This project investigates together with the Music Perception and Cognition Lab at McGill University the temporality of the perceptual, cognitive and affective experience of listeners. We developed and tested music theories for the construction of hypotheses on what happens in the mind of a listener during music listening, as well as how musical structures shape this experience over time. Using psychophysiological research methods, we tested for the universalness of emotional responses to music and the role of listener expectation in music listening.

Project Run Time: 2009-2015

Key publications:

• Egermann, H., Fernando, N., Chuen, L. & McAdams, S. (2015). Music induces universal emotion-related psychophysiological responses: Comparing Canadian listeners to Congolese Pygmies. Frontiers in Psychology: Emotion Science, 5, 1341.
• Egermann, H., Pearce, M., Wiggins, G. & McAdams, S. (2013). Probabilistic models of expectation violation predict psychophysiological emotional responses to live concert music. Cognitive Affective Behavioral Neuroscience, 13(3), 533-553.
• Egermann, H. & McAdams, S. (2013). Empathy and emotional contagion as a link between recognized and felt emotions in music listening. Music Perception, 31(2),137-153.