scholarly journals Expectations for tonal cadences: Sensory and cognitive priming effects

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 1422-1438 ◽  
Author(s):  
David RW Sears ◽  
Marcus T Pearce ◽  
Jacob Spitzer ◽  
William E Caplin ◽  
Stephen McAdams
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Music Listening ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Tonal Music ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Cognitive Priming ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Tonal Processing ◽  
Preceding Context ◽  
Tonal Context

Studies examining the formation of melodic and harmonic expectations during music listening have repeatedly demonstrated that a tonal context primes listeners to expect certain (tonally related) continuations over others. However, few such studies have (1) selected stimuli using ready examples of expectancy violation derived from real-world instances of tonal music, (2) provided a consistent account for the influence of sensory and cognitive mechanisms on tonal expectancies by comparing different computational simulations, or (3) combined melodic and harmonic representations in modelling cognitive processes of expectation. To resolve these issues, this study measures expectations for the most recurrent cadence patterns associated with tonal music and then simulates the reported findings using three sensory–cognitive models of auditory expectation. In Experiment 1, participants provided explicit retrospective expectancy ratings both before and after hearing the target melodic tone and chord of the cadential formula. In Experiment 2, participants indicated as quickly as possible whether those target events were in or out of tune relative to the preceding context. Across both experiments, cadences terminating with stable melodic tones and chords elicited the highest expectancy ratings and the fastest and most accurate responses. Moreover, the model simulations supported a cognitive interpretation of tonal processing, in which listeners with exposure to tonal music generate expectations as a consequence of the frequent (co-)occurrence of events on the musical surface.

Implicit Absolute Pitch Representation Affects Basic Tonal Perception

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 569-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zohar Eitan ◽  
Moshe Shay Ben-Haim ◽  
Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis
Keyword(s):  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
Occurrence Frequency ◽  
Tonal Music ◽  
Pitch Class ◽  
Harmonic Progression ◽  
Relative Pitch ◽  
Preceding Context ◽  
Tonal Hierarchy ◽  
Tonal Perception ◽  
Tonal Context

It is undisputed that the cognition of tonal music is primarily established by pitch relationships set within a tonal scheme such as a major or minor key. The corresponding notion—that absolute pitch and absolute key are largely inconsequential for tonal cognition—thus seems inevitable. Here, we challenge the latter notion, presenting data suggesting that absolute pitch and absolute key significantly modify listeners’ judgments of tonal fit and tonal tension. In two experiments extending the probe tone technique (as applied in Krumhansl & Kessler, 1982) participants heard a brief tonal context (a major triad in Experiment 1, a harmonic progression in Experiment 2) followed by individual probe tones, and rated how well each probe fitted the preceding context, as well as the musical tension conveyed by each probe. Two maximally distant key contexts, G major and D♭ major, were used in both experiments and in both tasks. Ratings revealed significant absolute pitch effects in both tasks, though in different ways. In the tonal fit task, diatonic pitches in G major were rated higher than those in D♭ major; in contrast, chromatic pitches were rated higher in D♭ major, compared to G. In the tension task, overall ratings were significantly higher for D♭ major contexts than for G major context (Experiment 1). Importantly, these effects reflect the occurrence frequency of pitch classes and keys in the tonal repertory: frequent pitch classes were rated as better fits than rarer ones, and a rarer key (D♭) rated tenser than a frequently-occurring key (G). Absolute pitch effects were most strongly manifested by participants without formal training, for whom the relative pitch effects of the tonal hierarchy were weak, and were stronger when tonal context was weaker (Experiment 1 as compared to Experiment 2). Results suggest that implicit absolute pitch perception, reflecting key and pitch class occurrence frequency, significantly affects tonal music processing; such absolute pitch effects may be activated principally when tonal perception or tonal cues are lacking.

Creativity from paradoxical experience: a theory of how individuals achieve creativity while adopting paradoxical frames

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goran Calic ◽  
Sebastien Hélie ◽  
Nick Bontis ◽  
Elaine Mosakowski
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Computational Simulation ◽  
Current Theory ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Important Benefit ◽  
Paradox Theory ◽  
Stored Information ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeExtant paradox theory suggests that adopting paradoxical frames, which are mental templates adopted by individuals in order to embrace contradictions, will result in superior firm performance. Superior performance is achieved through learning and creativity, fostering flexibility and resilience and unleashing human capital. The creativity mechanism of paradox theory is limited by a few propositions and a rough underlying theoretical logic. Using the extant theoretical base as a platform, the paper aims to develop a more powerful theory using a computational simulation.Design/methodology/approachThis paper relies on a psychologically realistic computer simulation. Using a simulation to generate ideas from stored information, one can model and manipulate the parameters that have been shown to mediate the relationship between paradoxes and creative output – defined as the number of creative ideas generated.FindingsSimulation results suggest that the relationship between paradoxical frames and creative output is non-monotonic – contrary to previous studies. Indeed, findings suggest that paradoxical frames can reduce, rather than enhance, creative output, in at least some cases.Originality/valueAn important benefit of adopting paradoxical frames is their capacity to increase creative output. This assumption is challenging to test, because one cannot measure private cognitive processes related to knowledge creation. However, they can be simulated. This allows for the extension of current theory. This new theory depicts a more complete relationship between paradoxical frames and creativity by accounting for subjective differences in how paradoxical frames are experienced along two cognitive mechanisms – differentiation and integration.

scholarly journals Should I stay or should I go? Evidence accumulation drives decision making in human drivers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arkady Zgonnikov ◽  
David Abbink ◽  
Gustav Markkula
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Cognitive Process ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Naturalistic Decision Making ◽  
Dynamic Constraints ◽  
Evidence Accumulation ◽  
Out Of Sample

Laboratory studies of abstract, highly controlled tasks point towards noisy evidence accumulation as a key mechanism governing decision making. Yet it is unclear whether the cognitive processes implicated in simple, isolated decisions in the lab are as paramount to decisions that are ingrained in more complex behaviors, such as driving. Here we aim to address the gap between modern cognitive models of decision making and studies of naturalistic decision making in drivers, which so far have provided only limited insight into the underlying cognitive processes. We investigate drivers' decision making during unprotected left turns, and model the cognitive process driving these decisions. Our model builds on the classical drift-diffusion model, and emphasizes, first, the drift rate linked to the relevant perceptual quantities dynamically sampled from the environment, and, second, collapsing decision boundaries reflecting the dynamic constraints imposed on the decision maker’s response by the environment. We show that the model explains the observed decision outcomes and response times, as well as substantial individual differences in those. Through cross-validation, we demonstrate that the model not only explains the data, but also generalizes to out-of-sample conditions, effectively providing a way to predict human drivers’ behavior in real time. Our results reveal the cognitive mechanisms of gap acceptance decisions in human drivers, and exemplify how simple cognitive process models can help us to understand human behavior in complex real-world tasks.

scholarly journals Short-Term Efficacy Of A Worry Postponement Intervention for Generalized Anxiety Disorder

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Tallon
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Generalized Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Stimulus Control ◽  
Behavioural Therapy ◽  
Mechanisms Of Change ◽  
Generalized Anxiety ◽  
Common Component ◽  
Metacognitive Beliefs ◽  
Before And After

Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Worry postponement (WP), in which a client is asked to postpone worry until a 30-minute “worry time,” is a common component of CBT for GAD; however, the efficacy of WP has never been tested in people with GAD. Further, the mechanisms of change of WP are not known; nor are its effects on cognitive processes and symptoms related to GAD. A better understanding of the efficacy and mechanisms of change of WP could help to optimize CBT for GAD. The goals of the present study were to examine, in a sample of people with GAD, the effects of WP on worry and GAD symptoms, and cognitive processes and symptoms related to GAD. The study also examined the effects of WP on two proposed mediators: stimulus control and metacognitive beliefs. Sixty-seven adults were randomized to one of three conditions: 2- week worry postponement intervention (WP), 2-week worry monitoring intervention (MON), or an assessment only control. Participants completed outcome measures before and after the 2- week intervention period and at a 2-week follow-up. In the WP and MON conditions, participants completed daily worry monitoring using a phone-based application. All participants showed a significant decrease in past-week worry over the course of the study, with no significant differences between the conditions. There were no significant changes in GAD symptoms across conditions. There was no evidence that WP had superior effects to control groups on cognitive processes or symptoms related to GAD. There was no evidence that stimulus control or metacognitive beliefs mediated the reduction in past week worry in WP. This is the first known study to examine the effects of WP in people with GAD. Whereas worry did decrease on some indices over the course of the study, there were no significant differences between WP and two control conditions. Further this study found no evidence that WP has specific effects on two processes that are thought to be mechanisms of action. The findings of this study demonstrate the need to establish the efficacy of the treatment components used in CBT.

scholarly journals Prediction Under Uncertainty: Dissociating Sensory from Cognitive Expectations in Highly Uncertain Musical Contexts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris Mencke ◽  
David Ricardo Quiroga-Martinez ◽  
Diana Omigie ◽  
Franz Schwarzacher ◽  
Niels T Haumann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Predictive Models ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Behavioral Experiment ◽  
Music Listening ◽  
Tonal Music ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Predictive Processes ◽  
Musical Context ◽  
High Uncertainty

Predictive models in the brain rely on the continuous extraction of regularities from the environment. These models are thought to be updated by novel information, as reflected in prediction error responses such as the mismatch negativity (MMN). However, although in real life individuals often face situations in which uncertainty prevails, it remains unclear whether and how predictive models emerge in high-uncertainty contexts. Recent research suggests that uncertainty affects the magnitude of MMN responses in the context of music listening. However, musical predictions are typically studied with MMN stimulation paradigms based on Western tonal music, which are characterized by relatively high predictability. Hence, we developed an MMN paradigm to investigate how the high uncertainty of atonal music modulates predictive processes as indexed by the MMN and behavior. Using MEG in a group of 20 subjects without musical training, we demonstrate that the magnetic MMN in response to pitch, intensity, timbre, and location deviants is evoked in both tonal and atonal melodies, with no significant differences between conditions. In contrast, in a separate behavioral experiment involving 39 non-musicians, participants detected pitch deviants more accurately and rated confidence higher in the tonal than in the atonal musical context. These results indicate that contextual tonal uncertainty modulates processing stages in which conscious awareness is involved, although deviants robustly elicit low-level pre-attentive responses such as the MMN. The achievement of robust MMN responses, despite high tonal uncertainty, is relevant for future studies comparing groups of listeners' MMN responses to increasingly ecological music stimuli.

scholarly journals Experimental priming of independent and interdependent activity does not affect culturally variable psychological processes

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 161025 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kesson Magid ◽  
Vera Sarkol ◽  
Alex Mesoudi
Keyword(s):  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Psychological Measures ◽  
Self Construal ◽  
Psychological Differences ◽  
Interdependent Self ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Working Together

Cultural psychologists have shown that people from Western countries exhibit more independent self-construal and analytic (rule-based) cognition than people from East Asia, who exhibit more interdependent self-construal and holistic (relationship-based) cognition. One explanation for this cross-cultural variation is the ecocultural hypothesis, which links contemporary psychological differences to ancestral differences in subsistence and societal cohesion: Western thinking formed in response to solitary herding, which fostered independence, while East Asian thinking emerged in response to communal rice farming, which fostered interdependence. Here, we report two experiments that tested the ecocultural hypothesis in the laboratory. In both, participants played one of two tasks designed to recreate the key factors of working alone and working together. Before and after each task, participants completed psychological measures of independent–interdependent self-construal and analytic–holistic cognition. We found no convincing evidence that either solitary or collective tasks affected any of the measures in the predicted directions. This fails to support the ecocultural hypothesis. However, it may also be that our priming tasks are inappropriate or inadequate for simulating subsistence-related behavioural practices, or that these measures are fixed early in development and therefore not experimentally primable, despite many previous studies that have purported to find such priming effects.

Machine Learning and Cognitive Algorithms for Engineering Applications

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 64-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonid Perlovsky ◽  
Gary Kuvich
Keyword(s):  
Fuzzy Logic ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Universal Representation

Mind is based on intelligent cognitive processes, which are not limited by language and logic only. The thought is a set of informational processes in the brain, and such processes have the same rationale as any other systematic informational processes. Their specifics are determined by the ways of how brain stores, structures, and process this information. Systematic approach allows representing them in a diagrammatic form that can be formalized. Semiotic approach allows for the universal representation of such diagrams. In that approach, logic is a way of synthesis of such structures, which is a small but clearly visible top of the iceberg. The most efforts were traditionally put into logics without paying much attention to the rest of the mechanisms that make the entire thought system working autonomously. Dynamic fuzzy logic is reviewed and its connections with semiotics are established. Dynamic fuzzy logic extends fuzzy logic in the direction of logic-processes, which include processes of fuzzification and defuzzification as parts of logic. The paper reviews basic cognitive mechanisms, including instinctual drives, emotional and conceptual mechanisms, perception, cognition, language, a model of interaction between language and cognition upon the new semiotic models. The model of interacting cognition and language is organized in an approximate hierarchy of mental representations from sensory percepts at the “bottom” to objects, contexts, situations, abstract concepts-representations, and to the most general representations at the “top” of mental hierarchy. Knowledge Instinct and emotions are driving feedbacks for these representations. Interactions of bottom-up and top-down processes in such hierarchical semiotic representation are essential for modeling cognition. Dynamic fuzzy logic is analyzed as a fundamental mechanism of these processes. Future research directions are discussed.

The basic cognition of jealousy: an evolutionary perspective

2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon K. Maner ◽  
Todd K. Shackelford
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Empirical Approach ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Related Research ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
Basic Cognition ◽  
Direct Investigation

Penke and Asendorpf (European Journal Of Personality, vol 21, this issue) argue compellingly that research on jealousy would benefit from more direct investigation of cognitive processes, and report on research providing mixed evidence for sex differences in jealousy. We identify three limitations to the empirical approach utilised by Penke and Asendorpf, and highlight novel conceptual and methodological approaches for directly examining the basic cognitive mechanisms associated with jealousy and intrasexual rivalry. Investigating the basic cognition of intrasexual rivalry will help expand the scope of jealousy‐related research. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hand-eye coordination during sequential tasks

1992 ◽  
Vol 337 (1281) ◽  
pp. 331-339 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Target Location ◽  
Terminal Phase ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
The Gaze ◽  
Eye Fixations ◽  
Task Requirements ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Hand Eye Coordination ◽  
Main Observation ◽  
The Subject

The small angle subtended by the hum an fovea places a premium on the ability to quickly and accurately direct the gaze to targets of interest. Thus the resultant saccadic eye fixations are a very instructive behaviour, revealing much about the underlying cognitive mechanisms that guide them. Of particular interest are the eye fixations used in hand-eye coordination. Such coordination has been extensively studied for single movements from a source location to a target location. In contrast, we have studied multiple fixations where the sources and targets are a function of a task and chosen dynamically by the subject according to task requirements. T he task chosen is a copying task: subjects must copy a figure made up of contiguous coloured blocks as fast as possible. The main observation is that although eye fixations are used for the terminal phase of hand movements, they are used for other tasks before and after that phase. The analysis of the spatial and temporal details of these fixations suggests that the underlying decision process that moves the eyes leaves key decisions until just before they are required.

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