Differences in the types of musical regularity learnt in incidental- and intentional-learning conditions

Gustav Kuhn*, Zoltán Dienes

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

<jats:p> Several studies have found learning of biconditional grammars only under intentional rule-search conditions (e.g., Johnstone &amp; Shanks, 2001). Memorization of strings merely led to the learning of chunks. We used a musical grammar, a diatonic inversion, that is a type of biconditional grammar. Participants either were required to memorize a set of grammatical tunes (incidental learning), or were asked to search for the underlying rule whilst being given feedback about their performance (intentional learning). The results showed that participants in the incidental-learning condition did not learn the inversion rule and merely acquired explicit knowledge about chunks. However, participants in the intentional-learning condition learnt both the inversion rule and chunks. </jats:p>
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1725-1744
Number of pages0
JournalQuarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
Volume59
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2006

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