Marc Leman Books

Exploring the intersection of music and schema theory, this book delves into how perceptual structures for pitch and timbre are formed and function. It emphasizes the emergence of schemata through computer-based simulations of tone center perception, shedding light on the self-organization of memory structures. By examining how contextual information influences perception, the work aims to enhance our understanding of music perception and the cognitive processes involved in interpreting musical elements.

Focusing on the dynamic and pre-reflective processes in music interactions, the book explores how expression drives our responses, often occurring before conscious awareness. Marc Leman presents a framework for understanding these expressive interactions, emphasizing their role in cognitive processing across various domains, including language and human-machine interaction. He highlights music's energizing effects, its influence on learning and motivation, and the importance of interaction flow. Applications extend to sports, rehabilitation, multimedia art, and music education, showcasing the broad relevance of expressive motivation.

Music is an important domain of application for schema theory. The perceptual structures for pitch and timbre have been mapped via schemata, with results that have contributed to a better understanding of music perception. Yet we still need to know how a schema comes into existence, or how it functions in a particular perception task. This book provides a foundation for the understanding of the emergence and functionality of schemata by means of computer-based simulations of tone center perception. It is about how memory structures self-organize and how they use contextual information to guide perception.