Cognitive representation of "musical fractals": Processing hierarchy and recursion in the auditory domain.

ABSTRACT: The human ability to process hierarchical structures has been a longstanding research topic. However, the nature of the cognitive machinery underlying this faculty remains controversial. Recursion, the ability to embed structures within structures of the same kind, has been proposed as a key component of our ability to parse and generate complex hierarchies. Here, we investigated the cognitive representation of both recursive and iterative processes in the auditory domain. The experiment used a two-alternative forced-choice paradigm: participants were exposed to three-step processes in which pure-tone sequences were built either through recursive or iterative processes, and had to choose the correct completion. Foils were constructed according to generative processes that did not match the

SUBMITTER: Martins MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5348576 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature