Complex sound Perception pt.2 Flashcards
What is “Absolute Pitch?”
Extreme accuracy (at least 90%) in identifying an isolated musical note without a reference tone
rate of occurance is 1 in 10,000 people and most with this ability began studying music before age 5
What is absolute pitch influenced by?
TImbre and tone chroma (quality that makes notes an octave apart sound like “the same note,” just higher or lower)
According to Weinberger, what are three facts on music perception?
1) Music evolved with culture
2) infants as young as 2 will turn towards consonant (pleasant) sounds and away from dissonant ones
3) Music can activate pleasure in centers of the brain
According to Steven Pinker: music is just an “auditory _______,” a by product of other adaptations
Cheesecake
According to Dunbar, music promotes _______ __________ in large groups
social cohesion (strength in relationships)
According to Miller, music enhances human survival by aiding ________
Courtship (romance)
Why are there difficulties in studying music and the brain?
- observations with patients with brain injuries are conrtadictory
- music is complex and there are individual differences
- brain imaging studies are expensive and incomplete
Explain the Marice Ravel Case
- the french composer began to exhibited symptoms of focal cerebral degeneration (dementia)
- his conceptual abilities remained intact: he could still hear and remember his old compositions, but could not WRITE music
Suggests that the brain doesnt have a specific center for music
PRIMARY and SECONDARY auditory corticles handle what?
early stages of music perception (eg.pitch and intensity)
The SECONDARY auditory cortex processes more of what?
more COMPLEX music patterns (harmony, melody, rhythym)
Can you explain what this means:
“Tertiary regions thought to integrate patterns into a coherent musical whole.”
Your brain doesn’t just process individual notes or sounds — it puts them together into a musical experience (like a melody, rhythm, or harmony).
What does the left hemisphere process (in regards to music)
Intervals (distance between tones) and rythym
What does the right hemisphere process (in regards to music)
Holistic traits like meter (regular beat) and the melodic contour (pattern of rising and falling pitches)
explain Weinberger & Colleagues Neural Plasticity experiment
- they measured tuning curves of neurons in the auditory cortex in guinnea pigs
- then paired a specific tone with a mild shock
- found that neurons shifted their tuning curves to the frequency and it became stronger over time
found that learning can retune the brain so that more cells respond to behaviourly important sounds (sounds with meaning)
Explain the Pantev experiment on musicians and non musicians
- musicians listened to a piano playing
- 25% more of their left-hemisphere auditory regions respond than in nonmusicians (specific to musical tones)
- this effect is greater the younger the age at which music lessons began
Explain the Mozart Effect Experiment
3 groups under three contitions:
1) listened to mozart
2) lsitened to relaxation instructions for lowering blood pressure
30 silence
Then everyone completed the Stanford-binet inteligence scale. Improvement of IQ scores was equivalent to an increase of 8-9 points with the people who listened to mozart
Rausher and colleauges did an experiment on preschoolers, explain the study
three different groups of preschoolers:
1) recieved private piano and singing lessons
2) recieved private computer lessons
3) no training
Group 1 performed 34% higher on 1 of 4 tests about spacial temporal ability
conclusion: music enhances higher brain functions required for math, chess, science, and eng
What did Musicologist Don Campbell claim he did?
claims he made a blood clot in his brain disappear by humming and envisioning a vibrating hand on the right side of his skull
