Keypress-Based Musical Preference Is Both Individual and Lawful

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Musicology

Background:

• Musical preference is highly individual, making quantification challenging.
• Previous research identified quantifiable patterns in preference-based behavior using visual stimuli and a keypress paradigm, forming the basis of relative preference theory (RPT).
• Existing methods for preference quantification include psychometric, physiological, and neuroimaging approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if quantifiable preference patterns extend to non-visual domains, specifically music (Classical and Popular genres).
• To determine if dynamic auditory stimuli exhibit lawful, quantifiable patterns consistent with RPT.
• To explore a novel method for supplementing existing preference quantification techniques.

Main Methods:

• Adapted a keypress paradigm to present auditory stimuli from Classical and Popular music genres.
• Collected data from a pilot and a primary experimental sample.
• Employed iterative mathematical modeling to assess RPT relationships and quantify preference patterns, analyzing heterogeneity in individual responses.

Main Results:

• Observed mathematical patterns consistent with RPT in music preference, similar to those found with visual stimuli.
• These music preference patterns were recurrent across different music genres and two independent cohorts.
• The observed patterns scaled between individual and group data, demonstrating lawfulness.

Conclusions:

• Findings suggest that RPT principles apply to auditory stimuli and music preference.
• The study proposes a general neuroscience framework for predicting approach/avoidance behavior that accommodates individual differences.
• This framework may advance music neuroscience and its applications in areas like medicine and recommendation systems.