The Effect of Context on Cross-Cultural Music Memory Performance

Abstract

Previous research has shown that both expert and novice listeners demonstrate an “enculturation effect” where they have more difficulty processing and remembering music that is culturally unfamiliar (Demorest, et al., 2008; Morrison et al., 2008; Wong, et al., 2009). What is less clear is the influence of contextual variables like timbre and tuning systems on memory responses. Another competing hypothesis is that affective response (e.g. preference) rather than cultural familiarity per se influences memory performance of culturally unfamiliar music