Music in our minds : A pupillometric study of music processing

Kurzfassung/Abstract

The present study investigated the processing of music with pupillometrics. 25 musicians and 25 non-musicians participated in this experiment and were asked to solve the Audiation task (Gordon, 1989). Behavioral measures to examine speed and accuracy of processing as well as the pupil peak dilation as a measure of resource allocation were collected. In addition, phonological and visual-spatial working memory capacity and crystallized and uid intelligence were assessed. Musicians solved the Audiation task faster and more accurately than non-musicians. Musicians also outperformed non-musicians in the phonological working memory capacity, as well as in crystallized intelligence. Further and most importantly, musicians exhibited greater task-related pupil peak dilations. Behavioral evidence indi- cates a general enhancement of both phonological working memory and crystallized intelligence in musicians. The pupillometric findings indicate that musicians compared to non-musicians allocate more cognitive resources while per- forming musical tasks. Results correspond to findings for experts vs. non-experts in the mathematical domain (Bor- nemann et al., 2010) and emphasize the important contribution of resource allocation in expertise.

Bornemann, B., Foth, M., Horn, J., Ries, J., Warmuth, E., Warten- burger, I., & van der Meer, E. (2010). Mathematical cognition – Individual differences in resource allocation. The International Journal of Mathematics Education, 42(6), 555-567.
Gordon, E. (1989). Advanced Measures of Music Audiation (AMMA), GIA Publications.