Studying musical savants: A commentary on Grundy and Ockleford

Category

Journal Article

Authors

Poulin-Charronnat, B.

Year

2014

Title

Studying musical savants: A commentary on Grundy and Ockleford

Journal / book / conference

Empirical Musicology Review

Abstract

On the basis of the "zygonic" theory of musical understanding (Ockelford, 2006), Grundy and Ockelford (2014) investigated musical expectations evoked during the course of hearing a piece for the first time in a prodigious musical savant (Derek Paravicini). Overall, the results provided by Derek support the principles of the zygonic theory, especially that the higher the implication factor of a note, the more likely Derek would predict its occurrence. In my commentary, I first raise the question of the use of such individuals as musical savants to generalize findings to the general population, and second I address the issue of the task and the stimuli used.

Issue

2

Volume

9

Pages

98-100

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