Expectancy in Sami Yoiks revisited: The role of data-driven and schema-driven knowledge in the formation of melodic expectations

Abstract

This study extends a previous study concerning melodic expectations in North Sami yoiks (Krumhansl et al., 2000) in which a comparison between expert and non-expert listeners demonstrated the existence of a core set of principles governing melodic expectancies. The previous findings are reconsidered using non-Western listeners (traditional healers from South Africa) in a modeling investigation. Comparison of different models made it possible to separate the role of data-driven and schema-driven models in melodic expectancies and to reveal any possible Western bias in previous studies. The results of the experiment, in which African listeners rated the fitness of probe-tones as continuations of North Sami yoik excerpts, indicated that data-driven models are adequate in explaining the expectancies, regardless of the cultural background of the listeners. The frequency-based models exerted more influence on listeners unfamiliar with the yoik style, the Western schematic model had most impact on Western listeners, and the style-specific models carried most predictive power for those listeners who possessed knowledge about yoiks.