AUTHOR=Pei Yilai , Xu Zhiyuan , He Yibo , Liu Xinxin , Bai Yuxuan , Kwok Sze Chai , Li Xiaonuo , Wang Zhaoxin 

TITLE=Effects of musical expertise on line section and line extension

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1190098

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1190098

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=This study investigated whether music training led to better length estimation and/or rightward bias by comparing the performance of musicians (pianists) and nonmusicians on performance of line sections and line extensions. One hundred and sixteen participants, among them 62 musicians and 54 nonmusicians, participated in the present study. The mixed repeated measures ANOVA analysis revealed a significant group × condition interaction, that the musicians were more accurate than nonmusicians in all the line section tasks and showed no obvious pseudoneglect, while their overall performance on the line extension tasks was comparable to the non-musicians, and only performed more accurately in the 1/2 line extension condition. These findings indicated that there was a dissociation between the effects of music training on line section and line extension. This dissociation does not support the view that music training has a general beneficial effect on line estimation, and provides insight into a potentially important limit on the effects of music training on spatial cognition.