The effects of familiarity and previous training on perception of an ambiguous musical figure

Abstract

To study the interaction between familiarity with the "language" in which a musical experience is presented (traditional or contemporary style) and the type of formal training people have had, subjects listened to an ambiguous dichotic figure (Deutsch, 1975) presented under four conditions. In three conditions the figure was preceded by a priming stimulus presented monaurally. In a control condition the dichotic figure was presented three times. Experiment 1 studied responses of nonmusicians, performers of conventional music, and composers of contemporary music. Nonmusicians followed the priming stimulus, performers tended to stream by pitch, and contemporary composers made veridical reports. Experiment 2 examined whether the composers had veridical percepts because of familiarity with the nonlinear language of the dichotic figure or because of an analytic approach to sound perception. Thus Experiment 1 was repeated with nonmusicians, two groups of listeners, and two groups of composers. The nonmusicians followed the priming stimulus, traditional composers and both groups of listeners tended to stream by pitch, and contemporary composers perceived veridically. Implications of the connection between the percepts and familiarity with, or training in, the language of the experience are examined. © 1987 Psychonomic Society, Inc.