Evolution Flashcards
Patel & Iversen (2014)
Rhythm entrainment: The ‘Action Simulation for Auditory Prediction’ (ASAP) suggests that the motor planning system uses a simulation of body movement (specifically, of periodic movement patterns) to entrain its neural activity patterns to the beat period, and that these patterns are communicated from motor planning regions to auditory regions where they serve as a predictive signal for the timing of upcoming beats and shape the perceptual interpretation of rhythms.
Patel (2021)
Suggests that rhythmic perception is important in species that partake in vocal learning (studies with the zebra finches rhythmic identification of isochronous beats).
Linked with evidence that deficits in rhythm processing are linked to a number of childhood language disorders, including dyslexia, developmental language disorder, and stuttering.
Huron & Vuoskoski (2020)
The pleasurable compassion theory: idea that through music we get pleasure from the feeling of compassion to the musical source.
Savage et. al (2020)
Music’s evolutionary purpose is to aid social bonding.
- multiple individual relationships at once
- complex & collective behaviour practice
- feeling of part of a group
- potential explanation of ‘groove’ (group activity synchronised lead to pleasure)
Problem = why didn’t we learn to do this without music (if it’s so important)?
Mehr et. al (2020)
Music evolving as a credible signal: territorial advertisement and contact calls.
credible signalling = a signal that is had to fake and thus compelling evidence for a state of affairs (e.g. pyramids)
- could be a symbol of group strength (e.g. Haka)
- could be a signal of parental attention
Mehr et. al (2019)
Music found to be present in every culture across the world.
Quinn and Watt (2005)
A study that played Scottish folk songs to participants and they had to decide whether the tempi was too slow or too fast. Participants agreed on an optimal tempi of the music
- links to idea that beat perception was evolved for the production of music
Sexual selection
Darwin (1871) proposed, yet discredited as sexual dimorphism isn’t present in humans (present in birds)
Communication?
Music perhaps helpful for our advance of communication? (e.g. stammer guy speech therapy)
Can link to the rhythm entrainment linked to language deficiency article - Patel (2021)
Auditory Cheesecake phenomenom
- no survival/reproductive benefits
- tickles pleasure centres in brain (comparison w recreational drugs)
Potentials for how music creates pleasure (through AC phenomenom)
Information processing
- understanding something complex = rewarding through:
1. predictions for future confirmed = rewarding
2. compression down of info = rewarding
3. learning new things = rewarding
Emotion processing
- listening to an emotional story (through music), idea of learning from experience -> simulation hypothesis
- compassion to musical source and this compassion as pleasurable -> pleasurable compassion theory (Huron & Vuoskoski, 2020)
- music as a comforting and consoling person -> social surrogacy hypothesis
Problems with an auditory cheesecake phenomenon
- we invest a lot of resources - there must be some benefit
- groove effect - not functional in non-musical contexts
- complexity of music suggests a need perhaps ?
- Mehr et. al (2019) - music present in every culture
Features of human musicality
Pitch perception Beat perception Emotion perception Auditory scene analysis Musical syntax
Pitch perception
- found in animal kingdom
- useful in animals that through vocalisations
- e.g. complex singing to attract mates (accurate in pitch) see Richner et. al (2016) large ventral ties in songbirds
Beat perception
- our closest animals relatives can’t entrain beat
- some can (e.g. sea lions and cockatoos)
- shows this is a non-trivial skill
- hypothesis that beat perception is linked to vocal learning (and lack of beat perception leads to lang disabilities like dyslexia) - see Patel 2021
