McDermott Josh, Hauser Marc D
Perceptual Science Group, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NE20-444, 3 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, 02139.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2005 Dec;1060:6-16. doi: 10.1196/annals.1360.002.
Empirical data have recently begun to inform debates on the evolutionary origins of music. In this paper we discuss some of our recent findings and related theoretical issues. We claim that theories of the origins of music will be usefully constrained if we can determine which aspects of music perception are innate, and, of those, which are uniquely human and specific to music. Comparative research in nonhuman animals, particularly nonhuman primates, is thus critical to the debate. In this paper we focus on the preferences that characterize most humans' experience of music, testing whether similar preferences exist in nonhuman primates. Our research suggests that many rudimentary acoustic preferences, such as those for consonant over dissonant intervals, may be unique to humans. If these preferences prove to be innate in humans, they may be candidates for music-specific adaptations. To establish whether such preferences are innate in humans, one important avenue for future research will be the collection of data from different cultures. This may be facilitated by studies conducted over the internet.
实证数据最近已开始为有关音乐进化起源的辩论提供信息。在本文中，我们讨论一些我们最近的发现以及相关的理论问题。我们认为，如果我们能够确定音乐感知的哪些方面是天生的，并且在这些方面中，哪些是人类独有的且特定于音乐的，那么音乐起源理论将受到有益的限制。因此，对非人类动物，特别是非人类灵长类动物的比较研究对这场辩论至关重要。在本文中，我们关注大多数人类音乐体验所具有的偏好，测试非人类灵长类动物是否存在类似的偏好。我们的研究表明，许多基本的声学偏好，例如对协和音程而非不协和音程的偏好，可能是人类独有的。如果这些偏好在人类中被证明是天生的，它们可能是音乐特定适应性的候选因素。为了确定这些偏好在人类中是否是天生的，未来研究的一个重要途径将是收集来自不同文化的数据。通过互联网进行的研究可能会对此有所帮助。
