Past Event

Please join us on Thursday, October 24, 2013, for a talk by Dr. Bruno Emond and Dr. Gilles Comeau. The talk will start at noon in room 2203 of Dunton Tower. Refreshments will be available before the talk. All are welcome.

Speakers: Dr. Bruno Emond and Dr. Gilles Comeau

Title: Cognitive modelling of early music reading skill acquisition for piano: A comparison of the Middle-C and Intervallic methods

Abstract:

In the classical music tradition, knowing how to read music is an essential skill and is seen as a fundamental component to develop when learning to play the piano. This research’s focus is to study the possible impact of two different teaching approaches to the acquisition of initial reading skills. By using cognitive modeling, we are hoping to observe through computer simulation the problem solving and decision-making tasks involved in decoding a simple musical score. Our model intends to capture a novice initial coordination of music reading and motor operations on a piano keyboard. As such, it does not aim at modelling advanced sight-reading skills. The paper introduces the Middle-C and Intervallic methods followed by a description of an ACT-R cognitive model and simulation results upon learning with each of the reading methods. Inspection of the simulation results reveals differences in terms of declarative memory and cognitive processing demands. In particular, the Intervallic method requires a larger number of declarative knowledge related to notes, and more execution planning than the Middle-C method.

Bio:

Dr. Bruno Emond is a Senior Research Officer with the National Research Council Canada (Information and Communication Technologies Portfolio, Learning and Collaborative Technologies).  His current research focuses on cognitive modelling technology applied to learning environments and simulation.

Dr. Gilles Comeau, Professor in piano pedagogy at the University of Ottawa, is the founder and director of the Piano Pedagogy Research Laboratory, a research infrastructure that gathers researchers from over 15 different disciplines. His current research focuses on music reading, motivation, piano-playing health injuries, and video-mediated learning.