Caitlyn Marie Trevor
Cognitive Psychology Researcher | Sound & Music Perception Specialist | Aspiring UX Researcher
I am a cognitive psychology researcher with 8+ years of experience designing and managing innovative research programs studying human perception and behavior. I have particular expertise researching music perception, especially how music and sounds convey emotions. I am eager to leverage my strong foundation in experimental design, statistical analysis, and data interpretation towards pivoting into User Experience Research.
Before having my daughter, I was a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Music at the University of Birmingham where I taught courses on Music Cognition and Music & Emotion with a focus on research methods. Prior to that position, I was a Postdoctoral Researcher working with Sascha Frühholz in the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory in the Department of Psychology at the University of Zurich.
I received my PhD in Music Theory from Ohio State University (OSU) (December 2018). While there, I worked with David Huron as part of the Cognitive and Systematic Musicology Laboratory and taught undergraduate music theory and aural skills. Previously, I completed a Masters of Music in Cello Performance (August 2018) and a Masters of the Arts in Music Theory (May 2016) from OSU, as well as a Bachelors of Arts in Music (May 2014) from Illinois Wesleyan University.
While working on my degrees, I managed small private cello studios in Chicago and Columbus. I also composed for film and theater and performed electroacoustic works as part of the OSU Sonic Arts Ensemble. See my Media page for audio and film clips of some of my work.
Peer-reviewed Journal Articles
Trevor, C., Fruehholz, S. (forthcoming). Music as an evolved tool for socio-affective fiction. Emotion Review. (preprint)
Trost, W., Trevor, C., Fernandez, N., Steiner, F., & Fruehholz, S. (2024). Live music stimulates the affective brain and emotionally entrains listeners in realtime. PNAS, 120(10), e2316306121. (html) (pdf)
Trevor, C., Renner, M., & Fruehholz, S. (2023). Acoustic and structural differences between musically portrayed subtypes of fear. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 153(1), 384-399. (html) (pdf)
Skjegstad, C. L., Trevor, C., Swanborough, H., Roswandowitz, C., Mokros, A., Habermeyer, E., & Fruehholz, S. (2022). Psychopathic and autistic traits differentially influence the neural mechanisms of social cognition from communication signals. Translational Psychiatry, 12, 494. (html)
Trevor, C., Devaney, J., & Huron, D. (2022). Musicians can reliably discriminate between string register locations on the violoncello. Music Perception, 40(1), 27-38. (html) (pdf)
Trevor, C. & Yackley A. (2021). Aural skills for upper position playing on low strings. American String Teacher, 71(4), 45-50. (html) (pdf)
Trevor, C., Arnal, L., & Fruehholz, S. (2020). Terrifying film music mimics alarming acoustic feature of human screams. JASA Express Letters, 147(6), EL540-EL545. (html) (pdf)
Trevor, C. & Huron, D. (2018). Animated performance: 'Better' music means larger movements. Music Theory Online, 24(4), 6. (html) (pdf)
Trevor, C. & Huron, D. (2018). Are humoresques humorous? On the similarity between laughter and staccato. Empirical Musicology Review, 13(1–2), 66–77. (html) (pdf)
Huron, D. & Trevor C. (2016). Are stopped strings preferred in sad music? Empirical Musicology Review, 11(2), 261–269. (html) (pdf)
Conference Proceeding Articles
Trevor, C., Arnal, L., & Fruehholz, S. (2020). Scary music mimics alarming acoustic feature of human screams. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Timbre (Timbre 2020), Thessaloniki (online), Greece, 14–16. (pdf)
Trevor, C. & Huron, D. (2016). Animated performance: ‘better’ music means larger movements. Proceedings for the International Conference for Music Perception and Cognition, San Francisco, California, USA, 420–423. (pdf)
Trevor, C. & Huron, D. (2016). Are stopped strings preferred in sad music? Proceedings for the International Conference for Music Perception and Cognition, San Francisco, California, USA, 578–581. (pdf)
Trevor, C. & Plazak J. (2016). Imprinting emotion on music: transferring affective information from sight to sound. Proceedings for the International Conference for Music Perception and Cognition, San Francisco, California, USA, 265–268. (pdf)
Non-peer-reviewed Publications
Trevor, C. & Fruehholz, S. (2021). The evolutionary benefit of less-credible affective musical signals for emotion induction during storytelling. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 44, E118. doi:10.1017/S0140525X20001004. (html)
Trevor, C. (2020). Methods of Measuring Musical Tension: Commentary on Teo (2020). Empirical Musicology Review, 15(1–2), 105-107. (html) (pdf)
Trevor, C. (2019, Spring/Summer). Methodological Considerations For Choreomusicology Influenced by Music Cognition. SEM Student News, 15(1), 14–17. (pdf)
Book Review
Trevor, C. (2021). Review of the book Music, Analysis, and the Body: Experiments, Explorations, and Embodiments, edited by N. Reyland & R. Thumpston. Music Theory Spectrum, 43(1), 172-180. (html) (pdf)
Research In Progress
Does scary music mimic biological voice signals of threat? (preregistration)
Modulating musical consonance/dissonance with real-time neuro-feedback