Effect of visual and auditive sensorial modalities on the judgment of musical performance

• Grant number: 18/14904-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2019
• End date: July 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Mirella Gualtieri
• Grantee: Giovanna Nunes de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Psicologia (IP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research compares the contributions of sensorial modalities, sight and hearing, in judging a violin musical performance. During a performance, several sensorial aspects develop, for the performer as well as for the audience. But we can say that, in general, the most important aspect being judged is the sound. However, through the analysis and comparison of results collected for experiments that were able to separate the sensorial modalities of sight and hearing in highly qualified musical performances, we notice that the visual information plays a more dominant effect on the evaluation of a musical performance than the auditive information, laying, thus, a contradiction on the importance of the sound when judging the best performer. The results obtained reveal the evaluators' preference, conscious or not, for the visual performance in the process of evaluation. On account of these findings, this research may offer a new frame in which the musical performance can be developed and molded.