A Global Network for Experimental Music Cognition

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Summary

Music, like language, is found in all human societies but in highly diverse forms, with some proposing that music represents the origins of language. The degree to which cross-cultural musical diversity reflects biological constraints versus cultural differences has been debated extensively. However, there remains little cross-cultural data on the degree of variation in musical production and perception with which to resolve this debate. We propose to address this problem through a series of experiments conducted on diverse populations around the globe. Specifically, we will perform a series of 6 experiments investigating global diversity in perception and production of musical 1) rhythm, 2) melody, 3) harmony, 4) language, 5) creativity, and 6) cooperation. During FY2019, we aim to lay the ground-work for procuring additional resources to allow us to perform experiments on thousands of participants from over a dozen countries around the world. By synthesizing global data on music production and perception, we aim to shed new light on the way biology and culture combine to create human music, with important practical implications for society (e.g., composers, instrument manufacturers, copyright legislators).

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