Embodiment and repeated exposure do not suffice for abstract concepts acquisition: Evidence from tonal music cognition

GABRIEL F. LÓPEZ; ANTA, J. FERNANDO

Psychological Research An International Journal of Perception, Attention, Memory, and Action

Springer

Año: 2023 vol. 87 p. 43 - 58

0340-0727

Research on abstract concepts (AC) suggests that while some AC are enactedindirectly and occasionally, others are largely grounded in our sensory-motor andaffective experience, and the opportunities to enact them are countless, which wouldallow us to acquire them without supervision. From this, the following question arise: doembodiment and repeated exposure suffice to dispense with supervision in abstractconcepts acquisition (ACA)? In the present study, this question was addressed in thecontext of tonal music cognition, which demands a high level of abstraction, and viamusical materials that participants had frequently heard and sung. Specifically, highly-trained,moderately-trained, and untrained participants (24 each) were given 12 well-knownmelodic fragments ending on tones instantiating 6 different scale degrees (2times each) and asked to group (round 1) or pair (round 2) those fragments whose lasttone conveyed the same (or a similar enough) level of stability or rest. If embodimentand repeated exposure suffice for ACA, then one would expect a scale degree-basedgrouping strategy regardless of participants? training level. Results showed that onlyhighly-trained participants systematically grouped stimuli ending on the same scaledegree, particularly in round 2; moderately-trained participants? performance wasmixed, and tonality?s influence on untrained participants was negligible. Further,moderately-trained and untrained participants performed inconsistently, discarding inround 2 almost all of the pairs formed in round 1. These findings are integrated withprevious findings on the effect of language, affect, and category type onconceptualization to account for why and when ACA requires supervision.