Issues in theoretical and experimental approaches to research on listening and comprehension

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Abstract
Music has been studied recently from the perspective of a number of disciplines, including experimental psychology, artificial intelligence and neuroscience. These disciplines compliment more traditional approaches to understanding music, such as music theory, music analysis, and musicology. Despite their common interest in music, the various disciplines have distinctive theoretical commitments and methodologies. This paper attempts to characterize those of experimental psychology. In particular it considers why it is that certain kinds of problems appear to be more amenable to experimental analysis than others. It discusses basic problems in experimental design, including the selection of stimulus materials, participants and experimental tasks. In addition, it treats briefly the application of analytical techniques to experimental data to uncover underlying regularities and reach theoretical generalizations. The paper closes by considering the problems and potential advantages of interdisciplinary research on music, particularly within the context of the developing cognitive sciences.

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