Shared Processes in Spatial Rotation and Musical Permutation

• Published in: Brain and cognition Vol. 46; no. 3; pp. 373 - 382
• Main Authors: Cupchik, Gerald C., Phillips, Krista, Hill, David S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Diego, CA Elsevier Inc 01.08.2001; Elsevier
• Subjects: Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; estrogen; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hormones and behavior; Humans; Judgment - physiology; Key Words: musical ability; Male; Motion Perception - physiology; Music; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Regression Analysis; sex differences; Sex Factors; Space Perception - physiology; spatial ability; Surveys and Questionnaires; estrogen; spatial ability; sex differences; Key Words: musical ability; Ability; Human; Mental imagery; Mental rotation; Menstrual cycle; Music; Estrogen; Sex; Spatial ability; Cognition; Sex steroid hormone
• ISSN: 0278-2626; 1090-2147
• DOI: 10.1006/brcg.2001.1295

An experiment was conducted in which subjects performed a three-dimensional spatial rotation test (24 trials) and a new test involving judgments of musical permutations (64 trials). Two types of musical permutations were used, including retrograde and inverse. In a retrograde permutation, the criterion melody was played backward in the test melody, and in an inverse permutation, an ascending or descending interval in the criterion melody became an opposite in the test melody. Subjects included 32 male and 64 female undergraduates at the University of Toronto. Regression analysis clearly showed that it was easiest to compare short retrograde permutations and that accuracy at discerning retrograde permutations predicted accuracy at judging spatial rotations. The implication is that a higher order ability to discriminate contour underlies both kinds of judgments.