Levitin effect
Encyclopedia
The Levitin effect refers to the phenomenon, first documented by Dr. Daniel J. Levitin in 1994, that people – even those without musical training – tend to remember song
s in the correct key
. The finding stood in contrast to the large body of laboratory literature suggesting that such details of perceptual experience are lost during the process of memory
encoding. In other words, laboratory experiments supported the idea that most people are incapable of any sort of absolute pitch
, and thus would remember melodies with relative pitch
. It has been replicated many times and is now considered a classic result in cognitive psychology
.
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
s in the correct key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
. The finding stood in contrast to the large body of laboratory literature suggesting that such details of perceptual experience are lost during the process of memory
Memory
In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
encoding. In other words, laboratory experiments supported the idea that most people are incapable of any sort of absolute pitch
Absolute pitch
Absolute pitch , widely referred to as perfect pitch, is the ability of a person to identify or re-create a given musical note without the benefit of an external reference.-Definition:...
, and thus would remember melodies with relative pitch
Relative pitch
The term relative pitch may denote:* the distance of a musical note from a set point of reference, e.g. "three octaves above middle C"* a musician's ability to identify the intervals between given tones, regardless of their relation to concert pitch * the skill used by singers to correctly sing a...
. It has been replicated many times and is now considered a classic result in cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology is a subdiscipline of psychology exploring internal mental processes.It is the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve problems.Cognitive psychology differs from previous psychological approaches in two key ways....
.