Individual differences in mental control predict involuntary musical imagery

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 398-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Philip Beaman ◽  
Tim I. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Mental Control ◽  
Musical Imagery

scholarly journals Mental Control of Musical Imagery: Comparing Tonal and Song Stimuli

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Cotter ◽  
Paul Silvia
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Stimulus Type ◽  
Auditory Imagery ◽  
Mental Control ◽  
Musical Imagery ◽  
Musical Expertise ◽  
Management Ability

Mental control of musical imagery is a complex but understudied process that consists of two components: initiation—whether the musical imagery experience began voluntarily or involuntarily—and management—whether instances of control occur after the experience has begun (e.g., changing the song). The present research examined these two components using 11 lab tasks measuring both initiation and management abilities in a sample of 203 undergraduate students. The tasks varied in stimuli composition: 7 tasks used tones and tonal sequences frequently used as stimuli in auditory imagery research, and 4 tasks used stimuli resembling the contents of everyday musical imagery (i.e., song excerpts). Initiation and management abilities were closely related, and people with greater musical expertise showed a smaller difference between initiation and management ability. Similarly, performance on tasks using tones or tonal sequences and tasks using song stimuli were closely related, and people didn’t differ in performance as a function of stimulus type. The present research demonstrates that people’s ability to initiate and to manage musical imagery are strongly linked and that people are equally good at controlling relatively simple musical imagery and imagery of well-known songs.

scholarly journals Involuntary musical imagery as a component of ordinary music cognition: A review of empirical evidence

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 1195-1217
Author(s):  
Lassi A. Liikkanen ◽  
Kelly Jakubowski
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Music Cognition ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Personality Factors ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Musical Imagery ◽  
Mental Experience ◽  
Research Themes ◽  
Extensive Literature Search

AbstractInvoluntary musical imagery (INMI) refers to a conscious mental experience of music that occurs without deliberate efforts to initiate or sustain it. This experience often consists of the repetition of a short fragment of a melody, colloquially called an “earworm.” Here, we present the first comprehensive, qualitative review of published empirical research on INMI to date. We performed an extensive literature search and discovered, in total, 47 studies from 33 peer-reviewed articles that met the inclusion criteria for the review. In analyzing the content of these studies, we identified four major research themes, which concern the phenomenology, dynamics, individual differences, and musical features of INMI. The findings answer many questions of scientific interest—for instance, what is typical in terms of INMI frequency, duration, and content; which factors influence INMI onset; and whether demographic and personality factors can explain individual differences in susceptibility and responses to INMI. This review showcases INMI as a well-established phenomenon in light of a substantial body of empirical studies that have accumulated consistent results. Although the populations under study show an unfavorable bias towards Western, educated participants, the evidence depicts INMI as a universal psychological phenomenon, the possible function of which we do not yet fully understand. The concluding section introduces several suggestions for future research to expand on the topic.

scholarly journals Mental control of musical imagery: Comparing tonal and song stimuli.

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 145-158
Author(s):  
Katherine N. Cotter ◽  
Paul J. Silvia
Keyword(s):  
Mental Control ◽  
Musical Imagery

scholarly journals Music to the inner ears: Exploring individual differences in musical imagery

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 1163-1173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger E. Beaty ◽  
Chris J. Burgin ◽  
Emily C. Nusbaum ◽  
Thomas R. Kwapil ◽  
Donald A. Hodges ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Musical Imagery

scholarly journals Tuning the inner radio: The mental control of musical imagery in everyday environments

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 876-888 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine N. Cotter ◽  
Paul J. Silvia
Keyword(s):  
Daily Life ◽  
Recent Model ◽  
Music Students ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Mental Control ◽  
Musical Imagery

How easily can people tune their inner radio? Musical imagery—hearing music in your mind—is common but little is known about people’s ability to control their musical imagery in daily life. A recent model distinguishes between initiation (starting musical imagery) vs. management (modifying, stopping, or sustaining musical imagery) as facets of control, and the present research examined people’s ability to use these two forms of control in daily life. For seven days, students (29 music students, 29 non-music students) were signaled 10 times daily and asked to initiate musical imagery and to perform manipulations on initiated and ongoing imagery (e.g., increasing the tempo, changing the vocalist’s gender). When asked, people reported exerting control over the initiation and management of their musical imagery most of the time. As expected, music students reported controlling their musical imagery more often and more easily. This work suggests that people’s control over their musical imagery is stronger and more flexible than prior work implies.

scholarly journals Individual Differences in Mental Imagery in Different Modalities and Levels of Intentionality

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgia Floridou ◽  
Kaya Peerdeman ◽  
Rebecca Schaefer
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Mental Imagery ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Auditory Imagery ◽  
Musical Imagery ◽  
Online Study ◽  
Growing Domain ◽  
Substantial Progress ◽  
Human Function

Mental imagery is a highly common aspect of everyday cognitive functioning. While substantial progress is being made in clarifying this fundamental human function, much is still unclear or unknown. Examining individual differences in age, sex, and background experience in an activity in relation to the sensory and motor modality and intentionality level of imagery as well as the relation between them will contribute to a more comprehensive account of this mental function. The current online study combined multiple imagery self-report measures in a sample (n=279) with a substantial age range (18-65), aiming to identify whether age, sex, or background experience in sports, music, or video games were associated with aspects of imagery in the visual, auditory, or motor stimulus modality and voluntary or involuntary intentionality level. The findings show weak associations between age and auditory imagery aspects, weak associations between sex and visual imagery, and relations of music and video game experience with involuntary musical imagery. Moreover, all imagery stimulus modalities were associated to each other, for both intentionality levels, except involuntary musical imagery, which was only related to voluntary auditory imagery. These results replicate previous research but also contribute new insights, showing that individual differences in age, sex, and background experience can make modest contributions to various aspects of imagery. The findings can inform the growing domain of applications of mental imagery to clinical and pedagogical settings.

scholarly journals Tuning the Inner Radio: The Mental Control of Musical Imagery in Everyday Environments

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Cotter ◽  
Paul Silvia
Keyword(s):  
Daily Life ◽  
Experience Sampling ◽  
Recent Model ◽  
Music Students ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Mental Control ◽  
Musical Imagery

How easily can people tune their inner radio? Musical imagery—hearing music in your mind—is common and complex, but little is known about people’s ability to control their musical imagery in daily life. A recent model proposed by Cotter, Christensen, and Silvia distinguishes between initiation (starting musical imagery) vs. management (modifying, stopping, or sustaining musical imagery) as distinct facets of control, and the present research examined people’s ability to use the two forms of control in daily life. A sample of students (29 music students, 29 non-music students) participated in an experience-sampling study. For seven days, people were signaled 10 times a day and asked to initiate musical imagery and perform manipulations to initiated and ongoing imagery (e.g., increasing the tempo, changing the gender of a vocalist). When asked, people reported exerting control over the initiation and management of their musical imagery most of the time. As expected, music students reported controlling their musical imagery more often and more easily. This work suggests that people’s control over their musical imagery is stronger and more flexible than prior work implies.

scholarly journals Individual differences in mental imagery in different modalities and levels of intentionality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgia A. Floridou ◽  
Kaya J. Peerdeman ◽  
Rebecca S. Schaefer
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Mental Imagery ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Auditory Imagery ◽  
Common Component ◽  
Musical Imagery ◽  
Growing Domain ◽  
Substantial Progress ◽  
Human Function

AbstractMental imagery is a highly common component of everyday cognitive functioning. While substantial progress is being made in clarifying this fundamental human function, much is still unclear or unknown. A more comprehensive account of mental imagery aspects would be gained by examining individual differences in age, sex, and background experience in an activity and their association with imagery in different modalities and intentionality levels. The current online study combined multiple imagery self-report measures in a sample (n = 279) with a substantial age range (18–65 years), aiming to identify whether age, sex, or background experience in sports, music, or video games were associated with aspects of imagery in the visual, auditory, or motor stimulus modality and voluntary or involuntary intentionality level. The findings show weak positive associations between age and increased vividness of voluntary auditory imagery and decreased involuntary musical imagery frequency, weak associations between being female and more vivid visual imagery, and relations of greater music and video game experience with higher involuntary musical imagery frequency. Moreover, all imagery stimulus modalities were associated with each other, for both intentionality levels, except involuntary musical imagery frequency, which was only related to higher voluntary auditory imagery vividness. These results replicate previous research but also contribute new insights, showing that individual differences in age, sex, and background experience are associated with various aspects of imagery such as modality, intentionality, vividness, and frequency. The study’s findings can inform the growing domain of applications of mental imagery to clinical and pedagogical settings.

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