Musical imagery: generation of tones and chords. 1988

T L Hubbard, and K Stoeckig
Dartmouth College.

Four experiments are reported that examine subjects' ability to form and use images of tones and chords. In Experiments 1 and 3, subjects heard a cue tone or chord and formed an image of a tone or chord one whole step in pitch above the cue. This image was then compared to a probe tone or chord that was either the same as the image in pitch, different from the image in pitch and harmonically closely related, or different and harmonically distantly related. Image formation times and response times were measured. In Experiment 3 a random-tone mask was used to control for possible contribution of the cue in echoic memory. In both experiments tone images were formed faster than chord images, a result consistent with the idea of structural complexity as a determinant of image formation time. Response times and accuracy rates were found to parallel results found in music perception studies, results consistent with the idea of shared mechanisms in the processing of musical images and percepts. Experiments 2 and 4 were control experiments examining the possible influence of demand characteristics and subjects' knowledge. In experiment 2 subjects predicted the results of "an average person" using imagery, and in Experiment 4 subjects completed the task without receiving imagery instructions. The findings ruled out the possibility that demand characteristics and subjects' knowledge were solely responsible for the results of Experiments 1 and 3 and support the argument for the role of imagery.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007092 Imagination A new pattern of perceptual or ideational material derived from past experience. Imaginations
D009146 Music Sound that expresses emotion through rhythm, melody, and harmony. Classical Music,Hip Hop Music,Jazz Music,Rap Music,Rock and Roll Music,Songs,Vocal Melody,Hop Music, Hip,Melodies, Vocal,Melody, Vocal,Music, Classical,Music, Hip Hop,Music, Jazz,Music, Rap,Song,Vocal Melodies
D010897 Pitch Discrimination The ability to differentiate sound frequency or pitch. Discrimination, Pitch,Pitch Discriminations
D011214 Practice, Psychological Performance of an act one or more times, with a view to its fixation or improvement; any performance of an act or behavior that leads to learning. Practice (Psychology),Practice, Psychology,Practicing, Psychological,Practicing, Psychology,Psychological Practice,Psychological Practicing,Psychology Practice,Psychology Practicing
D011930 Reaction Time The time from the onset of a stimulus until a response is observed. Response Latency,Response Speed,Response Time,Latency, Response,Reaction Times,Response Latencies,Response Times,Speed, Response,Speeds, Response
D003463 Cues Signals for an action; that specific portion of a perceptual field or pattern of stimuli to which a subject has learned to respond. Cue
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328 Adult A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available. Adults

Related Publications

T L Hubbard, and K Stoeckig
August 1992, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance,
T L Hubbard, and K Stoeckig
July 2006, Science (New York, N.Y.),
T L Hubbard, and K Stoeckig
April 2006, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience,
T L Hubbard, and K Stoeckig
December 2016, Experimental brain research,
T L Hubbard, and K Stoeckig
November 1986, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance,
T L Hubbard, and K Stoeckig
January 2007, Science (New York, N.Y.),
T L Hubbard, and K Stoeckig
January 2019, PloS one,
T L Hubbard, and K Stoeckig
December 1970, Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior,
T L Hubbard, and K Stoeckig
July 1994, Journal of the American Academy of Audiology,
T L Hubbard, and K Stoeckig
January 2018, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,
Copied contents to your clipboard!