Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
Behav Res Methods. 2021 Oct;53(5):2007-2024. doi: 10.3758/s13428-020-01528-8. Epub 2021 Mar 11.
We sought to establish norms and correlates for the Musical Ear Test (MET), an objective test of musical ability. A large sample of undergraduates at a Canadian university (N > 500) took the 20-min test, which provided a Total score as well as separate scores for its Melody and Rhythm subtests. On each trial, listeners judged whether standard and comparison auditory sequences were the same or different. Norms were derived as percentiles, Z-scores, and T-scores. The distribution of scores was approximately normal without floor or ceiling effects. There were no gender differences on either subtest or the total score. As expected, scores on both subtests were correlated with performance on a test of immediate recall for nonmusical auditory stimuli (Digit Span Forward). Moreover, as duration of music training increased, so did performance on both subtests, but starting lessons at a younger age was not predictive of better musical abilities. Listeners who spoke a tone language exhibited enhanced performance on the Melody subtest but not on the Rhythm subtest. The MET appears to have adequate psychometric characteristics that make it suitable for researchers who seek to measure musical abilities objectively.
我们旨在建立音乐耳测试（MET）的规范和相关标准，这是一种客观的音乐能力测试。加拿大一所大学的大量本科生（N>500）参加了 20 分钟的测试，该测试提供了总分以及旋律和节奏子测试的单独分数。在每个试验中，听众判断标准和比较听觉序列是否相同或不同。规范以百分位数、Z 分数和 T 分数表示。分数的分布大致呈正态分布，没有地板或天花板效应。在子测试或总分上，性别差异均不显著。正如预期的那样，两个子测试的分数与非音乐听觉刺激的即时回忆测试（数字跨度前向）的表现相关。此外，随着音乐训练时间的延长，两个子测试的表现都有所提高，但更早开始上课并不能预测更好的音乐能力。讲声调语言的听众在旋律子测试中的表现更好，但在节奏子测试中表现不佳。MET 似乎具有足够的心理测量特征，使其适合那些希望客观测量音乐能力的研究人员。
