we investigated working memory (WM) performance for tone sequences that either respected musical regularities (tonal sequences) or did not (atonal sequences) using a forward and a backward recognition task. Participants indicated whether two sequences were the same or different, with “same” being defined as all tones played correctly in either the same order (forward task) or backward order (backward task). For the forward task, nonmusician and musician participants showed better performance for tonal than for atonal sequences, therefore supporting the hypothesis that musically structured material increased WM performance during maintenance of tone information. For the backward task, neither nonmusicians nor musicians showed better performance for tonal compared to atonal sequences. Our findings suggest that musical structure influences WM for tones during maintenance (forward recognition task), but not during manipulation (backward recognition task).
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February 2012
Research Article|
February 01 2012
Working Memory for Tonal and Atonal Sequences during a Forward and a Backward Recognition Task
Katrin Schulze
;
Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CNRS UMR 5292, INSERM U1028, University Lyon 1), Lyon, France and UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK
Katrin Schulze, UCL Institute of Child Health / Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N1EH United Kingdom. e-mail: kschulze@ich.ucl.ac.uk
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W. Jay Dowling
;
W. Jay Dowling
University of Texas at Dallas
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Barbara Tillmann
Barbara Tillmann
Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CNRS UMR 5292, INSERM U1028, University Lyon 1), Lyon, France
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Katrin Schulze, UCL Institute of Child Health / Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N1EH United Kingdom. e-mail: kschulze@ich.ucl.ac.uk
Music Perception (2012) 29 (3): 255–267.
Article history
Received:
August 03 2010
Accepted:
June 10 2011
Citation
Katrin Schulze, W. Jay Dowling, Barbara Tillmann; Working Memory for Tonal and Atonal Sequences during a Forward and a Backward Recognition Task. Music Perception 1 February 2012; 29 (3): 255–267. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2012.29.3.255
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