I obtained Bachelor’s degrees in Music Theory and English Literature at the University of Arkansas, and recently completed my PhD in Music Theory at McGill University. I am currently a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Computational Perception at Johannes Kepler University Linz. My research examines the perception of cadences and other recurrent temporal patterns in tonal music using both experimental and corpus-analytic methods, and drawing from theories of implicit (statistical) learning, schema theory, and expectation. I have ancillary interests in empirical musicology, music and emotion, sensorimotor synchronization, and popular music analysis. Supervisors: Stephen McAdams and William E. Caplin
A comprehensive characterization of autonomic and somatic responding within the auditory domain i... more A comprehensive characterization of autonomic and somatic responding within the auditory domain is currently lacking. We studied whether simple types of auditory change that occur frequently during music listening could elicit measurable changes in heart rate, skin conductance, respiration rate, and facial motor activity. Participants heard a rhythmically isochronous sequence consisting of a repeated standard tone, followed by a repeated target tone that changed in pitch, timbre, duration, intensity, or tempo, or that deviated momentarily from rhythmic isochrony. Changes in all parameters produced increases in heart rate. Skin conductance response magnitude was affected by changes in timbre, intensity, and tempo. Respiratory rate was sensitive to deviations from isochrony. Our findings suggest that music researchers interpreting physiological responses as emotional indices should consider acoustic factors that may influence physiology in the absence of induced emotions.
A comprehensive characterization of autonomic and somatic responding within the auditory domain i... more A comprehensive characterization of autonomic and somatic responding within the auditory domain is currently lacking. We studied whether simple types of auditory change that occur frequently during music listening could elicit measurable changes in heart rate, skin conductance, respiration rate, and facial motor activity. Participants heard a rhythmically isochronous sequence consisting of a repeated standard tone, followed by a repeated target tone that changed in pitch, timbre, duration, intensity, or tempo, or that deviated momentarily from rhythmic isochrony. Changes in all parameters produced increases in heart rate. Skin conductance response magnitude was affected by changes in timbre, intensity, and tempo. Respiratory rate was sensitive to deviations from isochrony. Our findings suggest that music researchers interpreting physiological responses as emotional indices should consider acoustic factors that may influence physiology in the absence of induced emotions.
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Papers by David Sears