Pitch space processing and melodic expectancies in tonal and atonal contexts

J. FERNANDO ANTA

Sapporo, Japón

Conferencia; 10th International conference on music Perception and Cognition; 2008

Huniversity of Hokkaido (Sapporo) - Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research (Sempre) - Hokkaido Univeristy, Sapporo (Japan)

The extent to which tonal (TPS) or atonal (APS) pitch space, proximity and range, affect each other on melodic expectation was assessed. In Experiment 1, fourteen non-musicians rated how well test tones continued tonal melodies; in Experiment 2 fourteen non-musicians performed the same task with atonal versions of previously used fragments. Experiment 1 suggested that TPS did not affect expectation beyond a TPS-activated (TPS-a) area hypothesized for each fragment, and that events towards the TPS-a bulk were preferred. Experiment 2 showed that events placed towards the range bulk were preferred. Comparisons between data from both experiments indicated that expectancies for events in the range bulk were greater in tonal than in atonal condition, suggesting that TPS-a should be considered a separate factor reinforcing expectations.