Evolutionary Perspectives on Music Julia Fehrenbach (Fair-in-Back) Devon Kelts Hagen, Edward and Bryant, Gregory. Music and dance as a coalition signaling system. 18 June Institute of Theoretical Biology, University of Santa Cruz. Human Nature, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 21 – 51.

Why Music?  Music is processed in the same region in the brain.  Music effects perception, cognition and emotion in significant ways  Music is universal to almost all human cultures and plays a major role in rituals  Uhhhh its a lot cooler than most things. Hagen, Edward and Bryant, Gregory. Music and dance as a coalition signaling system. 18 June Institute of Theoretical Biology, University of Santa Cruz. Human Nature, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 21 – 51.

The Wonderful Varieties of Music  Javanese Gamelan:  Chopin:  Bulgarian Vocal Music: ated

Current Proposed Theories  Music has “no target” resulting from natural selection and is merely a by product of evolved higher cognitive modules.  Social Bonding Theory: Music (and dance) may serve as a means for creating coalition within members of a social group  Sexual Selection Theory: Music is a means of courtship for female mate selection as it is an indicator of creative intelligence/superior cognitive faculties. Hagen, Edward and Bryant, Gregory. Music and dance as a coalition signaling system. 18 June Institute of Theoretical Biology, University of Santa Cruz. Human Nature, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 21 – 51.

Problems with the current theories:  Sexual Selection: -Cannot easily account for the widespread performance of music and dance in groups (especially synchronized performances) -Heterosexuals of all ages and musical skill-levels enjoy, and are strongly attracted to, musical groups of the same sex (e.g., all-male rock groups like Led Zeppelin have millions of male fans ranging from pre-teens to accomplished adult musicians)  Social Bonding: -Communicate little about the benefits that one can offer in reciprocal exchanges, and they communicate equally little about one 痴 fitness interests and how they overlap with the fitness interests of others. Although musical and dance performances are informative about overall physical ability and health, they are uninformative about particular skills and goals. Hagen, Edward and Bryant, Gregory. Music and dance as a coalition signaling system. 18 June Institute of Theoretical Biology, University of Santa Cruz. Human Nature, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 21 – 51.

Le Study  Theory investigated: Music serves a means for galvanizing social groups ie creating a sense of solidarity/coalition within a group.  Predicts  1. that people will infer coalition quality from the music quality  2. that perceived music quality will depend, in part, on the degree of synchronization of the music (less synchrony predicting lower quality). Hagen, Edward and Bryant, Gregory. Music and dance as a coalition signaling system. 18 June Institute of Theoretical Biology, University of Santa Cruz. Human Nature, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 21 – 51.

Hypothesis Presented  Perceptions of music quality is positively correlated with perceptions of coalition quality. Music with degraded synchrony, a dimension of music significant for the presented theory, will contain a diminished perception of coalitional quality.  In other words, Music has an affinity for creating feelings of solidarity within a social group. Hagen, Edward and Bryant, Gregory. Music and dance as a coalition signaling system. 18 June Institute of Theoretical Biology, University of Santa Cruz. Human Nature, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 21 – 51.

Le Study cont.  Study consisted of 159 students from several undergraduate anthropology courses (ages 18-32)  Between-subjects design  4 parts to a song digitally recorded on a separate track (acoustic drums, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar).  First version- all tracks mixed in synch.  Second version- each track delayed 60 milliseconds (ms) relative to previous track (out of synch).  Final version-scrambled version, eight timing “mistakes” were created (two mistakes on each track/instrument)  Three versions were burned on CD on three separate tracks and participants were exposed to one of the three.  Participants were asked to fill out questionaire after which was designed to assess participants’ perception of music quality, coalition quality, and their own musical abilities. Hagen, Edward and Bryant, Gregory. Music and dance as a coalition signaling system. 18 June Institute of Theoretical Biology, University of Santa Cruz. Human Nature, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 21 – 51.

Study part trois  RESULTS  As predicted, the composite coalition quality was significantly positively correlated with each of the music items, and with the composite score.  As predicted, the stimulus version in which each track was delayed by 60 ms relative to the previous track was perceived to be significantly poorer quality that the “in sync” version, however, was not perceived to be significantly poorer quality. Hagen, Edward and Bryant, Gregory. Music and dance as a coalition signaling system. 18 June Institute of Theoretical Biology, University of Santa Cruz. Human Nature, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 21 – 51.

Test Questions What are the two popular theories concerning the evolution of music? A) Sexual Selection and Social bonding B) Social Selection and Sexual bonding C) Sexual Selection and EEA D) Social bonding and EEA What four music instruments were used in the experiment? A) Banjo, Trumpet, Electric Guitar, Microwave B) Electric Guitar, Bassoon, Bass Guitar, Flute C) Oboe, Xylophone, Zither, Tawa-Tawa D) Bass Guitar, Electric Guitar, Drums, Acoustic Guitar What is a problem of the sexual selection theory? A) It doesn’t take into account the sexual attractiveness of the performer B) It doesn’t explain synchronized dances C) Music can be a courtship display D) Too much fun.

Test Questions  Musical coalition is positively correlated with musical perception T/F  The concept of a coalition signaling system is being tested in the study T/F  Each participant was exposed to all musical tracks T/F

Conclusions/ Critical Review  The results of the study validate the presented hypothesis thereby giving some validation to the overarching theory.  From a sociological perspective, this ultimately points to the power of music as a means of instilling solidarity. This would confirm its importance in various social/cultural practices/rituals and make it important as the focus for future studies.  It does not account for individuals who compose and create music personal volition.  Still doesn’t point to evolutionary adaptive function of music. Like, other authors have stated, no target for natural selection has been accurately discovered. Hagen, Edward and Bryant, Gregory. Music and dance as a coalition signaling system. 18 June Institute of Theoretical Biology, University of Santa Cruz. Human Nature, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 21 – 51.