Toward a theory of musical cognition∗

The concept of musical science as a behavioral science is developed. Such a science is a (comprehensive) theory of music whose task it is to elaborate explicit connections between the systemic properties of sonic designs (as researched by a theory of sonic artifacts) and the properties of the perceptual and intellectual processes underlying the generation and recognition of such artifacts (as researched by a theory of musical cognition). Ideas concerning the theory of music are developed as the meta‐theoretical base of a theory musical cognition. They concern a scientific epistemology of music. In the main body of the essay, the domain and the methods of a theory of musical cognition are discussed. As an example of the actual implementation of such a theory, the system called OBSERVER is discussed and its resources for musical protocol analysis and for musical sufficiency analysis are documented.