Information Integration Theory: An Approach to the Study of Cognitive Development in Music

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine qualitative differences between experts and novice listeners of various ages in (a) the process of integrating pitch and rhythm information to form a single judgment of similarity or difference and (b) the perceptual value of certain pitch and rhythm transformations when they occur simultaneously. Differences were described using an integration theory model of the perceptual process. A sample of 69 subjects was divided among four novice groups taken from Grades 1, 5, 8, and college and a group of upper-level college music majors. Subjects' perception of the degree of difference between a theme and nine variations was tested using the author-designed Pitch/Rhythm Integration Measure (PRIM), a multidimensional measure of musical perception. Results indicate that (a) the PRIM was a reliable measure; (b) the pitch/rhythm integration process is statistically the same for all the groups studied; (c) there is a significant age-related increase in the importance of rhythm for the perceptual judgments of novices from Grade 1 to adult. The results seem significant in relation to previous research in musical perception and development and pitch and rhythm experiences in elementary music education.

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