PhD Oral Exam - Alexander Albury, Psychology

When studying for a doctoral degree (PhD), candidates submit a thesis that provides a critical review of the current state of knowledge of the thesis subject as well as the student’s own contributions to the subject. The distinguishing criterion of doctoral graduate research is a significant and original contribution to knowledge.

Once accepted, the candidate presents the thesis orally. This oral exam is open to the public.

Abstract

Music perception relies on a combination of top-down and bottom-up processes that support sensorimotor integration. These processes are supported by predictions based on regularities of musical structure learned through experience. From this learning we generate expectations of upcoming events that influence our judgements of music and support action planning when performing music. However, the relationship between musical predictability and pleasure remains unclear, and even less is known about how this relationship influences motor learning of musical stimuli. The research presented in this thesis investigates how musical predictability influences affective responses to music, and how this relationship mediates how we learn the motor patterns required to play an instrument. These questions are approached using a combination of motor learning paradigms, pupillometry, and electroencephalography to assess the relationship between musical predictability and pleasure at multiple levels of processing. Study 1 investigated the relationship between musical predictability and pleasure with an emphasis on how subjective judgements of liking can be influenced by comparisons to other music heard within a listening context. We observed contrast effects in which highly predictable music was rated as more predictable and less liked when heard alongside naturalistic stimuli compared to when it was heard alone. Study 2 examined the effects of musical pleasure and predictability on physiological arousal, motor learning, and melody recognition. More liked melodies elicited greater pupil dilation, faster motor learning, and better recognition. Study 3 explored the mechanisms responsible for coordination of the brain areas involved in musical pleasure and performance by recording EEG activity during listening and motor learning and comparing inter-site phase synchronization to liking ratings and motor performance. Theta synchronization between right frontotemporal and parietal areas was positively related to pleasure while beta synchronization in right frontotemporal and left parietal areas was associated with performance. Together, this work further explains the link between musical predictability and pleasure, presents evidence of the influence of pleasure on motor learning, and identifies neural mechanisms that support these relationships. The results are discussed in the context of cognitive and neural processes of prediction and auditory-motor integration, and in relation to common neural pathways underlying these processes.