Abstract
Does the time required for listeners to recognize excerpts from musical compositions depend upon whether the excerpt is from the beginning, middle, or end of the composition? The musical compositions were four tape-recorded Debussy études for piano with distinct (nonrepetitious) beginning, middle, and end sections. The compositions were learned one at a time. The recognition tests determined response times for recognizing excerpts from the beginning, middle, and end sections. The results indicate that whether a musical phrase is at the beginning, middle, or end of a composition does not in itself determine recognition time. Although we have to hear the beginning of a composition before we hear the end, this temporal order in perception does not determine the cognitive structure of the composition as remembered.
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The principal results of this study were presented to the 71st meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, April 1979, Norfolk, Virginia
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Stewart, K.D., Wilbanks, W.A. Recognition time for excerpts from musical compositions. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 20, 41–44 (1982). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334797
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334797