Expectancies generated by melodic intervals: evaluation of principles of melodic implication in a melody-completion task.
Bottom-up principles of melodic implication (Narmour, 1990) were evaluated in a melody-completion task. One hundred subjects (50 low training; 50 high training in music) were presented each of eight melodic intervals. For each interval, the subjects were asked to compose a short melody on a piano keyboard, treating the interval provided as the first two notes of the melody. For each melody, the first response--the note immediately following the initial interval--was analyzed. Multinomial log linear analyses were conducted to assess the extent to which responses could be predicted by Narmour's (1990, 1992) bottom-up principles. Support was found for all of Narmour's principles, and two additional predictors based on implied tonal structure. Responses of low- and high-training groups were similar.
Thompson
W F
WF
Department of Psychology, Atkinson College, York University, ON, Canada.
Cuddy
L L
LL
Plaus
C
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009146:Music