ABSTRACT
Working memory is defined as a cognitive system with limited storage capacity responsible for maintenance, updating, and manipulation of information in mind (Baddeley, 2000). In music, working memory is necessary for recognizing, encoding, and recalling musical sequences. Previous research on working memory in the musical domain focuses on isolated pitches rather than sequences of musically structured stimuli (Saito & Ishio, 1998; Saito, 2001; Williamson, Mitchell, Hitch, & Baddeley, 2010). An optimal measure of aural skills presents musical sequences to yield sub-scores for individual skill categories (i.e., melodic recognition or harmonic recognition) and composite scores for cognitive components. The formal N-Back task from psychological methods refers to a continuous recognition task with a varying degree of load. The goal of this research is to examine one such measure, the Harmony and Word Recognition N-Back Test, as a model assessment for harmonic recognition and word recognition as well as working memory for harmonic sequences.
