Previous studies using an affective priming paradigm have shown that valenced chords (e.g., consonant–positive; dissonant–negative) facilitate the evaluation of similarly valenced target words. The role of numerosity (the total number of pitches in a chord) and timbre has not yet been systematically investigated in previous priming studies using consonant/dissonant chords. An experiment was conducted in which 40 participants evaluated positive and negative target words with consonant/dissonant chords used as affective primes. Eight distinct chords (four consonant and four dissonant) were used as primes; the consonant and dissonant chords were equally divided to comprise either two (i.e., interval) or four (i.e., tetrad) pitches. Each chord was played with two distinct timbres (piano and harmonium), resulting in a total of 16 chords. Results showed that congruent chord–word pairings resulted in faster reaction times, and this finding was in line with previous research using consonant/dissonant chords as primes. However, this effect was present only with tetrad chords, suggesting that numerosity influences affective priming done with chords. There were no significant effects of timbre or the musical sophistication of the participants. Arguments are made as to why higher pitch numerosity in chords (resulting in acoustic complexity) might influence the evaluation of valenced target words.

中文翻译：

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音乐和弦的启动声受音高影响

先前使用情感启动范例的研究表明，有价和弦（例如，辅音-正，不谐和-负）有助于评估类似价的目标词。在先前的使用辅音/不谐和弦的启动研究中，尚未对数字性（和弦中音高总数）和音色的作用进行系统研究。进行了一项实验，其中40名参与者使用正/反和弦作为情感声素来评估正面和负面目标词。八个不同的和弦（四个辅音和四个不谐音）被用作主音。辅音和和弦均分为两个音高（即间隔）或四个音高（即四重音）。每个和弦都使用两个不同的音色（钢琴和和声）演奏，总共产生16个和弦。结果表明，一致的和弦-单词配对导致更快的反应时间，这一发现与先前使用辅音/不谐和弦作为素数的研究相一致。但是，这种效果仅在四和弦中才存在，这表明数字影响和弦时的情感启动。音色或参加者的音乐水平没有明显的影响。关于为什么和弦中较高的音调数字（导致声音复杂性）可能会影响有价目标词的评估存在争议。音色或参加者的音乐水平没有明显的影响。关于为什么和弦中较高的音调数字（导致声音复杂性）可能会影响有价目标词的评估存在争议。音色或参加者的音乐水平没有明显的影响。关于为什么和弦中较高的音调数字（导致声音复杂性）可能会影响有价目标词的评估存在争议。