Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T05:24:31.095Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Toward inclusive theories of the evolution of musicality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2021

Patrick E. Savage Open the ORCID record for Patrick E. Savage [Opens in a new window] ,
Psyche Loui ,
Bronwyn Tarr ,
Adena Schachner ,
Luke Glowacki ,
Steven Mithen  and
W. Tecumseh Fitch
Patrick E. Savage
Affiliation:
Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa252-0882, [email protected], http://PatrickESavage.com
Psyche Loui
Affiliation:
College of Arts, Media and Design, Northeastern University, Boston, MA02115, [email protected], http://www.psycheloui.com
Bronwyn Tarr
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Oxford, OxfordOX2 6PN, [email protected], [email protected], https://www.anthro.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-bronwyn-tarr
Adena Schachner
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA92093, [email protected], https://madlab.ucsd.edu
Luke Glowacki
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Boston University, Boston, MA02215, [email protected], https://www.hsb-lab.org/
Steven Mithen
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, ReadingRG6 6AB, [email protected], http://www.reading.ac.uk/archaeology/about/staff/s-j-mithen.aspx
W. Tecumseh Fitch
Affiliation:
Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna1090, Austria. [email protected], https://homepage.univie.ac.at/tecumseh.fitch/
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We compare and contrast the 60 commentaries by 109 authors on the pair of target articles by Mehr et al. and ourselves. The commentators largely reject Mehr et al.'s fundamental definition of music and their attempts to refute (1) our social bonding hypothesis, (2) byproduct hypotheses, and (3) sexual selection hypotheses for the evolution of musicality. Instead, the commentators generally support our more inclusive proposal that social bonding and credible signaling mechanisms complement one another in explaining cooperation within and competition between groups in a coevolutionary framework (albeit with some confusion regarding terminologies such as “byproduct” and “exaptation”). We discuss the proposed criticisms and extensions, with a focus on moving beyond adaptation/byproduct dichotomies and toward testing of cross-species, cross-cultural, and other empirical predictions.

Type
Authors’ Response
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 44 , 2021 , e121
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bergman, T. J., & Beehner, J. C. (2015). Measuring social complexity. Animal Behaviour, 103, 203–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergstrom, C. T., & Lachmann, M. (1998). Signaling among relatives. III. Talk is cheap. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 95(9), 5100–5105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biancolli, A. (2021). Music aids mental health: Science shows why. Mad in America. https://www.madinamerica.com/2021/01/music-aids-mental-health-science-shows-why/.Google Scholar
Boyd, R., & Richerson, P. J. (1985). Culture and the evolutionary process. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Brown, G. R., & Richerson, P. J. (2014). Applying evolutionary theory to human behaviour: Past differences and current debates. Journal of Bioeconomics, 16, 105–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Browning, R. (1871). Balaustion's adventure: Including a transcript from Euripides. Smith, Elder and Co.Google Scholar
Burley, N. T., & Kristine, J. (2002). The evolution of avian parental care. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 357, 241–250.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cousineau, M., Oxenham, A. J., & Peretz, I. (2015). Congenital amusia: A cognitive disorder limited to resolved harmonics and with no peripheral basis. Neuropsychologia, 66, 293–301.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Darwin, C. (1859). On the origin of species. John Murray.Google Scholar
Darwin, C. (1871). The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. John Murray.Google Scholar
Degen, R. [@DegenRolf]. (2020). Great article. It seems you are having Pinker's cheesecake and eating it too. [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1290191006768304130.Google Scholar
D'Errico, F., Villa, P., Llona, A. C. P., & Idarraga, R. R. (1998). A middle palaeolithic origin of music? Using cave-bear bone accumulations to assess the Divje Babe I bone “flute.” Antiquity, 72, 65–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eldakar, O. T., & Wilson, D. S. (2011). Eight criticisms not to make about group selection. Evolution, 65, 1523–1526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitch, W. T., & Hauser, M. D. (2002). Unpacking “honesty”: Vertebrate vocal production and the evolution of acoustic signals. In Simmons, A. M., Popper, A. N. & Fay, R. R. (Eds.), Acoustic communication (pp. 65–137). Springer.Google Scholar
Fitch, W. T. (2006). The biology and evolution of music: A comparative perspective. Cognition, 100(1), 173–215.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fitch, W. T. (2010). The evolution of language. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Foxton, J. M., Dean, J. L., Gee, R., Peretz, I., & Griffiths, T. D. (2004). Characterization of deficits in pitch perception underlying “tone deafness.” Brain, 127(4), 801–810.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freeberg, T. M. (2006). Social complexity can drive vocal complexity: Group size influences vocal information in Carolina chickadees. Psychological Science, 17, 557–561.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gould, S. J. (1991). Exaptation: A crucial tool for evolutionary psychology. Journal of Social Issues, 47, 43–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gould, S. J., & Vrba, E. S. (1982). Exaptation – a missing term in the science of form. Paleobiology, 8, 4–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenfield, M. D. (2005). Mechanisms and evolution of communal sexual displays in arthropods and anurans. Advances in the Study of Behavior, 35, 1–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hannon, E. E., & Trehub, S. E. (2005). Metrical categories in infancy and adulthood. Psychological Science, 16, 48–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harvey, A. R. (2020). Links between the neurobiology of oxytocin and human musicality. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 14, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00350.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hesse, H. (1943). Das Glasperlenspiel. Suhrkamp.Google Scholar
Hoeschele, M., Merchant, H., Kikuchi, Y., Hattori, Y., & ten Cate, C. (2018). Searching for the origins of musicality across species. In Honing, H. (Ed.), The origins of musicality (pp. 149–170). MIT Press.Google Scholar
Honing, H. (Ed.). (2018). The origins of musicality. MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Honing, H., Cate, C., Peretz, I., & Trehub, S. E. (2015). Without it no music: Cognition, biology and evolution of musicality. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 370, 20140088. http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0088.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Juslin, P.N. (2019). Musical emotions explained: Unlocking the secrets of musical affect. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knörnschild, M., Behr, O., & von Helversen, O. (2006). Babbling behavior in the sac-winged bat (Saccopteryx bilineata). Naturwissenschaften, 93, 451–545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kunej, D., & Turk, I. (2000). New perspectives on the beginnings of music: Archaeological and musicological analysis of a middle Paleolithic bone “flute.” In Wallin, N. L., Merker, B. & Brown, S. (Eds.), The origins of music (pp. 235–268). The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Leung, W. (2019). B.C. students who took music classes scored higher than peers in math, science and English: study. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-bc-students-who-took-music-classes-scored-higher-than-peers-in-math/.Google Scholar
Lomax, A. (Ed.). (1968). Folk song style and culture. American Association for the Advancement of Science.Google Scholar
Lorenz, K. (1971). Comparative studies on the behaviour of the Anatinae. In Lorenz, K. (Ed.), Studies in animal and human behaviour vol. II (pp. 14–114). Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Lukas, D., & Clutton-Brock, T. H. (2013). The evolution of social monogamy in mammals. Science (New York, N.Y.), 341, 526–530.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marler, P. (1955). Characteristics of some animal calls. Nature, 176, 6–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marler, P., & Peters, S. (1982). Subsong and plastic song: Their role in the vocal learning process. In Kroodsma, D. E., Miller, E. H. & Ouellet, H. (Eds.), Acoustic communication in birds, Vol. 2 : Song learning and its consequences (pp. 25–50). Academic Press.Google Scholar
Maynard Smith, J. (1976). Sexual selection and the handicap principle. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 57, 239–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maynard Smith, J., & Harper, D. (2003). Animal signals. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
McGregor, P. K., & Dabelsteen, T. (1996). Communication networks. In Kroodsma, D. E. & Miller, E. H. (Eds.), Ecology and evolution of acoustic communication in birds (pp. 409–425). Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Mehr, S. A., Schachner, A., Katz, R. C., & Spelke, E. S. (2013). Two randomized trials provide no consistent evidence for nonmusical cognitive benefits of brief preschool music enrichment. PLoS ONE, 8(12), e82007. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0082007.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mehr, S. A., Singh, M., York, H., Glowacki, L., & Krasnow, M. M. (2018). Form and function in human song. Current Biology, 28, 356–368.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mehr, S. A., Singh, M., Knox, D., Ketter, D. M., Pickens-Jones, D., Atwood, S., … Glowacki, L. (2019). Universality and diversity in human song. Science, 366(6468), 957–970. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax0868.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, G. F. (2000). Evolution of human music through sexual selection. In Wallin, N. L., Merker, B. & Brown, S. (Eds.), The origins of music (pp. 329–360). MIT Press.Google Scholar
Moon, S.-J., & Lindblom, B. (2003). Two experiments on oxygen consumption during speech production: vocal effort and speaking tempo. Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of the Phonetic Sciences, Barcelona, pp. 3129–3132.Google Scholar
Norenzayan, A., Shariff, A. F., Gervais, W. M., Willard, A. K., McNamara, R. A., Slingerland, E., & Henrich, J. (2016). The cultural evolution of prosocial religions. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 39(e1). https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X14001356.Google ScholarPubMed
Oberweger, K., & Goller, F. (2001). The metabolic cost of birdsong production. Journal of Experimental Biology, 204, 3379–3388.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Patel, A. D. (2010). Music, biological evolution, and the brain. In Bailar, M. (Ed.), Emerging disciplines (pp. 91–144). Rice University Press.Google Scholar
Patel, A. D. (2008). Music, language and the brain. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Patel, A. D. (2018). Music as a transformative technology of the mind: An update. In Honing, H. (Ed.), The origins of musicality (pp. 113–126). MIT Press.Google Scholar
Penn, D. J., & Számadó, S. (2020). The handicap principle: How an erroneous hypothesis became a scientific principle. Biological Reviews, 95, 267–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peretz, I., Ayotte, J., Zatorre, R. J., Mehler, J., Ahad, P., Penhune, V. B., & Jutras, B. (2002). Congenital amusia: A disorder of fine-grained pitch discrimination. Neuron, 33(2), 185–191.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peretz, I., & Hyde, K. L. (2003). What is specific to music processing? Insights from congenital amusia. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7, 362–336.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peters, G. (2002). Purring and similar vocalizations in mammals. Mammal Review, 32, 245–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinker, S. (1997). How the mind works. Norton.Google Scholar
Poggi, J. (2013). Interview: Sean “Diddy” Combs says you'll soon tune into Revolt TV, and so will brands. AdAge. https://adage.com/article/special-report-music-and-marketing/interview-sean-combs-revolt-tv/244350.Google Scholar
Richerson, P., Baldini, R., Bell, A., Demps, K., Frost, K., Hillis, V., … Zefferman, M. (2016). Cultural group selection plays an essential role in explaining human cooperation: A sketch of the evidence. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 39, e30. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X1400106X.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rousseau, J.-J. (1760/1998). Essay on the origin of languages and writings related to music (J. T. Scott [ed. & trans.]). University Press of New England.Google Scholar
Ryan, M. J. (1985). The túngara frog, A study in sexual selection and communication. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Savage, P. E. (2019b). Universals. In Sturman, J. L. (Ed.), The Sage international encyclopedia of music and culture (pp. 2282–2285). Sage Publications. http://doi.org/10.4135/9781483317731.n759.Google Scholar
Savage, P. E., Brown, S., Sakai, E., & Currie, T. E. (2015). Statistical universals reveal the structures and functions of human music. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 112(29), 8987–8992.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sewall, K. B., Young, A. M., & Wright, T. F. (2016). Social calls provide novel insights into the evolution of vocal learning. Animal Behaviour, 120, 163–172.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shultz, S., Opie, C., & Atkinson, Q. D. (2011). Stepwise evolution of stable sociality in primates. Nature, 479(7372), 219–222.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sober, E., & Wilson, D. S. (1998). Unto others: The evolution and psychology of unselfish behavior. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Számadó, S. (2011). The cost of honesty and the fallacy of the handicap principle. Animal Behaviour, 81, 3–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tinbergen, N. (1963). On aims and methods of ethology. Zeitschrift Für Tierpsychologie, 20, 410–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, W. F., & Olsen, K. N. (Eds.). (2021). The science and psychology of music: From Beethoven at the office to Beyoncé at the gym. Greenwood.Google Scholar
Thompson, W. F., Schellenberg, E. G., & Husain, G. (2001). Arousal, mood, and the Mozart effect. Psychological Science, 12(3), 248–251.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Titze, I. R. (1994). Principles of voice production. Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Tomlinson, G. (2015). A million years of music: The emergence of human modernity. MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trainor, L. J. (2018). The origins of music: Auditory scene analysis, evolution, and culture in music creation. In Honing, H. (Ed.), The origins of musicality (pp. 81–112). MIT press.Google Scholar
Turchin, P., Currie, T. E., Whitehouse, H., François, P., Feeney, K., Mullins, D., … Spencer, C. (2018). Quantitative historical analysis uncovers a single dimension of complexity that structures global variation in human social organization. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 115(2), E144–E151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wallin, N. L., Merker, B., & Brown, S. (Eds.). (2000). The origins of music. MIT Press.Google Scholar
Ward, S., Speakman, J. R., & Slater, P. J. B. (2003). The energy cost of song in the canary, Serinus canaria. Animal Behaviour, 66, 893–890.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Washington State University. (2020). War songs and lullabies behind origins of music. Science Daily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201026095422.htm.Google Scholar
West, S. A., Griffin, A. S., & Gardner, A. (2008). Social semantics: How useful has group selection been? Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 21, 374–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar