Using music to probe how perception shapes imagination

Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis; J Devin McAuley

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2022.07.011

Using music to probe how perception shapes imagination

Trends Cogn Sci. 2022 Oct;26(10):829-831. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.07.011. Epub 2022 Aug 11.

Authors

Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis¹, J Devin McAuley²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Music, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. Electronic address: margulis@princeton.edu.
² Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. Electronic address: dmcauley@msu.edu.

PMID: 35965164
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.07.011

Abstract

Recent work using music highlights how past experiences and the immediate perceptual environment can shape imagination. Given that aspects of past experiences can be shared, depending on culture, as can the immediate perceptual environment, imaginings that might appear idiosyncratic or entirely subjective can in fact be broadly shared.

Keywords: events; imagination; music; narrative; spontaneous thought.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Humans
Imagination
Music*
Perception