Instrument specificity in experienced musicians.
Previous studies have shown that experienced pianists have acquired integrated action-effect (A-E) associations. In the present study, we were interested in how specific these associations are for the own instrument by investigating pianists and guitarists. A-E associations were examined by testing whether the perception of a "potential" action-effect has an influence on actions. Participants played chords on their instrument in response to visual stimuli, while they were presented task-irrelevant auditory distractors (congruent or incongruent) in varying instrument timbre. In Experiment 1, pianists exhibited an interference effect with timbres of their own instrument category (keyboard instruments: piano and organ). In Experiment 2 guitarists showed an interference effect only with guitar timbre. Thus, integrated A-E associations primarily seem to consist of a specific component on a sensory-motor level involving the own instrument. Additionally, categorical knowledge about how an instrument is played seems to be involved.
Drost
Ulrich C
UC
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Munich, Germany.
Rieger
Martina
M
Prinz
Wolfgang
W
D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009146:Music; D011361:Professional Competence; D011930:Reaction Time