The Evolutionary Origins of Rhythm: A Top-down/bottom-up Approach to Temporal Patterning in Music and Language

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• 作者：Andrea Ravignani^a ; ^b ; ^{andrea.ravignani@univie.ac.at" class="auth_mail}
• 关键词：Rhythm ; Time patterning ; Music ; Language ; Synchrony ; Coordination ; Comparative cognition ; Primates ; Agent-based modeling
• 刊名：Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences
• 出版年：21 March, 2014
• 年：2014
• 卷：126
• 期：Complete
• 页码：113-114
• 全文大小：205 K

文摘

Music and language are two of the most prominent human features. Both systems rely, among others, on the human cognitive ability for rhythm (), intended as patterning over time (). It is however unclear: (i) when and how humans evolved rhythmic abilities, (ii) whether these were direct results of pressures for language or music, or simply by-products of other evolutionary processes (), and (iii) the degree of overlap between rhythm in language and music cognition (). At the same time, rhythm and synchronization are truly cross-disciplinary concepts, broadly employed not only in musicology and linguistics, but also in cognitive psychology, biology, and physics (; Pikovsky, Rosenblum, & Kurths, 2003; ). This often creates conflicts between definitions and assumptions from different disciplines (). In this talk, I present my ongoing work, trying to unveil the evolutionary bases of time patterning, and to build a unifying, theoretical framework for rhythm, transcending specific disciplines. I argue how a broad comparative approach, comparing different animal species (including humans), can inform us on the evolutionary origins of the cognitive ability to process rhythm (; Ravignani et al., 2013). I describe three parallel and complementary lines of research to understand the origins of rhythm. First, I introduce a theoretical framework providing a common platform for the interdisciplinary study of rhythm in music and language (Ravignani, Bowling, & Kirby, in press). The framework I propose, the 鈥渉ierarchy of coupled oscillations鈥? attempts to connect human music, dance and phonology on one side, to occurrences of synchronization and chorusing in non-human animals (as in fireflies or crickets) on the other side (). Second, I present some preliminary results on group synchronization in an agent-based model of chorusing, aimed at investigating rhythmic abilities in pre-musical hominids (Merker, Madison, & Eckerdal, 2009). In particular, I suggest how rhythmic complexity can emerge from simple, local interactions. This bottom-up approach is particularly useful in finding out which rhythmic features can in principle exist without centralized processing (). In parallel, using a top-down approach, I describe some experimental pilot work investigating the cognitive abilities for rhythm in our closest living relatives: the chimpanzees. Chimpanzees naturally 鈥渄rum鈥?in the wild (Arcadi, Robert, & Boesch, 1998). Building on this natural predisposition, I describe the development and pilot testing of a new tool to sonify apes鈥?movements (Ravignani et al., 2013). Ongoing experiments with this 鈥淧rima-Drum鈥?will serve to: (i) investigate the temporal nature of drumming patterns in chimpanzees, (ii) compare them to those found in music and language, and (iii) ascertain chimpanzees鈥?abilities in discriminating and copying human-produced rhythms (as described in phonology and music theory research).