The effect of expertise in music reading: cross-modal competence

Authors

Drai-Zerbib, V. & Baccino, T. ,

Year

2014

Title

The effect of expertise in music reading: cross-modal competence

Journal / book / conference

Journal of Eye Movement Research

Abstract

We hypothesize that the fundamental difference between expert and learner musicians is the capacity to efficiently integrate cross-modal information. This capacity might be an index of an expert memory using both auditory and visual cues built during many years of learning and extensive practice. Investigating this issue through an eye-tracking experiment, two groups of musicians, experts and non-experts, were required to report whether a fragment of classical music, successively displayed both auditorily and visually on a computer screen (cross-modal presentation) was same or different. An accent mark,associated on a particular note, was located in a congruent or incongruent way according to musical harmony rules, during the auditory and reading phases. The cross-modal competence of experts was demonstrated by shorter fixation durations and less errors. Accent mark appeared for non-experts as interferences and lead to incorrect judgments. Results are discussed in terms of amodal memory for expert musicians that can be supported within the theoretical framework of Long-Term Working Memory (Ericsson and Kintsch, 1995).

Issue

Volume

(5)

Pages

1-10

Keywords

Expert memory; cross-modality; sight-reading; music; eye movements

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