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Affective and perceptual judgments of major and minor musical stimuli.

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Call No.	ML3838 .P58 2002
Author	Pittenger, Rebecca
Title	Affective and perceptual judgments of major and minor musical stimuli.
Date	2002
Abstract	In Western tonal music, the major mode is associated with positive emotions, and the minor mode is associated with negative emotions. Although this is a highly salient distinction, it is poorly understood. In 9 experiments, participants made affective and perceptual judgments of major and minor musical stimuli (chords, chord progressions, and melodies). The purpose was to investigate how the characteristics that determine the major or minor sensation of musical stimuli relate to the happy or sad sensation of the same stimuli. Part 1 of the study investigated the effect of stability and mode (whether the stimuli were major or minor) on major-minor, happy-sad, and like-dislike judgments of musical stimuli. Stability and mode affected major-minor and happy-sad judgments in similar manners: Both major and minor stimuli sounded more minor and sadder when unstable than when stable; minor stimuli sounded sadder and more minor than major stimuli. These two variables also affected like-dislike judgments of the same stimuli. However, the relative contributions of stability and mode to the like-dislike judgments differed from the former two types of judgments. These findings suggest that instability, which is greater in the minor mode than in the major mode, is one factor that contributes to the major-minor affective distinction. However, people did not simply use their liking for the stimuli as a strategy for major-minor and happy-sad judgments. In Part 2 of the study, it was found that chords with missing thirds (which determine whether a chord is major or minor) sounded more similar to major chords than to minor chords. This suggests that people heard the incomplete chord as a major chord with a missing third (rather than a minor chord with a missing third), which argues that major chords are more prototypical than minor chords. People also judged how well the endings of short melodies completed the beginnings. It was expected that when the first half of the melody was ambiguous with respect to mode, people would prefer major endings to minor endings. Instead, major, minor, and ambiguous endings were equally preferred.
Description	1 online resource (xi, 244 leaves) : illustrations
Format	application/pdf
Advisor	Bharucha, Jamshed
Subject	Musical intervals and scales -- Psychological aspects. ; Music -- Psychological aspects. ; Chords (Music) -- Psychological aspects. ; Stability.
College	Dartmouth College -- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
Issuing Body	Dartmouth Dissertations are made available through the Dartmouth Digital Library.
Degree	Thesis (Ph.D)--Dartmouth College.
Copyright	In Copyright. This material is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this material in any way that is permitted by copyright law that applies to your use. For other uses, you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1349/ddlp.3328

Title	pittenger2002 1
Full Text	Affective and Perceptual Judgments of Major and Minor Musical Stimuli A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychological and Brain Sciences by Rebecca Pittenger DARTMOUTH COLLEGE Hanover, New Hampshire May 28, 2002 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

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