Individual Differences in the Perception of Musical Coherence

Abstract

This research was part of a larger investigation into individual differences in the perception of pitch sequences with various degrees of structural coherence. It was hypothesised that such perception involves the cooperative interaction of three dimensions of information processing — successive, simultaneous and executive synthesis — based on the neuropsychology of Alexander Luria. Studies in psychophysics suggest that these cognitive processes may exploit the fractal or self‐similar form of fluctuations in musical attributes. To this end, the autocorrelation function is particularly salient. Instruments were developed to measure sensitivity to the autocorrelation structure of algorithmically generated tone series. Two studies, one with a normal population of children (N = 135), the other involving children with demonstrated musical precocity (N = 29), investigated relationships between the perception of autocorrelation structure and abilities on the three dimensions of the Luria model, operationalised as a psychometric battery. The results showed that all three information processing dimensions were required in the perception of musical coherence. Individual differences in sensitivity to fractal structure of children with high music abilities were related to differences in abilities on simultaneous synthesis.