docx-4-msx-10.1177_10298649221122245 – Supplemental material for Hearing functional harmony in jazz: A perceptual study on music-theoretical accounts of extended tonality
No full textSupplemental material, sj-docx-4-msx-10.1177_10298649221122245 for Hearing functional harmony in jazz: A perceptual study on music-theoretical accounts of extended tonality by Gabriele Cecchetti, Steffen A. Herff, Christoph Finkensiep, Daniel Harasim and Martin A. Rohrmeier in Musicae Scientiae</p
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