Papers selected by Yoko Okumiya
■Studying expertise in music reading:
Use of a pattern-matching paradigm
■On the difference between strength-based and frequency-based
mirror effects in recognition memory
■Melodic structure and note transition
probabilities: A content analysis of 15,618 classical themes
■Mental practice and memorization of piano music
■The effect of item position on the likelihood of identification
by inference in prose reading and music reading
■Influence of number of different pitches and melodic
redundancy on preference responses
Studying expertise in music reading: Use of a pattern-matching paradigm
Waters, A. J., Underwood, G., & Findlay, J.
Perception & Psychophysics, 1997, 59(4), 477-488.
Two experiments are described that make use of a pattern-matching paradigm to investigate perceptual processing of music notation. In Experiment 1, it is reported that the speed of comparing two visually presented musical sequences is related to the sight-reading skill of the subjects. The effect of the temporal and pitch structure of the comparison stimuli is also assessed. In Experiment 2, eye-movement recordings were taken as subjects performed the task. These data demonstrated that more experienced musicians are abele to perform the comparisons with fewer, and shorter, glances between the patterns. These and other findings suggest that skilled sight-reading is associated with an ability to rapidly perceive notes or groups of notes in the score, and confirm that the pattern-matching paradigm is a useful tool in examining expertise in music reading.
On the difference between strength-based and frequency-based mirror effects in recognition memory
Stretch, V., & Wixted, J. T.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1998, 24(6),
1379-1396.
A miror effect can be produced by manipulating word class (e.g., high vs. low frequency) or by manipulating strength (e.g., short vs. long study time). The result of 5 experiments reported here suggest that a strength-based mirror effect is caused by a shift in the location of the decision criterion, whereas a frequency-based mirror effect occurs although the criterion remains fixed with respect to word frequency. Evidence supporting these claims is provided by a series of studies in which high frequency (HF) words were differentially strengthened (and sometimes differentially colored) during list presentation. That manipulation increased the HF hit rate above that for low frequency (LF) words without selectively decreasing the HF false alarm rate, just as a fixed-criterion account of the word-frequency mirror effect predicts.
Melodic structure and note transition probabilities: A content analysis of 15,618 classical themes
Simonton, D. K.
Psychology of Music, 1984, 12(1), 3-16.
A content analytical scheme is described that can assess aspects of melodic structure in large samples of themes. This objective, computarised system was applied to 15,618 themes drawn from the classical repertoire. Tables result that give the probabilities of two-and three-note transitions, and, in the former case, the probabilities are presented both transition-by-transition and averaged across all transitions. Despite the simplicity of the coding system, it has been shown in past research to be powerful enough to distinguish the musical style of a composer and to yield a measure of melodic originality that relates in significant ways with other aesthetic, biographical and historical variables. To illustrate this utility, the table of two-tone transition probabilities is employed both to gauge the melodic originality of a sample set of composed themes and to generate contrived themes with known originality scores for use in laboratory experiments on musical aesthetics.
Mental practice and memorization of piano music
Lim, S., & Lippman, L. G. The
Journal of General Psychology, 1991, 118(1), 21-30.
Piano performance majors attempted to play short, unfamiliar selections from memory after practicing for 10 min by playing the score, visually inspecting it, or listening to a recorded rendition while examining the score. When practicing mentally, subjects were encouraged to make use of visual, acoustic, and kinesthetic imagery. Independent experts rated performance on four dimensions that were intended to reflect the musicality as well as accuracy of the performances. Physical practice led to the best performance. Listening to a model of ideal performance provided some benefit over visual inspection alone.
The effect of item position on the likelihood of identification by inference in prose reading and music reading
Sloboda, J. A. Canadian
Journal of Psychology, 1976, 30(4), 228-237.
Readers were presented with verbal and musical texts which contained spelling and notational errors respectively. Measures of detection in normal unpaced reading situations showed that errors were least likely to be detected when they occurred in the middle of words or musical phrases, demonstrating that the highest proportion of inferences occurred at these positions. The apparent similarities of the effects in music and language reading suggested that inference of interior elements usually results from structural rather than visual factors.
Influence of number of different pitches and melodic redundancy on preference responses
McMullen, P. T.
Journal of Research in Music Education, 1974, 22(3), 198-204.
The problem of this study was to determine if melodic complexity, defined as number of different pitches or melodic redundancy, influences preference resoponses of school-age subjects. The test melodies presented to the subjects consisted of nine original, randomly-generated, 48-pitch melodies in which all musical elements (except number of different pitches and redundancy) had been held constant or randomized. Subjects indicated their responses to these melodies on a seven-point response scale. The results indicate that the two melodic complexity factors of number of different pitches and melodic redundancy do influence preference responses of school-age subjects to a statistically significant degree when highly controlled melodies are employed. No interaction effect between these two complexity variables appears to be present. Melodies generated from five or seven different pitch alphabets are preferred to a statistically significant degree over those generated from twelve different pitch alphabets; and melodies containing low or intermediate levels of redundancy (as designated in this study) generally are preferred to a statistically significant degree over highly redundant melodies.