Subject: Re: Reality check From: Stewart Hulse <hulse(at)TAMPABAY.RR.COM> Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2005 16:36:22 -0500I'll add a peck. Porter and Neuringer (Journal of Experimental Psychology, Animal Behavior Processes, 1984) showed that pigeons could readily discriminate excerpts from Bach's music as compared with excerpts from Stravinsky's music. The discrimination also generalized immediately to other classical and modern composers such as Scarlatti and Buxtehude as well as Carter and Piston. These data say nothing about which musical period was preferred, but the question could be asked and answered experimentally. For a fuller discussion of some other issues in the comparative psychology of music, see Hulse and Page, Music Perception, 1988. Cheers, Stewart Hulse -----Original Message----- From: AUDITORY Research in Auditory Perception [mailto:AUDITORY(at)LISTS.MCGILL.CA] On Behalf Of Ferguson, Sarah Hargus Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 3:37 PM To: AUDITORY(at)LISTS.MCGILL.CA Subject: Re: Reality check Okay, I'll bite (or scratch?) - My French horn teacher in high school had several large dogs. One of them, a St. Bernard, liked to sit with his head under her chair as she played. He would lie there blissfully as she played scales or etudes - but as soon as she started working on arpeggios he would start to whine. If she didn't stop, he'd heave a big sigh, haul himself out from under the chair, lope to the studio door, and start scratching to get out. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Sarah Hargus Ferguson, Ph.D., CCC-A Assistant Professor Department of Speech-Language-Hearing: Sciences and Disorders University of Kansas Dole Center 1000 Sunnyside Ave., Room 3001 Lawrence, KS 66045 office: (785)864-1116 Speech Acoustics and Perception Lab: (785)864-0610 http://www.lsi.ku.edu/ipcd/FAC/Bios/FergusonBio.html > -----Original Message----- > From: AUDITORY Research in Auditory Perception > [mailto:AUDITORY(at)LISTS.MCGILL.CA] On Behalf Of Pierre Divenyi > Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 2:11 PM > To: AUDITORY(at)LISTS.MCGILL.CA > Subject: Re: Reality check > > Music appreciation by r/cats? > > OK -- my hat in the ring. When he was of an age between kitten and > adolescent, one of my cats (Boulez, a Maine coon of 17 lbs) used to take > naps between the strings and the lid of my piano (which did impede my > playing) and got used to sit on the piano when I was playing. However, he > failed to tell me 'til this day which composer he liked most, so I am > still > uncertain as to whether it was the sounds or the vibration that drove him > to spending time around the piano. I guess I never really took his > behavior > seriously enough to run a single-cat experiment and I am ashamed to admit > that I have never lost sleep over it. > > Pierre