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Publication
Can musical ability be tested online?
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
We sought to determine whether an objective test of musical ability could be successfully administered online. A sample of 754
participants was tested with an online version of the Musical Ear Test (MET), which had Melody and Rhythm subtests. Both
subtests had 52 trials, each of which required participants to determine whether standard and comparison auditory sequences
were identical. The testing session also included the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI), a test of general
cognitive ability, and self-report questionnaires that measured basic demographics (age, education, gender), mind-wandering,
and personality. Approximately 20% of the participants were excluded for incomplete responding or failing to finish the testing
session. For the final sample (N = 608), findings were similar to those from in-person testing in many respects: (1) the internal
reliability of the MET was maintained, (2) construct validity was confirmed by strong associations with Gold-MSI scores, (3)
correlations with other measures (e.g., openness to experience, cognitive ability, mind-wandering) were as predicted, (4) mean
levels of performance were similar for individuals with no music training, and (5) musical sophistication was a better predictor of
performance on the Melody than on the Rhythm subtest. In sum, online administration of the MET proved to be a reliable and
valid way to measure musical ability
Description
Keywords
Music Ability Expertise Training Melody Rhythm
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Correia, A. I., Vincenzi, M., Vanzella, P., Pinheiro, A. P., Lima, C. F., & Schellenberg, E. G. (2022). Can musical ability be tested online?. Behavior Research Methods, 54(2), 955-969. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-021-01641-2