Defining the Musical Phenotype: A Precursor to the Study of Cognitive Transfer

Sunday, February 17, 2013
Ballroom A (Hynes Convention Center)
Daniel Levitin , McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
Music can be seen as a model system for understanding cognitive transfer from one domain of instruction and experience to another. Unfortunately, an adequate definition of musicality – the musical phenotype – does not exist, creating a significant hurdle to further progress. I will review those factors that might be associated with the phenotype, and discuss definitions, measurement, and accuracy, three common obstacles in understanding complex behavioral phenomena.