Neural Correlates of Processing Syntax in Music and ... - PubMan

Music Perception 9
at 5 years of age. Trehub, Thorpe, and Trainor (1990) demonstrated that 7- to 10-month
old infants detected a change in typical Western melodies (based on the major triad)
more readily compared to a change in non-typical melodies. However, musical regularities
may be present even in much younger children, specifically if implicit measures –
that are more sensitive than explicit measures – are used (Schellenberg, Bigand, Poulin-
Charronnat, Garnier, & Stevens, 2005). Trehub, Thorpe and Bull (1990; cited after
Jusczyk & Krumhansl, 1993) showed that 8½-month old infants were more likely to
find one-semitone changes in a melody based on the dominant-tonic progression than in
other melodies. This indicates a very early sensitivity to phrase structure, since the
dominant-tonic progression is a prominent marker for the end of a musical phrase. This
sensitivity may help to acquire tonal structure.
The acquisition of tonal and harmonic regularities might also be influenced by coincidence
of music-structurally important events with metrical accents (Schmuckler &
Boltz, 1994) and acoustical characteristics. The hierarchy of prominence of tones (or
chords) within a key is – at least to some degree – related to consonance (i.e., simple
frequency ratios and roughness). Successive tones that are related by simple frequency
ratios were processed more readily (Schellenberg & Trehub, 1994). Acoustical surface
characteristics are also evidenced to influence the acquisition of regularities among
nonadjacent elements: Creel, Newport, and Aslin (2004) demonstrated that (adult)
learners did not acquire highly consistent statistical regularities among nonadjacent
tones when these were similar in pitch range and timbre. In contrast, these regularities
were acquired when the tones shared an acoustic property (such as pitch range or timbre).
However, listeners may also implicitly learn statistical regularities uninfluenced by
acoustical surface characteristics (as different timbre; Tillmann & McAdams, 2004).
Moreover, infants and adults might weight conflicting acoustic cues differently and
experience with Western music may increase culturally biased responding, thereby
decreasing effects of acoustical characteristics.
Music is highly effective in regulating and optimizing mood and conveying emotion in
infants, adolescents and adults (Trehub, 2003d). In children tone quality elicits the
strongest early reactions: smooth, treble-registered sounds elicit attention and pleasure.
Children below 5 years seem not to differentiate emotionally between music in conventional
compared to dissonant harmony (Moog, 1976; Schellenberg & Trainor, 1996;
Schellenberg & Trehub, 1994). In Western music, the mood of a certain piece is related
to its mode (i.e., pieces in major key are usually perceived as more happy than pieces in
minor key); this relation has to be acquired by children (Gerardi & Gerken, 1995).
Tempo may further influence the perception of the affective value of musical pieces.
Dalla Bella, Peretz, Rousseau, and Gosselin (2001) asked children to determine the