Psychometric properties and heritability of a new online test for musicality, the Swedish Musical Discrimination Test

Abstract

We examine, in 6881 twin individuals, the psychometric properties of a new test (the Swedish Musical Discrimination Test, SMDT) that was developed to tap auditory discrimination of musical stimuli. The SMDT consists of three subtests measuring discrimination of melodies, rhythms, and single pitches, respectively. Mean test taking times for the subtests were 3.0-4.6. min. Reliability and internal consistency were good with Cronbach's alpha values and Spearman-Brown split-half reliabilities between .79 and .89. Subtests correlated positively (r values .27-41). Criterion validity was demonstrated in three ways: individuals that had played a musical instrument scored higher than individuals that..