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Music Perception and Cognition: A Review of Recent Cross‐Cultural Research
Author(s) -
Stevens Catherine J.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
topics in cognitive science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.191
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1756-8765
pISSN - 1756-8757
DOI - 10.1111/j.1756-8765.2012.01215.x
Subject(s) - music and emotion , music psychology , perception , psychology , cognition , cognitive psychology , musical , musicality , cognitive science , modalities , music perception , musicology , music history , music education , sociology , visual arts , art , social science , pedagogy , neuroscience
Experimental investigations of cross‐cultural music perception and cognition reported during the past decade are described. As globalization and Western music homogenize the world musical environment, it is imperative that diverse music and musical contexts are documented. Processes of music perception include grouping and segmentation, statistical learning and sensitivity to tonal and temporal hierarchies, and the development of tonal and temporal expectations. The interplay of auditory, visual, and motor modalities is discussed in light of synchronization and the way music moves via emotional response. Further research is needed to test deep‐rooted psychological assumptions about music cognition with diverse materials and groups in dynamic contexts. Although empirical musicology provides keystones to unlock musical structures and organization, the psychological reality of those theorized structures for listeners and performers, and the broader implications for theories of music perception and cognition, awaits investigation.