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is music an evolutionary adaptation? - Coggle Diagram
is music an evolutionary adaptation?
non-adaptive pleasure seeking
brain mechanisms for adaptively pleasurable/rewarding stimuli e.g. food and sex are stimulated by music, making it pleasurable
Pinker - 'auditory cheesecake' hypothesis - pleasurable but not functional
null hypothesis - evidence must be presented against this
earliest musical instrument found is 40,000 years old and music is found universally - what is the likelihood that it would survive if it were non-adaptive
evolutionary vestige
had previous survival values but no longer does, but hasn't been removed as a behaviour
music may be a predecessor of spoken language - used to aid communication but no longer necessary
credible signalling
music can signal information to other groups to ensure access to resources and avoid conflict
similar behaviours seen in animals - points to evolutionary explanation, music-like behaviours seen in many animals
characteristics of music for infant care - lullabies are found across cultures
culturally evolved into something else but started as credible signalling
sexual selection hypothesis
musicality signals fitness and people are more likely to mate with someone who displays musical talent
should see that people who are musical have more success in mating
social bonding hypothesis (Savage et al, 2021)
coevolution - music was initially a cultural invention but survival benefits meant the trait was selected for led to adaptation and evolution
music has benefits for social bonding and has social functions - happy birthday, folk music, camp songs, football chants, native war songs and dances - raising arousal and synchronising moods
features of music (e.g. discrete pitches, repetitive patterns, isochronous beats) make it predictable, which makes it rewarding and easy for large groups to participate in
Mehr et al (2019) found 20 widespread functional contexts of music and all of them related to social bonding - communal ceremonies and rituals
can encompass many other theories - mood regulation could be argued to be necessary for social bonding
limitations
other behaviours like grooming and laughter are used to foster social affiliations - more complicated behaviours for social affiliation as size of social group increases
mood regulation hypothesis
music regulates mood and arousal which can impact health, wellbeing and social affiliations
music influences various different neurochemical systems to have different influences on mood
dopamine - VTA and nucleus accumbens NAc - music is predictable which activates dopamine systems and makes music rewarding
endogenous opioids - hedonic sensation of 'liking' - blocking opioid receptors reduces self-reported 'chills' that are experienced when listening to music
plasma cortisol and norepinephrine - techno music increased plasma cortisol, ACTH, prolactin, growth hormone and norepinephrine, whereas classical music didn't, even when controlling for music preferences and pleasure ratings of music
oxytocin and vasopressin - released when listening to music, correlated with bonding circumstances - related to forgetting of old memories and facilitating storage of new ones
music is commonly used as a method of self-regulation of mood
limitations
methodological issues - self-selected vs. experimenter-selected music, effect of music or effect of distraction
defining music
musicality - biological capacity to create music
universal activity, participatory, involves production of sound
"humanly organised sound", "creative play with sound"