Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This study assesses whether different musical modes can influence the subjective estimation of time. The three musical stimuli, each of 64.3 sec. duration, had the same harmonic structure, although each was constructed in a different mode: Ionian (major), Aeolian (minor), or Locrian (diminished) mode. Study participants were 108 undergraduate students (56 men and 52 women) in Education (n = 41), Psychology (n = 32), or Law (n = 35), ages 17 to 35 years and nonmusicians, who were divided into three groups by the musical stimuli presented. Participants listened to the stimulus, made a temporal estimation of the stimulus duration, and provided a written verbal rating of mood state. Analysis of variance indicated the Locrian stimulus was estimated as longer than the Aeolian and Ionian stimuli which suggested the dissonant (unpleasant) stimuli was associated with a longer estimated duration than consonant (pleasant) stimuli.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Angrilli

Cherubini

Pavese

Manfredini

(1997) The influence of affective factors on time perception. Perception and Psychophysics, 59,972–982.

Balkwill

Thompson

(1999) A cross-cultural investigation of the perception of emotion in music: Psychophysical and cultural cues. Music Perception, 17,43–64.

Boltz

M. G.

(1998) The processing of temporal and nontemporal information in the remembering of event duration and musical structure. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 24,1087–1104.

Boltz

M. G.

(1999) The processing of melodic and temporal information: Independent or unified dimensions? Journal of New Music Research, 28,67–79.

Bueno

J. L. O.

Firmino

E. A.

Engelmann

(2002) Influence of generalized complexity of a music event on subjective time estimation. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 94,541–547.

Costa

Bitti

P. E. R.

Bonfiglioli

(2000) Psychological connotations of harmonic musical intervals. Psychology of Music, 28,4–22.

Drake

(1998) Psychological processes involved in temporal organization of complex auditory sequences: Universal and acquired process. Music Perception, 16,11–26.

Engelmann

(2002) A new scale for evaluating hedonic percepts. In Annual Meeting of the International Society for Psychophysics. Vol. 18. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Annals. Pp 191–196.

Hicks

R. E.

Miller

G. W.

Kinsbourne

(1976) Prospective judgments of time as a function of information processed. American Journal of Psychology, 89,719–730.

10.

Hindemith

(1953) A concentrated course in traditional harmony, with emphasis on exercises and a minimum of rules. New York: Associated Music Publ.

11.

Jones

M. R.

(1990) Musical events and models of musical time. In Block

R. A.

(Ed.), Cognitive models of psychological time. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Pp 207–240.

12.

Jones

M. R.

Boltz

(1989) Dynamic attending and responses to time. Psychological Review, 96,459–491.

13.

Ornstein

R. E.

(1969) On the experiences of time. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.

14.

Piston

(1987) Harmony. New York: Norton.

15.

Schöenberg

(1999) Structural functions of harmony. London, UK: Faber & Faber.

16.

Schön

Regnault

Ystad

Besson

(2004) Sensory consonance: An ERP study. Music Perception, 23,105–117.

17.

Tracy

Monaco

McMichael

Tyson

Chambliss

Christensen

Celenza

(1998) Information-processing characteristics of explicit time estimation by patients with schizophrenia and normal controls. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 86,515–526.

18.

Zakay

(1990) The evasive art of subjective time measurement: Some psychological dilemmas. In Block

R. A.

(Ed.), Cognitive models of psychological time. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Pp 59–84.

Musical Mode and Estimation of Time

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References