Modularity in musical processing: The automaticity of harmonic priming.

Abstract

Three experiments investigated the modularity of harmonic expectations that are based on cultural schemata despite the availability of more predictive veridical information. Participants were presented with prime-target chord pairs and made an intonation judgment about each target. Schematic expectation was manipulated by the combination of prime and target, with some transitions being schematically more probable than others. Veridical information in the form of prime-target previews, local transition probabilities, or valid versus invalid previews was also provided. Processing was facilitated when a schematically probable target chord followed the prime. Furthermore, this effect was independent of all manipulations of veridical expectation. A solution to L. B. Meyer's (1967b) query "On Rehearing Music" is suggested, in which schematic knowledge contributes to harmonic expectation in a modular manner regardless of whether any veridical knowledge exists.

Tonal expectations influence pitch perception

“…This result indicates that listeners process the tonal hierarchy of the context and automatically develop tonal expectations. Automatic musical expectations have been previously shown for chord processing with the harmonic-priming paradigm Justus & Bharucha, 2001;Tillmann & Bigand, 2004;.…”

Varieties of musical experience

“…Yet all levels of representation are in causal play. The underlying processing of pitch and harmony goes forward inexorably and automatically (see Justus & Bharucha, 2001), maintaining patterns of activation at each of several levels of abstraction, regardless of whether or not we are aware. Attention can be focused on one level at the expense of another, or switched back and forth, yielding glimpses of recognition of structural features.…”

“…Third, they are modular in Fodor's narrow sense of being informationally encapsulated, cognitively impenetrable and automatic (Fodor, 1983(Fodor, , 2000. For example, a chord automatically generates expectations for chords that typically follow, even if the listener knows that an unexpected chord is going to follow (Justus & Bharucha, 2001). These expectations are driven automatically by a causal mapping from a representation of the context chord onto a set of activations that predict or anticipate the next chord (Bharucha & Stoeckig, 1986;Bharucha, 1987).…”

Melody and Pitch Processing in Five Musical Savants with Congenital Blindness

“…According to John theory of musical cognition, musical perception and memory depend on how the pattern and structure of music are cognitively represented in the brain. Music is typically highly regular and rigidly structured (Justus & Bharucha, 2001). By constructing, storing and recalling the use of the rules and patterns that govern music, musicians are able to build up cognitive representations of musical structure and thus process musical information more effectively than non-musicians .…”