The representation of tonality and meter in children aged 7 and 9.

The aim of this study was to explore the development of the representations of tonality and meter in children. Eighty children with a mean age of 7 (Grade 2) and 9 years (Grade 4) were compared on both melodic and rhythmic discrimination and classification tasks. The findings were considered in relation to their specificity to both task and age effects. The results revealed a developmental progression in the representation of tonality that was consistent across tasks. The rhythmic results also supported the existence of a representation of meter that developed with age, however these findings were more subject to task effects. The influence of stimulus length and likeableness on subject performance was also examined. Increased length was found to assist discrimination performance particularly with tonal, nontonal, and nonmetrical stimuli. No effects of stimulus likeableness were observed in the data.