Expectancy in melody: tests of children and adults.

Full Abstract

Melodic expectancies among children and adults were examined. In Experiment 1, adults, 11-year-olds, and 8-year-olds rated how well individual test tones continued fragments of melodies. In Experiment 2, 11-, 8-, and 5-year-olds sang continuations to 2-tone stimuli. Response patterns were analyzed using 2 models of melodic expectancy. Despite having fewer predictor variables, the 2-factor model (E. G. Schellenberg, 1997) equaled or surpassed the implication-realization model (E. Narmour, 1990) in predictive accuracy. Listeners of all ages expected the next tone in a melody to be proximate in pitch to the tone heard most recently. Older listeners also expected reversals of pitch direction, specifically for tones that changed direction after a disruption of proximity and for tones that formed symmetric patterns.

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Author information

Author/s: Schellenberg, E Glenn (EG); Adachi, Mayumi (M); Purdy, Kelly T (KT); McKinnon, Margaret C (MC);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada. g.schellenberg@utoronto.ca

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of experimental psychology. General (J Exp Psychol Gen), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Dec; vol 131 (issue 4) : pp 511-37

Dates: Created 2002/12/25; Completed 2003/04/17; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12500861, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Humans
Male

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