Infants and children are able to track statistical regularities in perceptual input, which allows them to acquire structural aspects of language and music, such as syntax. However, much more is known about the development of linguistic compared to musical syntax. In the present study, we examined 3.5-year-olds’ implicit knowledge of Western musical pitch structure using electroencephalography (EEG). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured while children listened to chord sequences that either 1) followed Western harmony rules, 2) ended on a chord that went outside the key, or 3) ended on an in-key but less expected chord harmonically. Whereas adults tend to show an early right anterior negativity (ERAN) in response to unexpected chords (Koelsch, 2009), 3.5-year-olds in our study showed an immature response that was positive rather than negative in polarity. Our results suggest that very young children exhibit implicit knowledge of the pitch structure of Western music years before they have been shown to demonstrate that knowledge in behavioral tasks.

中文翻译：

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3岁儿童关键和和谐过程的电生理相关性

婴儿和儿童能够跟踪感知输入中的统计规律性，这使他们能够掌握语言和音乐的结构方面，例如语法。然而，与音乐句法相比，关于语言学发展的知识更多。在本研究中，我们使用脑电图（EEG）检查了3.5岁儿童对西方音乐音调结构的隐性知识。在孩子听和弦序列的过程中测量与事件相关的电位（ERP），这些和弦序列要么是1）遵循西方和声规则，要么2）结束于琴键之外的和弦，或3）结束于琴键中，但谐和度低于预期。而成年人往往会对意外的和弦表现出早期的右前负（ERAN）（Koelsch，2009），3。在我们的研究中，五岁儿童的未成熟反应在极性上是阳性而不是阴性。我们的研究结果表明，很年幼的孩子在表现出对行为任务的了解之前，对西方音乐的音调结构表现出了隐性知识。