Studying Musical Savants: A Commentary on Grundy and Ockelford (2014)

Abstract

On the basis of the ‘zygonic’ theory (Ockelford, 2006), Grundy and Ockelford (2014) investigate musical expectations evoked during the course of hearing a piece for the first time in a prodigious musical savant (Derek Paravicini). Overall, the results provided by Derek support the principles of the zygonic theory, especially that the higher the implication factor of a note, the more likely Derek would predict its occurrence. My commentary first raises the question of the use of such special individuals as musical savants to generalize findings to the general population, and second I will address the issue of the task and the stimuli used.