Music: A science of the mind?

Abstract

There is an increasing interest in psychological studies of music for the advancement of both musical and scientific thought. An historical perspective of psychological considerations of music reveals a trend leading from physical thought through theories of sensation and finally up to modern cognitive psychology. What might truly be called the field of music psychology can be shown to exist by an overview of the domains of research covered by contemporary theorists and researchers. Within the framework of cognitive psychology one can demonstrate the importance of mental representation of the various dimensions and structures of music and of organizational processes underlying music listening. The relation between a musical structure and the form that is “accumulated” by a listener depends to a large extent on his or her musical experience within a given culture. A difference in experience may be hypothesized to result from the nature of mental schemata acquired by listeners. A great deal of work is still...