Universality and diversity in human song
Science • Vol/Iss. 366(6468) • American Association for the Advancement of Science • Washington, D.C. • Published In • Pages: eaax0868 •
By Mehr, Samuel A., Singh, Manvir, Knox, Dean, Ketter, Daniel M., Pickens-Jones, Daniel, Atwood, S., Lucas, Christopher, Jacoby, Nori, Egner, Alena A., Hopkins, Erin J., Howard, Rhea M., Hartshorne, Joshua K., Jennings, Mariela V., Simson, Jan, Bainbridge, Constance M., Pinker, Steven, O’Donnell, Timothy J., Krasnow, Max M., Glowacki, Luke
Hypothesis
A song's melodic complexity predicts its context.
Note
However, rhythmic complexity did significantly distinguish dance songs (which were more rhythmically complex, p = .01) and lullabies (which were less rhythmically complex, p = .03) from other songs, but it did not distinguish healing or lovesongs (ps > .99).
| Test Name | Support | Significance | Coefficient | Tail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNKNOWN | Not Supported | dance: p = .79; healing: p = .96, love: p = .13; lullaby: p = .35 | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN |
| Variable Name | Variable Type | OCM Term(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Song melody | Dependent | Music |
| Song's context | Dependent | Music |