Abstract
The present study tested quantified predictors based on the bottom-up principles of Narmour’s (1990) implication-realization model of melodic expectancy against continuity ratings collected for a tone that followed a two-tone melodic beginning. Twenty-four subjects (12 musically trained, 12 untrained) were presented with each of eight melodic intervals—two successive tones which they were asked to consider as the beginning of a melody. On each trial, a melodic interval was followed by a third tone, one of the 25 chromatic notes within the range one octave below to one octave above the second tone of the interval. The subjects were asked to rate how well the third tone continued the melody. A series of regression analyses was performed on the continuation ratings, and a final model to account for the variance in the ratings is proposed. Support was found for three of Narmour’s principles and a modified version of a fourth. Support was also found for predictor variables based on the pitch organization of tonal harmonic music. No significant differences between the levels of musical training were encountered.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, J. R. (1990).Cognitive psychology and its implications (3rd ed.). New York: W. H. Freeman.
Aubel, P., &Franks, J. J. (1983). Sentence comprehension processes.Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior,22, 395–405.
Berry, W. (1976).Structural functions in music. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Boltz, M. G. (1993). The generation of temporal and melodic expectancies during musical listening.Perception & Psychophysics,53, 585–600.
Bransford, J. D., &Johnson, M. K. (1972). Conceptual prerequisites for understanding.Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behaviour,11, 717–721.
Bregman, A. S. (1990).Auditory scene analysis. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Carlsen, J. C. (1981). Some factors which influence melodic expectancy.Psychomusicology,1, 12–29.
Carlsen, J. C. (1990). Preface.Psychomusicology,9, 119–121.
Coren, S., Porac, C., &Theodor, L. H. (1986). The effects of perceptual set on the shape and apparent depth of subjective contours.Perception & Psychophysics,39, 327–333.
Cuddy, L. L., &Badertscher, B. (1987). Recovery of the tonal hierarchy: Some comparisons across age and levels of musical experience.Perception & Psychophysics,41, 609–620.
Deutsch, D. (1982). Grouping mechanisms in music. In D. Deutsch (Ed.),The psychology of music (pp. 99–134). New York: Academic Press.
Dodwell, P. C. (1993). From the top down.Canadian Psychology,34, 137–151.
Dowling, W. J. (1990). Expectancy and attention in melody perception.Psychomusicology,9, 148–160.
Dowling, W. J., &Harwood, D. L. (1986).Music cognition. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
Garner, W. R. (1981). The analysis of unanalyzed perceptions. In M. Kubovy & J. R. Pomerantz (Eds.),Perceptual organization (pp. 119–140). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Hendershott, G. (1990).Cakewalk Professional for Windows [Computer program]. Watertown, MA: Twelve Tone Systems.
Jones, M. R. (1981). Music as a stimulus for psychological motion: Part I. Some determinants of expectancies.Psychomusicology,1, 34–51.
Jones, M. R. (1982). Music as a stimulus for psychological motion: Part II. An expectancy model.Psychomusicology,2, 1–13.
Jones, M. R. (1990). Learning and the development of expectancies: An interactionist approach.Psychomusicology,9, 193–228.
Jones, M. R., &Boltz, M. G. (1989). Dynamic attending and responses to time.Psychological Review,96, 459–491.
Keppel, G. (1991).Design and analysis: A researcher’s handbook. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Krumhansl, C. L. (1990).Cognitive foundations of musical pitch. New York: Oxford University Press.
Krumhansl, C. L. (1991). Melodic structure: Theoretical and empirical descriptions. In J. Sundberg, L. Nord, & R. Carlson (Eds.),Music, language, speech and brain (pp. 269–283). London: Macmillan.
Krumhansl, C. L. (1995). Music psychology: Influences from music theory.Music Theory Spectrum,17, 53–80.
Krumhansl, C. L., &Kessler, E. J. (1982). Tracing the dynamic changes in perceived tonal organization in a spatial representation of musical keys.Psychological Review,89, 334–368.
Meyer, L. B. (1956).Emotion and meaning in music. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Mills, C. B. (1980). Effects of the match between listener expectancies and coarticulatory cues on the perception of speech.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,6, 528–535.
Narmour, E. (1989). The “genetic code” of melody: Cognitive structures generated by the implication-realization model.Contemporary Music Review,4, 45–63.
Narmour, E. (1990).The analysis and cognition of basic melodic structures: The implication-realization model. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Narmour, E. (1991). The top-down and bottom-up systems of musical implication: Building on Meyer’s theory of emotional syntax.Music Perception,9, 1–26.
Palmer, C. (1992). The role of interpretive preferences in music performance. In M. R. Jones & S. Holleran (Eds.),Cognitive bases of musical communication (pp. 249–262). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Palmer, C., &Krumhansl, C. L. (1990). Mental representations for musical meter.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,16, 728–741.
Pomerantz, J. R. (1981). Perceptual organization in information processing. In M. Kubovy & J. R. Pomerantz (Eds.),Perceptual organization (pp. 141–180). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Schiffman, H. R. (1990).Sensation and perception: An integrated approach (3rd ed.). New York: Wiley.
Schmuckler, M. A. (1989). Expectation in music: Investigation of melodic and harmonic processes.Music Perception,7, 122–147.
Schmuckler, M. A. (1990). The performance of global expectations.Psychomusicology,9, 122–147.
Steinke, W. R., Cuddy, L. L., &Holden, R. R. (1993). Perception of musical tonality as assessed by the probe-tone method.Canadian Acoustics,21, 85–86.
Unyk, A., &Carlsen, J. C. (1987). The influence of expectancy on melodic perception.Psychomusicology,7, 3–23.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cuddy, L.L., Lunney, C.A. Expectancies generated by melodic intervals: Perceptual judgments of melodic continuity. Perception & Psychophysics 57, 451–462 (1995). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03213071
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03213071