An Information Processing Account of Audiational Abilities

Abstract

Relationships between individual differences in audiation as measured by Gordon's Music Aptitude Profile (MAP) and generic information processing abilities as proposed by Luria were investigated with a sample of primary school children, some of whom were musically gifted. Scores on all three audiational dimensions of tone, rhythm and sensitivity were significantly correlated with successive synthesis, which may indicate a strong dependence of the MAP on short-term memory. Success on the MAP was not as dependent on simultaneous and executive syntheses. Musically gifted subjects were superior on the tests for tone and rhythm, but not generally on tests for musical sensitivity, consistent with the independence of musical sensitivity as a separate construct from conventional musical aptitude. The musical experience of members of the musically gifted group did not contribute to the variance of their MAP results.