Citation

Plantinga J, Trehub SE. J. Exp. Psychol. Hum. Percept. Perform. 2014; 40(1): 40-49.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/a0033471

PMID

23815480

Abstract

: The origin of the Western preference for consonance remains unresolved, with some suggesting that the preference is innate. In Experiments 1 and 2 of the present study, 6-month-old infants heard six different consonant/dissonant pairs of stimuli, including those tested in previous research. In contrast to the findings of others, infants in the present study failed to listen longer to consonant stimuli. After 3 minutes of exposure to consonant or dissonant stimuli in Experiment 3, 6-month-old infants listened longer to the familiar stimulus, whether consonant or dissonant. Our findings are inconsistent with innate preferences for consonant stimuli. Instead, the effect of short-term exposure is consistent with the view that familiarity underlies the origin of the Western preference for consonant intervals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

Language: en