Unexpected Aspects of Expectancy in Music

A well agreed discourse in music perception research is that affective response can be generated by when a tendency the delayed or inhibited. There consensus this statistically driven, derived from exposure to culturally situated musical idioms. By presenting neural-network inspired spreading activation model (SAM) paper argues nature of worthy further investigation. SAM organises stream perceived listener continuously into segments such match with an existing ‘mental representation’ (node) found, which then linked node for previously segmented part stream, link between these nodes strengthening and consolidating exposure. The currently activated segment (the being sounded) will prime best matching (strongest linked) available, generating expectancy. Expectancy defined as most strongly primed segment, emerges dynamically through experience environmental contexts, rather than schematic prototypical means. specific exemplar instance (currently sounding) contextual factors prime. This hypothesis veridical dominance has implications enduring aspects expectancy theory: (1) individual experiences matter formation expectations; (2) expectations are dynamic process, change updated experience; (3) context plays critical role expectancy; (4) schema, prototypes statistical accounts expectation should treated convenient approximations underlying cognitive processes.