Auditory and visual memory in musicians and nonmusicians

Numerous studies have shown that musicians outperform nonmusicians on a variety of tasks. Here we provide the first evidence that musicians have superior auditory recognition memory for both musical and nonmusical stimuli, compared to nonmusicians. However, this advantage did not generalize to the visual domain. Previously, we showed that auditory recognition memory is inferior to visual recognition memory. Would this be true even for trained musicians? We compared auditory and visual memory in musicians and nonmusicians using familiar music, spoken English, and visual objects. For both groups, memory for the auditory stimuli was inferior to memory for the visual objects. Thus, although considerable musical training is associated with better musical and nonmusical auditory memory, it does not increase the ability to remember sounds to the levels found with visual stimuli. This suggests a fundamental capacity difference between auditory and visual recognition memory, with a persistent advantage for the visual domain.     

Reproduction of musical rhythms by children,adult musicians,and adult nonmusicians

Many sequential events, musical rhythms in particular, can be described by a hierarchical structure, with lower order events recursively combining to form higher levels. This study investigated factors influencing the ease of reproduction of short musical rhythms that reflect various organizational principles. For adults and children, reproduction was better for rhythms with the following characteristics: (1) binary rather than ternary subdivision, (2) two rather than three different durations, (3) the ability to be segmented into two shorter rhythms of identical duration, and (4) intensity accents on important hierarchical positions. These findings suggest that a prototypical temporal structure—that is, a regular beat with binary subdivisions—is functional in childhood. The ability to process complex hierarchical structure appeared to be influenced more by musical training than by passive acculturation.     

Rhythm perception and differences in accent weights for musicians and nonmusicians

In order to investigate the contribution of harmonic—temporal and structural features to the perception of musical rhythm, three experiments were conducted in which a harmonic and a temporal accent were pitted against each other in such a way as to form five possible patterns. In three experiments, the temporal structure of various chord progressions was manipulated in an effort to determine the harmonic contributions to the inference of meter. The final experiment differed from the first two in the use of nondiatonic progressions that implied an unlikely key modulation. In all experiments, musicians and nonmusicians were requested to report perceived rhythm patterns in an attempt to determine the relative salience of various accents. Results indicated that changes in the temporal structure led to predictable change in an inferred meter, and that all diatonic chord progressions led to similar patterns of responses in which coincidences of harmonic, temporal, and metrical accents were perceptually salient events. Unusual progressions implying key modulations resulted in a qualitatively distinct pattern of results, and, in all experiments, amount of formal musical training was found to be a good predictor of the use of harmonic cues.     

Tone sequences with conflicting fundamental pitch and timbre changes are heard differently by musicians and nonmusicians

An Auditory Ambiguity Test (AAT) was taken twice by nonmusicians, musical amateurs, and professional musicians. The AAT comprised different tone pairs, presented in both within-pair orders, in which overtone spectra rising in pitch were associated with missing fundamental frequencies (F0) falling in pitch, and vice versa. The F0 interval ranged from 2 to 9 semitones. The participants were instructed to decide whether the perceived pitch went up or down; no information was provided on the ambiguity of the stimuli. The majority of professionals classified the pitch changes according to F0, even at the smallest interval. By contrast, most nonmusicians classified according to the overtone spectra, except in the case of the largest interval. Amateurs ranged in between. A plausible explanation for the systematic group differences is that musical practice systematically shifted the perceptual focus from spectral toward missing-F0 pitch, although alternative explanations such as different genetic dispositions of musicians and nonmusicians cannot be ruled out. ((c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved).     

The timing effects of accent production in synchronization and continuation tasks performed by musicians and nonmusicians

Two groups of subjects differing in their musical expertise produced periodic finger-tapping sequences involving a pattern of accentuation. In some situations, the taps were synchronized with the clicks of a metronome. We recorded the trajectory of the subjects' finger displacement in the vertical plane, and the force and the moment of occurrence of the taps on the response key. Musicians tended to equalize the durations of the downstrokes at all positions in the sequence. Nonmusicians moved their finger quickly to produce the accent, and more slowly to produce the subsequent tap. These variations in the movement-execution time were partly compensated by opposite variations in the onsets of the movements, e.g., the short-duration movements were delayed. Despite these differences in their movement strategies, musicians and nonmusicians generated very similar tap-timing profiles. The intertap interval after the accent was lengthened regardless of the subjects' musical expertise and the metronome conditions (metronome present or absent). The lengthening did not depend on whether the interval before the accent was shortened (without the metronome) or not (with the metronome). It is suggested that an internal timekeeper may generate temporal goal points at which the keytaps should occur. The lengthening of the interval after the accent is attributed to transient changes in the working of the internal clock.     

Hemispheric asymmetries in faculty and student musicians and nonmusicians during melody recognition tasks

Current research has suggested that musical stimuli are processed in the right hemisphere except in musicians, in whom there is an increased involvement of the left hemisphere. The present study hypothesized that the more musical training persons receive, the more they will rely on an analytic/left-hemispheric processing strategy. The subjects were 10 faculty and 10 student musicians, and 10 faculty and 10 student nonmusicians. All subjects listened to a series of melodies (some recurring and some not) and excerpts (some actual and some not) in one ear and, after a rest, to a different series of melodies in the other ear. The task was to identify recurring vs. nonrecurring melodies and actual vs. nonactual excerpts. For student musicians, there was a right-ear/left-hemispheric advantage for melody recognition, while for student nonmusicians, the situation was the reverse. Neither faculty group showed any ear preference. There were no significant differences for excerpt recognition. Two possible explanations of the faculty performance were discussed in terms of physical maturation and a functionally more integrated hemispheric approach to the task.     

Duration discrimination of brief light flashes

The data from four experiments indicate that when Os discriminate between light flashes of different durations, for durations for which Bloch’s law has been shown to hold, their discriminations are frequently made on the temporal information available in the flashes rather than on their apparent brightness. A model for duration discrimination which specifies that discriminability depends only on the difference in duration between the two brief flashes, and is independent of their durations, is presented and applied to the data.     

Duration discrimination of empty time intervals marked by intermodal pulses

In 1973, Rousseau and Kristofferson reported that short empty intermodal time intervals marked by a light flash and a brief tone were poorly discriminated by subjects, and that AT,5 was constant over a large range of durations. It led them to suggest that short intramodal empty intervals, marked by stimuli from the same sensory modality, might be handled by a “more efficient mechanism” to which intermodal intervals would not have access. Unfortunately, their study lacked the basic evidence needed to make a strong statement: no direct comparison between inter- and intramodal duration discrimination and no within-subject discrimination function were available. To clarify these two issues, three experiments were performed. The data indicate that intermodal time intervals are discriminated more poorly than intramodal ones, and that intermodal duration discrimination functions follow Weber’s law. Analysis of data from different experiments lead to the conclusion that inter- and intramodal intervals are timed by a common timekeeper and that intermodal intervals induce a large noise component in the timekeeping operation.

     

EEG alpha desynchronization in musicians and nonmusicians in response to changes in melody, tempo, and key in classical music

Two experiments were performed to examine musicians' and nonmusicians' electroencephalographic (EEG) responses to changes in major dimensions (tempo, melody, and key) of classical music. In Exp. 1, 12 nonmusicians' and 12 musicians' EEGs during melody and tempo changes in classical music showed more alpha desynchronization in the left hemisphere (F3) for changes in tempo than in the right. For melody, the nonmusicians were more right-sided (F4) than left in activation, and musicians showed no left-right differences. In Exp. 2, 18 musicians' and 18 nonmusicians' EEG after a key change in classical music showed that distant key changes elicited more right frontal (F4) alpha desynchronization than left. Musicians showed more reaction to key changes than nonmusicians and instructions to attend to key changes had no significant effect. Classical music, given its well-defined structure, offers a unique set of stimuli to study the brain. Results support the concept of hierarchical modularity in music processing that may be automatic.     

Duration discrimination of empty and filled intervals marked by auditory and visual signals

Experiments 1 and 2 compared, with a single-stimulus procedure, the discrimination of filled and empty intervals in both auditory and visual modalities. In Experiment 1, in which intervals were about 250 msec, the discrimination was superior with empty intervals in both modalities. In Experiment 2, with intervals lasting about 50 msec, empty intervals showed superior performance with visual signals only. In Experiment 3, for the auditory modality at 250 msec, the discrimination was easier with empty intervals than with filled intervals with both the forced-choice (FC) and the single stimulus (SS) modes of presentation, and the discrimination was easier with the FC than with the SS method. Experiment 4, however, showed that at 50 and 250 msec, with a FC-adaptive procedure, there were no differences between filled and empty intervals in the auditory mode; the differences observed with the visual mode in Experiments 1 and 2 remained significant. Finally, Experiment 5 compared differential thresholds for four marker-type conditions, filled and empty intervals in the auditory and visual modes, for durations ranging from .125 to 4 sec. The results showed (1) that the differential threshold differences among marker types are important for short durations but decrease with longer durations, and (2) that a generalized Weber’s law generally holds for these conditions. The results as a whole are discussed in terms of timing mechanisms.     

Assessment of fine motor skill in musicians and nonmusicians: differences in timing versus sequence accuracy in a bimanual fingering task

While professional musicians are generally considered to possess better control of finger movements than nonmusicians, relatively few reports have experimentally addressed the nature of this discrepancy in fine motor skills. For example, it is unknown whether musicians perform with greater skill than control subjects in all aspects of different types of fine motor activities. More specifically, it is not known whether musicians perform better than control subjects on a fine motor task that is similar, but not identical, to the playing of their primary instrument. The purpose of this study was to examine the accuracy of finger placement and accuracy of timing in professional musicians and nonmusicians using a simple, rhythmical, bilateral fingering pattern and the technology that allowed separate assessment of these two parameters. Professional musicians (other than pianists) and nonmusicians were given identical, detailed and explicit instructions but not allowed physically to practice the finger pattern. After verbally repeating the correct pattern for the investigator, subjects performed the task on an electric keyboard with both hands simultaneously. Each subject's performance was then converted to a numerical score. While musicians clearly demonstrated better accuracy in timing, no significant difference was found between the groups in their finger placement scores. These findings were not correlated with subjects' age, sex, limb dominance, or primary instrument (for the professional musicians). This study indicates that professional musicians perform better in timing accuracy but not spatial accuracy while executing a simple, novel, bimanual motor sequence.     

Duration discrimination in a series of rhythmic events

Duration discrimination of the last of a series of four clicks was investigated. Examination of psychophysical functions from eight subjects revealed evidence for a Weber’s law model relating discrimination to base interclick interval. Also, the point of subjective equality was seen to change reliably as a function of base rate.     

Duration discrimination: effects of probability of stimulus presentation

Monkeys initiated a stimulus by pressing on the center of three levers and the stimulus terminated independently of behavior 60, 80, 90, or 100 sec later. Presses on the right lever were reinforced with food following the three briefer durations, and presses on the left lever, following the 100-sec duration. Incorrect responses produced a 10-sec timeout. Probability of presenting the 100-sec duration was manipulated in the range from 0.25 to 0.75, with the probabilities of the briefer durations remaining equal and summing to one minus the probability of the 100-sec duration. Percentage of responses on either side lever was functionally related to both the probability of presenting the 100-sec stimulus and to stimulus duration. An analysis of the data based on the theory of signal detection resulted in operating characteristics that were linear when plotted on normal-normal coordinates. The percentage of responses on either lever approximated the optimal values for maximizing reinforcement probability in each condition of the experiment.     

Tuning of diatonic scales by violinists,pianists, and nonmusicians

The present study shows that playing a particular musical instrument influences tuning preference. Violinists (n=7), pianists (n=7), and nonmusicians (n=10) were required to adjust three notes (E, A, and B) in computer-generated, eight-tone ascending and descending diatonic scales of C major. The results indicated that (1) violinists set the three tones closer to Pythagorean intonation than do pianists (p< .01), (2) pianists fit closest to equal-tempered intonation (p< .01), and (3) nonmusicians do not show any preference for a specific intonation model. These findings are consistent with the view that tuning preference is determined by musical experience more than by characteristics of the auditory system. The relevance of these results to theories of cultural conditioning and assessment of tonal perception is discussed.     

Duration discrimination in the context of age,sex, and cognition

It has been proposed that the perception of very short duration is governed by sensory mechanisms, whereas the perception of longer duration depends on cognitive capacities. Four duration discrimination tasks (modalities: visual, auditory; base duration: 100 ms, 1000 ms) were used to study the relation between time perception, age, sex, and cognitive abilities (alertness, visual and verbal working memory, general fluid reasoning) in 100 subjects aged between 21 and 84 years. Temporal acuity was higher (Weber fractions are lower) for longer stimuli and for the auditory modality. Age was related to the visual 100 ms condition only, with lower temporal acuity in elder participants. Alertness was significantly related to auditory and visual Weber fractions for shorter stimuli only. Additionally, visual working memory was a significant predictor for shorter visual stimuli. These results indicate that alertness, but also working memory, are associated with temporal discrimination of very brief duration.     

Absolute identification of notes and intervals by musicians

Speech sounds are judged reliably and absolutely, while the judgment of nonspeech stimuli, such as tones, is thought to be unreliable and dependent on contextual cues. Here we demonstrated that the judgment of tonal stimuli may also be reliable and absolute, provided that the subjects are trained musicians. In Experiment 1, musicians with relative pitch identified 21 tonal intervals ranging from unison to major third, and the resulting identification functions were similar to those that have been previously obtained for speech. In Experiment 3, the judgment of intervals by musicians was shown to be free of context effects, since the best subjects gave virtually identical judgments to the same intervals in two stimulus contexts. Similar results were obtained in Experiments 2 and 4 for the judgment of single tones by possessors of absolute pitch. Performance with both notes and intervals by nonmusicians, however, was unreliable and greatly influenced by context. These findings suggest that musicians acquire categories for pitch that are functionally similar to phonemic categories for speech     

Duration discrimination of filled and empty auditory intervals: Cognitive and perceptual factors

Adult subjects were presented with two auditory stimuli per trial, and their task was to decide which of the two was longer in duration. An adaptive psychophysical procedure was used. In Experiments 1, 2, and 4, the base duration was 50 msec, whereas in Experiment 3, the base duration was 1 sec. In Experiments 1, 2, and 4, it was found that filled intervals (continuous tones) were discriminated more accurately than empty intervals (with onset and offset marked by clicks). It was concluded that this difference was perceptual rather than cognitive in nature, since performance on filled and empty intervals was not affected by increasing cognitive load in a dual-task procedure (Experiment 2) but was affected by backward masking (Experiment 4). In contrast, the results of Experiment 3 showed that duration discrimination of filled auditory intervals of longer duration was cognitively influenced, since performance was impaired by increasing cognitive load. Implications for notions of perceptual processing and timing mechanisms tanderlying differences in duration discrimination with filled and empty intervals are discussed.     

Duration discrimination of filled and empty auditory intervals: cognitive and perceptual factors.

Adult subjects were presented with two auditory stimuli per trial, and their task was to decide which of the two was longer in duration. An adaptive psychophysical procedure was used. In Experiments 1, 2, and 4, the base duration was 50 msec, whereas in Experiment 3, the base duration was 1 sec. In Experiments 1, 2, and 4, it was found that filled intervals (continuous tones) were discriminated more accurately than empty intervals (with onset and offset marked by clicks). It was concluded that this difference was perceptual rather than cognitive in nature, since performance on filled and empty intervals was not affected by increasing cognitive load in a dual-task procedure (Experiment 2) but was affected by backward masking (Experiment 4). In contrast, the results of Experiment 3 showed that duration discrimination of filled auditory intervals of longer duration was cognitively influenced, since performance was impaired by increasing cognitive load. Implications for notions of perceptual processing and timing mechanism underlying differences in duration discrimination with filled and empty intervals are discussed.     

Cognitive abilities of musicians

Playing music may involve different cognitive domains, but previous studies of musicians and patients with brain lesions have reported inconsistent associations between music performances and other cognitive functions. Fine musical performance may be associated with high executive and control functions. 21 skilled musicians and 21 age- and education-matched healthy controls with no specific musical competence were compared on attentive, executive, linguistic, perceptual, praxic, memory, and theory of mind functions, using standardized neuropsychological tests. No differences between the musicians and controls, music composers and performers, or between soloists or orchestral players were observed. In musicians, there was no correlation between the test scores and amount of music education. Findings based on these musician groups, carefully evaluated, suggest further exploration of associations of distinct components of music comprehension and expression with different cognitive functions and behavioral aspects.     

Duration discrimination of acoustically defined intervals in the 1- to 8-sec range

This experiment indicates how one’s ability to distinguish between two acoustically defined durations, differing by .4 sec, diminishes as the shorter duration is increased from 1 to 8 sec. This effect is interpreted with a model in which one’s “subjective temporal estimate” is a random variable whose variance is directly proportional to the actual stimulus duration, the constant of proportionality being about 6 msec² /sec.