Current projects

Repetition

Music is unique and puzzling in its reliance on repetition. People seem to crave rehearings of pieces that they like, voluntarily reexposing themselves to replay after replay of their favorite recordings. Enjoyment has been shown to increase across these initial exposures, but to decrease once a threshold of exposures has been reached. A set of behavioral and neuroimaging studies investigates the nonlinear network underlying this  inverted-U curve for preference across repeated listenings. Another set of studies investigates the ways that repetition can guide expectations in listening. 
Collaborator: Patrick Wong (Northwestern University)

Conceptual Listening

A set of behavioral studies examines the use of conceptual information in musical listening. How can knowing things about a piece affect the way it's processed and experienced? For example, what's the difference between listening to an unfamiliar piece for which you've read the program notes and one for which you haven't? How does conceptualization restructure perception?

Listener-Response Theory

The current theoretical thrust of the lab is the development of a broad listener-response theory that emphasizes the active, constructive nature of musical listening, and offers a framework for thinking about the interface between structure and experience.

For information about previous work, please visit publications.