Music Cognition Research
Fall 2017
While studying Cognitive and Brain Sciences, I collaborated with Music Psychologist Dr. Aniruddh Patel to investigate the cognitive effects of interpersonal synchrony of self-other integration (the "blurring" of self-perception). We wanted to learn if a musical synchronous activity between two people leads to an increase in intentional binding.
1. We read several research papers on joint music making, group cohesion, sense of agency, and self-other blurring to align on our experiment and hypothesis.
2. We designed a controlled, multi-stage experiment, including a synchronized tapping module and a perception-testing activity to measure "self-other blurring".
3. I coded the full-stack experimental apparatus (in Javascript/React) using development tool Evothings Studio to track and record millisecond-level reaction times and anticipatory beeps in order to quantify behavioral changes in social perception.
Note: While the semester concluded before the data collection phase, I successfully performed pilot testing on the software to ensure the timing of the tapping was recorded precisely and that the accuracy of the reaction-time logging was correct, ensuring the system was deployment-ready for future progress.
Work for this research can be found here.