ABSTRACT

Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, USA Isabelle Peretz

Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, Canada

INTRODUCTION

Music and language are universal among humans, and both employ richly structured auditory and motor patterns. Since music and language are the two primary acoustic communicative systems of our species, their similarities and differences as cognitive domains have long interested scholars. (e.g. Aiello, 1994; Albert, Sparks & Helm, 1973; Besson, Faïta, & Requin, 1994; Bernstein, 1976; Blacking, 1976; Clarke, 1989; Darwin, 1871; Handel, 1989; Judd, Gardner & Geschwind, 1983; Lerdahl & Jackendoff, 1983; Levman, 1992; Nettl, 1956; Rousseau, 1761; Selkirk, 1984; Sergent, 1993; Sloboda, 1985; Sundberg & Lindblom, 1976; Sundberg, Nord & Carlson 1991; Trehub & Trainor, 1993). These contributions highlight the diversity of fields which have addressed this issue, from philosophy to the social, psychological, and biological sciences.