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SUMMARY:How musical is Homo Sapiens? Investigating perceptual and emotiona
 l components of musicality - Dr. Marcel Zentner (University of York)
DTSTART:20110128T130000Z
DTEND:20110128T140000Z
UID:TALK29037@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Carissa Sharp
DESCRIPTION:Homo sapiens is musical. Archeological discoveries\, cross-cul
 tural work and infant studies suggest that musicality is no less primordia
 l than the capacity for language in humans. One of the reasons for music
 ’s pervasiveness lies in the emotional rewards that music offers to its 
 listeners. But what makes these rewards so special? In the first part of m
 y talk I will present some of our answers to this question. In a nutshell\
 , we found that a 9-factorial model best accounts for musical emotions. Th
 is model has been polarizing the field since its inception. The reason is 
 that it posits an array of emotions\, such as tenderness\, wonder\, or nos
 talgia\, that sit uncomfortably with prevalent theories of emotion\, espec
 ially basic emotions theory. \n\nWhile the general ability to process and 
 enjoy music is extremely pervasive\, probably universal\, there are also l
 arge individual differences in musical ability\, including in the extent t
 o which music appeals to humans. The second part of my talk will be devote
 d to this issue. Specifically\, the study of individual differences in mus
 icality has been rather fragmentary\, with bits and pieces originating in 
 various traditions of research\, most notably music education and music co
 gnition. As important as these efforts have been\, they have failed to mat
 erialize in a comprehensive and standardized measure of musical capacity. 
 For various reasons\, the development of such a measure is anything but ea
 sy. However\, in a period when researchers are increasingly interested in 
 relating musical capacities to non-musical traits\, ranging from empathy t
 o dyslexia\, such a measure becomes indispensable. \n\nMy collaborators an
 d I have been working on developing just such a measure. The measure is ba
 sed on different types of data\, test data\, self-report\, and some psycho
 physiological data. A distinctive aspect of the measure is that it not onl
 y captures aspects of music processing such as melodic or tempo discrimina
 tion\, but also emotive-motivational components of musicality. To account 
 for individual differences in both components I have coined the term music
 -mindedness. My hope is that\, once the measures of music-mindedness are f
 ully validated\, it should be possible to relate individual differences in
  musicality to extra-musical traits\, such as linguistic ability\, cogniti
 ve functioning and personality more effectively than is currently the case
 . \n\n*References*\n\nZentner\, M. & Eerola\, T. (2010). Rhythmic engageme
 nt with music in infancy. PNAS\, 107\, 5768-5773.\n\nZentner\, M.\, Grandj
 ean\, D.\, & Scherer\, K.R. (2008). Emotions evoked by the sound of music:
  Characterization\, classification\, and measurement. Emotion\, 8\, 494-52
 1.\n\nZentner\, M.R. & Kagan\, J. (1996). Perception of music by infants. 
 Nature\, 383\, 29.\n\nReserach webpage: http://www.zentnerlab.com\n\n
LOCATION:PPSIS COMMITTEE ROOM (change of venue) (Free School Lane)
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