Haunting melodies: Specific memories distort beat perception.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Auditory Perception
• Music Cognition

Background:

• Top-down perceptual inference typically explains perception in ambiguous contexts.
• Exemplar theory posits that similar memories influence perception, even with unambiguous bottom-up cues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if specific musical memories affect beat perception universally or only in ambiguous situations.
• To determine the pervasive influence of prior auditory experience on immediate perceptual judgments.

Main Methods:

• Participants were exposed to 16 melodies, each presented in one of two meters.
• Beat perception of melodies was tested in their original or a different meter.
• Listeners rated metrical probes based on their fit with current and previously experienced meters.

Main Results:

• Metrical probe ratings were influenced by both the test meter and the melody's previously experienced meter.
• Prior experience with a melody's meter demonstrably affected beat perception.
• This influence occurred even when unambiguous bottom-up beat cues were present.

Conclusions:

• Perception is consistently shaped by detailed top-down perceptual imagery, not just during ambiguity.
• Specific past experiences play a pervasive role in immediate auditory perception.
• Musical memory exerts a routine influence on beat perception.