Term
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Definition
tough to find physical evidence, but most likely the voice is the oldest instrument (possibly 250,000 years old), then percussion (i.e. clapping, stones)
- next came the bone flutes (35-40,000 years old)
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Term
| adaptionist vs. non adaptionist explanation of the origins of music |
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Definition
adap.-
--It allowed humans to become better suited to their world
--It is in our genes because it helped us survive, procreate, etc.
non-adap-
--It emerged from other behaviors that were adaptations
--It is not in our genes but rather just part of our culture |
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Term
| Darwin's 'expression of emotion in man and animals (1872) |
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Definition
in this darwin said music is not useful unless originally used to attract mates
-music functioned as a courtship display like birdsongs- his evidence for this was that music is often about love, and arouses emotion |
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Term
| Miller's 'musical ability as indicator of fitness' (2000) |
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Definition
-music may be attractive like athleticism, as it demonstrates good health and mental cleverness
-this is a similar argument to darwin's birdsong analogy |
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Term
| Darwin's 'origin of the species (1859) |
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Definition
-Any physical or behavioral property that enhances survival will continue to exist
---Genes of the survivor will be past on….
-Darwin didn’t think music facilitated survival except through sexual selection (sexual selection is a special case of natural selection
---Note: sexual selection is a special case of natural selection |
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Term
| other theories as to why music helped us survive |
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Definition
Strengthens social bonding
Enhances the coordinated movements of a group
Helped develop Theories of Mind
(Facilitating cognitive and social skills and promoting emotional conjointment are additional developmental theories) |
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Term
| Music was naturally selected for because it strengthens social bonding |
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Definition
-primates use social grooming to maintain social bonds (it accounts for 20% of daily activity)- this only occurs in smaller groups though
-dunbar proposed that homo erectus had larger groups and developed 'vocal grooming'
--early vocalizations were precursors to music and language
--the rewarding nature of vocalizations devoid of meaning fostered the development of song
--such vocalizations may have been used in ritualized contexts (funerals, battle, harvests, etc.) to express emotion and promote social bonds |
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Term
| Music was naturally selected for because helped coordinate movements of a group |
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Definition
Mcneil wrote in 'keeping together in time: dnace and drill in human history'
--Rhythmic elements of music allows for a ‘sharing of time’ in movement (i.e., dance and marching)
--Use of song in manual labor such as harvesting, digging, hunting, herding
--Use of drums in preparation for battle such as military marching
Music facilitates coordination of physical movements but also mental coordination by creating shared emotional state
--Shared emotional state fosters social bonds by inducing ‘boundary loss’ (i.e., where do I end and the others begin |
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Term
| Music was naturally selected for because helped develop affective engagement |
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Definition
Written about by livingstone & thompson (2006) in 'multimodal affective interaction'
-music helped engage humans with eachother emotionally- developed along with facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures
- this led to humans developing theory of mind
--this is the idea that others have mental states just like our own inner ones- similar thoughts, feelings, and intentions
--interactions with others can be interpreted and explained based on their having such mental states
--this helped development of empathy and use of abstractions in language
important because: allowed rapid growth of culture 150,00 years ago, and the development of visual art , dance and music |
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Term
| why music didnt help us survive |
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Definition
- some argue that music is a non adaptive development
-many functional traits evolved NOT because they enhance survival and were retained in the genome (e.g. smoking, ice cream, theme parks) but because they take advantage of existing adaptations
--ex- preference for eating cheesecake was not selected for but our preference for sugars and fats were because they allow us to store energy when food is scarce
--this pref. for cheese cake is called an exaptation- a new functional trait that evolved by virtue of co-opting mechanisms previously shaped by natural selection |
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Term
| Pinker's 'how the mind works' |
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Definition
-non adaptive view of music
-says music is auditory cheesecake- an exquisite confection crafted to tickle the sensitive sponts of at least six of our mental faculties
-it tastes good by taking advantage of adapted traits (language, emotional calls, habitat selections, etc.)
-music is 'pleasure technology' |
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