Dr Marcus Pearce

Teaching

Music Perception and Cognition (Postgraduate/Undergraduate)

Music is a fundamental part of being human and exists only in the mind of the listener. This module will provide students with advanced training in current understanding of how musical sound is processed by the mind and brain. This is crucial for developing creative tools for musicians and intuitive interfaces for music lovers as well as for using technology in the creative production of new music.

Research

Research Interests:

• Music Cognition
• Empirical Aesthetics and Neuroaesthetics
  
• Emotion and Music
• Auditory Perception
• Statistical Learning
• Expectation and Prediction
  

Publications

• Cheung VKM, Harrison PMC, Meyer L et al. (2019). Uncertainty and Surprise Jointly Predict Musical Pleasure and Amygdala, Hippocampus, and Auditory Cortex Activity. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.09.067

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/60428

  
  

  Citations: 1
• Zioga I, Harrison P, Pearce M et al. (2019). From learning to creativity: Identifying the behavioural and neural correlates of learning to predict human judgements of musical creativity. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116311

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/61283

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Gold B, Pearce M, Mas-Herrero E et al. (2019). Predictability and uncertainty in the pleasure of music: a reward for learning?. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0428-19.2019

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/60425

  
  

  Citations: 0
• de Fleurian R, Harrison PMC, Pearce MT et al. (2019). Reward prediction tells us less than expected about musical pleasure. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1913244116

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/60119

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Cameron DJ, Zioga I, Lindsen JP et al. (2019). Neural entrainment is associated with subjective groove and complexity for performed but not mechanical musical rhythms. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1007/s00221-019-05557-4

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/58040

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Quiroga-Martinez DR, Hansen NC, Højlund A et al. (2019). Reduced prediction error responses in high-as compared to low-uncertainty musical contexts. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.06.010

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/58784

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Omigie D, Pearce M, Lehongre K et al. (2019). Intracranial Recordings and Computational Modeling of Music Reveal the Time Course of Prediction Error Signaling in Frontal and Temporal Cortices.. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01388

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/56975

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Sears DRW, Pearce MT, Spitzer J et al. (2018). Expectations for tonal cadences: Sensory and cognitive priming effects.. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1177/1747021818814472

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/50463

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Duffy S, Pearce M (2018). What makes rhythms hard to perform? An investigation using Steve Reich's Clapping Music.. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205847

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/53547

  
  

  Citations: 0
• PEARCE MT (2018). Statistical Learning and Probabilistic Prediction in Music Cognition: Mechanisms of Stylistic Enculturation. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1111/nyas.13654

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/38384

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Harrison PMC, Pearce MT (2018). An energy-based generative sequence model for testing sensory theories of Western harmony. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/42067

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Sears DRW, PEARCE MT, Caplin WE et al. (2017). Simulating melodic and harmonic expectations for tonal cadences using probabilistic models. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1080/09298215.2017.1367010

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/26012

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Cameron D, Potter K, Wiggins G et al. (2017). Perception of Rhythmic Similarity is Asymmetrical, and Is Influenced by Musical Training, Expressive Performance, and Musical Context. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1163/22134468-00002085

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/22707

  
  

  Citations: 0
• van der Weij B, Pearce MT, Honing H (2017). A Probabilistic Model of Meter Perception: Simulating Enculturation.. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00824

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/24485

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce M, Müllensiefen D (2017). Compression-based Modelling of Musical Similarity Perception. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1080/09298215.2017.1305419

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/22501

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Agres K, Abdallah S, Pearce M (2017). Information-Theoretic Properties of Auditory Sequences Dynamically Influence Expectation and Memory. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12477

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/19783

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Halpern AR, Zioga I, Shankleman M et al. (2017). That note sounds wrong! Age-related effects in processing of musical expectation.. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2016.12.006

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/25765

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Hansen NC, Vuust P, Pearce M (2016). "If You Have to Ask, You'll Never Know": Effects of Specialised Stylistic Expertise on Predictive Processing of Music. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0163584

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/17664

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Dean RT, Pearce MT (2016). Algorithmically-generated Corpora that use Serial Compositional Principles Can Contribute to the Modeling of Sequential Pitch Structure in Non-tonal Music. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.18061/emr.v11i1.4900

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/17671

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Gingras B, Pearce MT, Goodchild M et al. (2016). Linking melodic expectation to expressive performance timing and perceived musical tension. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1037/xhp0000141

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/10881

  
  

  Citations: 11
• Hansen NC, Sadakata M, Pearce M (2016). Nonlinear Changes in the Rhythm of European Art Music: Quantitative Support for Historical Musicology. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1525/mp.2016.33.4.414

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/17691

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Zaidel DW, Vartanian O et al. (2016). Neuroaesthetics: The Cognitive Neuroscience of Aesthetic Experience. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1177/1745691615621274

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/12033

  
  

  Citations: 50
• Barascud N, Pearce MT, Griffiths TD et al. (2016). Brain responses in humans reveal ideal observer-like sensitivity to complex acoustic patterns. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1508523113

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/12031

  
  

  Citations: 51
• PEARCE MT, Schubert E (2016). A New Look at Musical Expectancy: The Veridical Versus the General in the Mental Organization of Music. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-46282-0_23

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/18233

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Song Y, Dixon S, Pearce MT et al. (2016). Perceived and Induced Emotion Responses to Popular Music: Categorical and Dimensional Models. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1525/MP.2016.33.4.472

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/11214

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Carey D, Rosen S, Krishnan S et al. (2015). Generality and specificity in the effects of musical expertise on perception and cognition. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2014.12.005

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/6790

  
  

  Citations: 23
• Pearce MT, Halpern AR (2015). Age-related patterns in emotions evoked by music. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1037/a0039279

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 3
• Song C, Pearce M, Harte C (2015). Synpy: A python toolkit for syncopation modelling. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 2
• Hansen NC, Pearce MT (2014). Predictive uncertainty in auditory sequence processing.. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01052

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/6446

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Whorley R, Wiggins GA, Rhodes CS et al. (2013). Multiple Viewpoint Systems: Time Complexity and the Construction of Domains for Complex Musical Viewpoints. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1080/09298215.2013.831457

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/10883

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Bailes F, Dean RT, Pearce MT (2013). Music cognition as mental time travel. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1038/srep02690

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 3
• Omigie D, Pearce MT, Williamson VJ et al. (2013). Electrophysiological correlates of melodic processing in congenital amusia. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.05.010

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 40
• Cherla S, Weyde T, d¿Avila Garcez A et al. (2013). A distributed model for multiple-viewpoint melodic prediction. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 5
• Agres K, Abdallah S, Pearce MT (2013). An Information-Theoretic Account of Musical Expectation and Memory.. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Song Y, Dixon S, Pearce M et al. (2013). Do online social tags predict perceived or induced emotional responses to music?. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 8
• Omigie D, Pearce MT, Stewart L et al. (2013). Electrophysiological correlates of melodic processing in congenital amusia. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.05.010.

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Egermann H, Pearce MT, Wiggins GA et al. (2013). Probabilistic models of expectation violation predict psychophysiological emotional responses to live concert music.. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.3758/s13415-013-0161-y

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/12125

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Song C, Simpson AJR, Harte CA et al. (2013). Syncopation and the score.. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0074692

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/10967

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Brattico E, Pearce MT (2013). The Neuroaesthetics of Music. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1037/a0031624

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce M, Rohrmeier M (2012). Music Cognition and the Cognitive Sciences. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1111/j.1756-8765.2012.01226.x

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 17
• Pearce MT, Wiggins GA (2012). Auditory Expectation: The Information Dynamics of Music Perception and Cognition. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1111/j.1756-8765.2012.01214

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Christensen JF (2012). Conference Report: The Neurosciences and Music - IV - Learning and Memory. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1037/a0027235

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Song Y, Dixon S, Pearce M (2012). Evaluation of musical features for emotion classification. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Carrus E, Pearce MT, Bhattacharya J (2012). Melodic pitch expectation interacts with neural responses to syntactic but not semantic violations. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.08.024

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Omigie D, Pearce MT, Stewart L (2012). Tracking of pitch probabilities in congenital amusia. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.02.034

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Müllensiefen D, Wiggins GA (2010). The role of expectation and probabilistic learning in auditory boundary perception: a model comparison.. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1068/p6507

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 3
• Pearce MT, Müllensiefen D, Wiggins GA (2010). Melodic grouping in music information retrieval: New methods and applications. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-11674-2-16

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 8
• Whorley R, Wiggins GA, Rhodes C et al. (2010). Development of Techniques for the Computational Modelling of Harmony. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Müllensiefen D, Wiggins GA (2010). Melodic Grouping in Music Information Retrieval: New Methods and Applications. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Wiggins GA, Müllensiefen D, Pearce MT (2010). On the non-existence of Music: Why music theory is a figment of the imagination. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1177/10298649100140S110

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Nadal M, Pearce MT (2010). The Copenhagen Neuroaesthetics conference: Prospects and pitfalls for an emerging field. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2011.01.009

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Müllensiefen D, Wiggins GA (2010). The role of expectation and probabilistic learning in auditory boundary perception: A model comparison. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1068/p6507

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Herrojo Ruiz M, Kapasi S et al. (2010). Unsupervised Statistical Learning Underpins Computational, Behavioural and Neural Manifestations of Musical Expectation. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.12.019

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Ruiz MH, Kapasi S et al. (2010). Unsupervised statistical learning underpins computational, behavioural and neural manifestations of musical expectation. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Wiggins GA, Pearce MT, Müllensiefen D (2009). Computational Modelling of Music Cognition and Musical Creativity. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199792030.013.0019

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Rohrmeier M, Honing H, Rebuschat P et al. (2009). Music Cognition: Learning and Processing. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT (2009). To beep or not to beep. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Müllensiefen D, Wiggins GA (2008). A comparison of statistical and rule-based models of melodic segmentation. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Müllensiefen D (2008). David Huron, Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2007, 512 pp., ISBN 0262083450, (Hardcover).. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Müllensiefen D, Lewis D et al. (2007). David Temperley, Music and Probability. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2007, ISBN-13: 978-0-262-20166-7 (hardcover) $40.00. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Wiggins GA (2007). Evaluating cognitive models of musical composition. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Whorley RP, Wiggins GA, Pearce MT (2007). Systematic Evaluation and Improvement of Statistical Models of Harmony. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Potter K, Wiggins GA, Pearce MT (2007). Towards greater objectivity in music theory: Information-dynamic analysis of minimalist music. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1177/102986490701100207

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Wiggins GA (2006). Expectation in Melody: The Influence of Context and Learning. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1525/mp.2006.23.5.377

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Wiggins GA (2006). The information dynamics of melodic boundary detection. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Conklin D, Wiggins GA (2005). Methods for Combining Statistical Models of Music. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT (2005). The Construction and Evaluation of Statistical Models of Melodic Structure in Music Perception and Composition. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Wiggins GA (2004). Improved Methods for Statistical Modelling of Monophonic Music. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1080/0929821052000343840

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Wiggins GA (2004). Rethinking Gestalt Influences on Melodic Expectancy. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Meredith D (2004). Review of the Third International Symposium on Computer Music Modelling and Retrieval. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Wiggins GA (2003). An empirical comparison of the performance of PPM variants on a prediction task with monphonic music. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Wiggins GA (2002). Aspects of a cognitive theory of creativity in musical composition. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce M, Wiggins GA, Meredith D (2001). Motivations and Methodologies for Automation of the Compositional Process.. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1177/102986490200600203

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT (2001). Report on the ICCBR’01 Workshop on Creative Systems. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT, Wiggins GA (2001). Towards a framework for the evaluation of machine compositions. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0
• Pearce MT (2000). Generating Rhythmic Patterns: A Combined Neural and Evolutionary Approach. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: doi

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

  
  

  Citations: 0