Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T05:24:27.808Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Ecological and psychological factors in the cultural evolution of music

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2021

Thom Scott-Phillips
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Oktober 6 utca 7, Budapest1051, Hungary. scott-phillipst@ceu.edu tominaga_atsuko@phd.ceu.eduhttps://thomscottphillips.comhttps://atsukotominaga.com
Atsuko Tominaga
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Oktober 6 utca 7, Budapest1051, Hungary. scott-phillipst@ceu.edu tominaga_atsuko@phd.ceu.eduhttps://thomscottphillips.comhttps://atsukotominaga.com
Helena Miton
Affiliation:
Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM87501, USA. helena@santafe.eduhttps://www.santafe.edu/people/profile/helena-miton

Abstract

The two target articles agree that processes of cultural evolution generate richness and diversity in music, but neither address this question in a focused way. We sketch one way to proceed – and hence suggest how the target articles differ not only in empirical claims, but also in their tacit, prior assumptions about the relationship between cognition and culture.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abboub, N., Nazzi, T., & Gervain, J. (2016). Prosodic grouping at birth. Brain & Language, 162, 4659.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cheung, V. K., Harrison, P. M., Meyer, L., Pearce, M. T., Haynes, J. D., & Koelsch, S. (2019). Uncertainty and surprise jointly predict musical pleasure and Amygdala, Hippocampus, and auditory cortex activity. Current Biology, 29(23), 40844092.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Honing, H., ten Cate, C., Peretz, I., & Trehub, S. E. (2015). Without it no music: Cognition, biology and evolution of musicality. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 370(1664), 20140088.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koelsch, S. (2011). Toward a neural basis of music perception – A review and updated model. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mehr, S. A., Singh, M., York, H., Glowacki, L., & Krasnow, M. M. (2018). Form and function in human song. Current Biology, 28(3), 356368.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miton, H., Wolf, T., Vesper, C., Knoblich, G., & Sperber, D. (2020). Motor constraints influence cultural evolution of rhythm. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 287(1937), 20202001.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salimpoor, V. N., Zald, D. H., Zatorre, R. J., Dagher, A., & McIntosh, A. R. (2015). Predictions and the brain: How musical sounds become rewarding. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 19(2), 8691.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Savage, P. E., Tierney, A. T., & Patel, A. D. (2017). Global music recordings support the motor constraint hypothesis for human and avian song contour. Music Perception, 34(3), 327334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott-Phillips, T., Blancke, S., & Heintz, C. (2018). Four misunderstandings about cultural attraction. Evolutionary Anthropology, 27(4), 162173.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sperber, D. (1996). Explaining culture. Blackwell.Google Scholar
Sperber, D., & Hirschfeld, L. A. (2004). The cognitive foundations of cultural stability and diversity. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8(1), 4046.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Strayer, H. R. (2013). From neumes to notes: The evolution of music notation. Musical Offerings, 4(1), 114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tai, H. C., Shen, Y. P., Lin, J. H., & Chung, D. T. (2018). Acoustic evolution of old Italian violins from Amati to Stradivari. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(23), 59265931.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tierney, A. T., Russo, F. A., & Patel, A. D. (2011). The motor origins of human and avian song structure. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(37), 1551015515.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wegst, U. G. (2008). Bamboo and wood in musical instruments. Annual Review of Materials Research, 38, 323349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar