Implicit learning of musical timbre sequences: Statistical regularities confronted with acoustical (dis)similarities. Tillmann, B. & McAdams, S. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn, 30(5):1131-42, 2004.
doi  abstract   bibtex   
The present study investigated the influence of acoustical characteristics on the implicit learning of statistical regularities (transition probabilities) in sequences of musical timbres. The sequences were constructed in such a way that the acoustical dissimilarities between timbres potentially created segmentations that either supported (S1) or contradicted (S2) the statistical regularities or were neutral (S3). In the learning group, participants first listened to the continuous timbre sequence and then had to distinguish statistical units from new units. In comparison to a control group without the exposition phase, no interaction between sequence type and amount of learning was observed: Performance increased by the same amount for the three sequences. In addition, performance reflected an overall preference for acoustically similar timbre units. The present outcome extends previous data from the domain of implicit learning to complex nonverbal auditory material. It further suggests that listeners become sensitive to statistical regularities despite acoustical characteristics in the material that potentially affect grouping.
@Article{Tillmann2004,
  author   = {Barbara Tillmann and Stephen McAdams},
  journal  = {J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn},
  title    = {Implicit learning of musical timbre sequences: {S}tatistical regularities confronted with acoustical (dis)similarities.},
  year     = {2004},
  number   = {5},
  pages    = {1131-42},
  volume   = {30},
  abstract = {The present study investigated the influence of acoustical characteristics
	on the implicit learning of statistical regularities (transition
	probabilities) in sequences of musical timbres. The sequences were
	constructed in such a way that the acoustical dissimilarities between
	timbres potentially created segmentations that either supported (S1)
	or contradicted (S2) the statistical regularities or were neutral
	(S3). In the learning group, participants first listened to the continuous
	timbre sequence and then had to distinguish statistical units from
	new units. In comparison to a control group without the exposition
	phase, no interaction between sequence type and amount of learning
	was observed: Performance increased by the same amount for the three
	sequences. In addition, performance reflected an overall preference
	for acoustically similar timbre units. The present outcome extends
	previous data from the domain of implicit learning to complex nonverbal
	auditory material. It further suggests that listeners become sensitive
	to statistical regularities despite acoustical characteristics in
	the material that potentially affect grouping.},
  doi      = {10.1037/0278-7393.30.5.1131},
  keywords = {Acoustics, Humans, Learning, Music, Non-U.S. Gov't, Pitch Perception, Research Support, 15355141},
}

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