Mechanisms of cue extraction in memory for musical time

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Abstract
Starting from the hypothesis explored in previous research, that there exists a mechanism for cue extraction in the organisation of listening to a musical work, the incidence of the mechanism in memory for temporal form will be studied. The experiment, conducted using a contemporary work — Eclat — by Pierre Boulez — consisted of the localisation of extracts after three hearings of the work during which subjects carried out grouping tasks made necessary by a previous study. In the comparison of the results of professional musicians and non-musicians, we observe that the latter retain a smaller number of cues whilst listening, and are less sensitive to their tonal qualities. Moreover, whilst the realisation of the “temporal line” (ligne temporelle) of the work by musicians corresponds to its actual duration, it is noticeably more “centred” by non-experts.

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