Musical timbre imagery in young children

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which young children are capable of performing the cognitive operation of combining two separate sounds of different timbres (A + B), in order to predict or anticipate the result of a simultaneous combination (AB). In order to assess this, three tasks were developed and administered to 38 three-, four-, and five-year-old boys and girls, along with a number conservation task. The operation of imaginal/anticipatory combining of sounds (+) was measured by Task I, while the factors of perception and memory for both single and combined sounds were measured by Task II (single sounds: A = A, B = B), and Task III (combined sounds: AB = AB), respectively. It was found that some children, although they had sufficient perception and memory of the components (A and B) and of the result (AB), were yet unable to make the combination (A + B = AB) mentally or imaginally. No children who could effect the combination were found who also did not have adequate perception and memory of A, B, and AB as separate entities. Thus it seems that the latter abilities are a necessary, but not sufficient condition for the operation of imaginal combining to occur.