When the Sound Becomes the Goal. 4E Cognition and Teleomusicality in Early Infancy

Abstract

In this paper we explore early musical behaviors through the lenses of the recently emerged “4E” approach to mind, which sees cognitive processes as Embodied, Embedded, Enacted, and Extended. In doing so, we draw from a range of interdisciplinary research, engaging in critical and constructive discussions with both new findings and existing positions. In particular, we refer to observational research by French pedagogue and psychologist François Delalande, who examined infants' first “sound discoveries” and individuated three different musical “conducts” inspired by the “phases of the game” originally postulated by Piaget. Elaborating on such ideas we introduce the notion of “teleomusicality,” which describes the goal-directed behaviors infants adopt to explore and play with sounds. This is distinguished from the developmentally earlier “protomusicality,” which is based on music-like utterances, movements, and emotionally relevant interactions (e.g., with primary caregivers) that do not entail a primary focus on sound itself. The development from protomusicality to teleomusicality is discussed in terms of an “attentive shift” that occurs between 6 and 10 months of age. This forms the basis of a conceptual framework for early musical development that emphasizes the emergence of exploratory, goal-directed (i.e., sound-oriented), and self-organized musical actions in infancy. In line with this, we provide a preliminary taxonomy of teleomusical processes discussing “Original Teleomusical Acts” (OTAs) and “Constituted Teleomusical Acts” (CTAs). We argue that while OTAs can be easily witnessed in infants' exploratory behaviors, CTAs involve the mastery of more specific and complex goal-directed chains of actions central to musical activity.

Dimensions of Musical Creativity

“…In fact, there are many practices, experiences, and behaviors associated with composing music. These range from the systematic application of mathematical principles (sometimes adopted in contemporary Western classical music) to the creative impulse of young children and infants, who extend their natural curiosity to the world of sounds and progressively organize and develop their sonic discoveries in a deliberate way 7 (see Schiavio et al, 2017 ). In pedagogical settings, as Burnard (2006) reminds us, research often adopts psychometric assessments of creative musical thinking (e.g., Webster, 1992 ; Hickey, 1995 , 2000 ), as well as ratings of children’s musical compositions ( Webster and Hickey, 1995 ; Hickey, 1997 ) in both individual and collaborative settings.…”

4E Music Pedagogy and the Principles of Self-Organization

“…Rather, they tend to systematically explore the resources of their bodily engagement with the musical environment to optimize their possibilities, and to develop meaningful experiences and understandings (including those related to more ‘high-level’ processes, such as memory or imagination). Similar insights have been noted in the analysis of the first sound-making experiences of infants—where sensorimotor patterns are brought forth to explore and play with the sound properties of the environment they inhabit, resulting in meaningful repertoires of (proto-) musical actions that may be employed in a variety of contextually adaptive ways [ 61 ].…”

“…How to navigate the complexity of such a dynamic network of musical, social, and cultural parameters (which are always to be considered as co-emerging from each other, rather than objectively individual), remains an open empirical question that has been posed in different domains. Indeed, various possibilities for research are beginning to be considered in the context of music and human evolution [ 79 ], musical development in infancy [ 61 ], musical creativity [ 70 , 80 , 81 ], musical emotions [ 82 , 83 , 84 ], improvisation [ 85 ], music therapy [ 67 ], and more. In all, the principles of bio-cognitive self-organization and 4ECS appear to have a great deal to offer to emerging pedagogies that aim to better understand and encourage the creative and world-making possibilities of musical learners.…”

The Active Musical Room: Fostering Sensorimotor Discoveries and Musical Creativity in Toddlers

“…They were, so to speak, incorporated in the activity of the toddlers when an appropriate action was mastered adequately. That is, when the goal of the action becames the sound itself rather than the sensorimotor engagement with the object, a process known as teleomusical development began to occur (Schiavio et al, 2017).…”