The influence of the acoustic context on vertical sound localization in the median plane

The influence of background sounds (frames) on vertical localization of single sound sources (targets) was examined in four experiments. Loudspeakers (five targets and four frames) were positioned in the median plane, ranging from +30 degrees to -30 degrees above and below the subject's ear level. The subjects determined the vertical position of the targets by either verbal judgments or manual pointing. Frame and target sounds were presented concurrently or successively with a 1-sec interval; both consisted of (1) 300-Hz square waves, (2) noise, or (3) targets of noise and frames of 300-Hz square waves. Particularly in the second condition, the subjects consistently shifted the apparent target positions away from the frame locations. This contrast effect persisted even 1 sec after the offset of the frames. No effect was found with different waveforms for the frame and the target. Results are related to recent findings indicating a similar effect in the azimuthal dimension. Possibly the effect is based on a mechanism in which the auditory system adapts to recently heard sound source positions.     

The influence of music-elicited emotions and relative pitch on absolute pitch memory for familiar melodies

Levitin's findings that nonmusicians could produce from memory the absolute pitches of self-selected pop songs have been widely cited in the music psychology literature. These findings suggest that latent absolute pitch (AP) memory may be a more widespread trait within the population than traditional AP labelling ability. However, it has been left unclear what factors may facilitate absolute pitch retention for familiar pieces of music. The aim of the present paper was to investigate factors that may contribute to latent AP memory using Levitin's sung production paradigm for AP memory and comparing results to the outcomes of a pitch labelling task, a relative pitch memory test, measures of music-induced emotions, and various measures of participants' musical backgrounds. Our results suggest that relative pitch memory and the quality and degree of music-elicited emotions impact on latent AP memory.     

The effect of intensity on relative pitch

In two experiments, we examined the effect of intensity and intensity change on judgements of pitch differences or interval size. In Experiment 1, 39 musically untrained participants rated the size of the interval spanned by two pitches within individual gliding tones. Tones were presented at high intensity, low intensity, looming intensity (up-ramp), and fading intensity (down-ramp) and glided between two pitches spanning either 6 or 7 semitones (a tritone or a perfect fifth interval). The pitch shift occurred in either ascending or descending directions. Experiment 2 repeated the conditions of Experiment 1 but the shifts in pitch and intensity occurred across two discrete tones (i.e., a melodic interval). Results indicated that participants were sensitive to the differences in interval size presented: Ratings were significantly higher when two pitches differed by 7 semitones than when they differed by 6 semitones. However, ratings were also dependent on whether the interval was high or low in intensity, whether it increased or decreased in intensity across the two pitches, and whether the interval was ascending or descending in pitch. Such influences illustrate that the perception of pitch relations does not always adhere to a logarithmic function as implied by their musical labels, but that identical intervals are perceived as substantially different in size depending on other attributes of the sound source.     

The effect of intensity on relative pitch

In two experiments, we examined the effect of intensity and intensity change on judgements of pitch differences or interval size. In Experiment 1, 39 musically untrained participants rated the size of the interval spanned by two pitches within individual gliding tones. Tones were presented at high intensity, low intensity, looming intensity (up-ramp), and fading intensity (down-ramp) and glided between two pitches spanning either 6 or 7 semitones (a tritone or a perfect fifth interval). The pitch shift occurred in either ascending or descending directions. Experiment 2 repeated the conditions of Experiment 1 but the shifts in pitch and intensity occurred across two discrete tones (i.e., a melodic interval). Results indicated that participants were sensitive to the differences in interval size presented: Ratings were significantly higher when two pitches differed by 7 semitones than when they differed by 6 semitones. However, ratings were also dependent on whether the interval was high or low in intensity, whether it increased or decreased in intensity across the two pitches, and whether the interval was ascending or descending in pitch. Such influences illustrate that the perception of pitch relations does not always adhere to a logarithmic function as implied by their musical labels, but that identical intervals are perceived as substantially different in size depending on other attributes of the sound source.     

The effect of sound on visual apparent movement

Twelve subjects found the longest possible interstimulus interval (ISI) at which they perceived continuous apparent motion of one light instead of partial motion or succession between two lights. In the visual condition, two lights only were presented. In the bimodal conditions, binaurally presented tones were presented synchronously with the lights, and the lights and tones were either spatially congruent (in phase) or incongruent (180 degrees out of phase). Bimodal presentations lowered the upper ISI threshold for the perception of visual apparent motion, and the reduction was greater when the tones and lights were spatially congruent. The threshold reduction may be caused by a perceptual inference about localization of the lights in space or by a change in visual persistence.     

Detecting surface changes in a familiar tune: exploring pitch,tempo and timbre

Animal Cognition - Humans recognize a melody independently of whether it is played on a piano or a violin, faster or slower, or at higher or lower frequencies. Much of the way in which we engage...     

Visual and somesthetic influences on postural orientation in the median plane

We investigated optic and somesthetic contributions to perceived body orientation in the pitch dimension. In a within-subject factorial design, each of 12 subjects attempted to set his/her body erect or 45° back from erect while restrained in a movable bed surrounded by an adjustable box The box provided a visual environment consisting of either a grid pattern, two luminous lines, or complete darkness. Both the grid pattern and the luminous lines were effective at-biasing settings of body position when the box was pitched; the pitched grid was more effective than the pitched lines. Although the pitch of the box influenced orientation to both goals, the effect was greater for the diagonal goal than for the erect goal. We present a model of postural orientation in the median plane that involves vestibular, somatosensory, and visual inputs.     

The influence of melodic context on pitch recognition judgment

Subjects made delayed pitch comparisons between tones that were each preceded by tones of lower pitch. The pitches of these preceding tones were so chosen that in some conditions the melodic intervals formed by the standard (S) and comparison (C) combinations were identical, and in others they differed. A strong effect of melodic relational context was demonstrated. When the S and C combinations formed identical melodic intervals, there was an increased tendency for the S and C tones to be judged as identical. And when the S and C combinations formed different melodic intervals, there was an increased tendency for the S and C tones to be judged as different. These effects occurred both when the S and C tones were identical in pitch and also when these differed, and they occurred despite instructions to attend only to the S and C tones.     

Effects of age and asymmetrical stimulation on the subjective median plane

Changes in subjective median plane (SMP) as a result of asymmetrical visual and bodily stimulation were measured for a total of 260 Ss, age 5–17. Asymmetrical visual stimulation resulted in a readjustment of the SMP in the direction of stimulation, with a decline in magnitude of response as a function of age. Asymmetrical bodily stimulation was assimilated to by the younger children (SMP adjusted in the direction of stimulation), . and counteracted by the older children (age 8 and older). In the combination of the two, the effects of visual stimulation dominated those of bodily stimulation throughout the age range, possibly due to insufficient exposure to the asymmetrical bodily stimulation. Correlational analysis showed that CA, rather than MA, was the major variable associated with the results. The results are in general agreement with sensory-tonic theory, and are discussed in this light.     

Facilitative and inhibitory effects of cuing sound duration, intensity, and timbre

Two experiments are reported in which the possibility that auditory attention may be controlled in a stimulus-driven manner by duration, intensity, and timbre cues was examined. In both experiments, listeners were presented with a cue followed, after a variable time period of a 150-, 450-, or 750-msec stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA), by a target. In three different conditions for each experiment, the duration, intensity, or timbre relation between the cue and the target was varied so that, on 50% of the trials, the two sounds were identical and, on 50% of the trials, the two sounds were different in the manipulated feature. The two experiments differed only in the judgment required, with listeners in Experiment 1 identifying the duration, intensity, or timbre of the target and listeners in Experiment 2 indicating whether the target incorporated a brief silent gap. In both experiments, performance was observed to depend on both the similarity of and the time between the cue and the target. Specifically, whereas at the 150-msec SOA performance was best when the target was identical to the preceding cue, at the 750-msec SOA performance was best when the cue and the target differed. This pattern establishes the existence of duration-, intensity-, and timbre-based auditory inhibition of return. The theoretical implications of these results are considered.     

The influence of temporal regularities on the implicit learning of pitch structures

Implicit learning is the acquisition of complex information without the intention to learn. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of temporal regularities on the implicit learning of an artificial pitch grammar. According to the dynamic attending theory (DAT) external regularities can entrain internal oscillators that guide attention over time, inducing temporal expectations that influence perception of future events. In the present study, the presentation of the artificial pitch grammar in the exposure phase was temporally either regular or irregular for one of two participant groups. Based on the DAT, it was hypothesized that the regular temporal presentation would favour implicit learning of tone structures in comparison to the irregular temporal presentation. Results demonstrated learning of the artificial grammar for the group with the regular exposure phase and partial learning for the group with the irregular exposure phase. These findings suggest that the regular presentation helps listeners to develop perceptual expectations about the temporal occurrence of future tones and thus facilitates the learning of the artificial pitch grammar.     

Facilitative and inhibitory effects of cuing sound duration, intensity, and timbre.

Two experiments are reported in which the possibility that auditory attention may be controlled in a stimulus-driven manner by duration, intensity, and timbre cues was examined. In both experiments, listeners were presented with a cue followed, after a variable time period of a 150-, 450-, or 750-msec stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA), by a target. In three different conditions for each experiment, the duration, intensity, or timbre relation between the cue and the target was varied so that, on 50% of the trials, the two sounds were identical and, on 50% of the trials, the two sounds were different in the manipulated feature. The two experiments differed only in the judgment required, with listeners in Experiment 1 identifying the duration, intensity, or timbre of the target and listeners in Experiment 2 indicating whether the target incorporated a brief silent gap. In both experiments, performance was observed to depend on both the similarity of and the time between the cue and the target. Specifically, whereas at the 150-msec SOA performance was best when the target was identical to the preceding cue, at the 750-msec SOA performance was best when the cue and the target differed. This pattern establishes the existence of duration-, intensity-, and timbre-based auditory inhibition of return. The theoretical implications of these results are considered.     

Effects of harmonics on relative pitch discrimination in a musical context

The contribution of different harmonics to pitch salience in a musical context was examined by requiring subjects to discriminate a small (1/4 semitone) pitch change in one note of a melody that repeated in transposition. In Experiment 1, performance was superior when more harmonics were present (first five vs. fundamental alone) and when the second harmonic (of tones consisting of the first two harmonics) was in tune compared with when it was out of tune. In Experiment 2, the effects of harmonics 6 and 8, which stand in octave-equivalent simple ratios to the fundamental (2∶3 and 1∶2, respectively) were compared with harmonics 5 and 7, which stand in more complex ratios (4:5 and 4:7, respectively). When the harmonics fused into a single percept (tones consisting of harmonics 1, 2, and one of 5, 6, 7, or 8), performance was higher when harmonics 6 or 8 were present than when harmonics 5 or 7 were present. When the harmonics did not fuse into a single percept (tones consisting of the fundamental and one of 5, 6, 7, or 8), there was no effect of ratio simplicity.     

The influence of linguistic experience on the cognitive processing of pitch in speech and nonspeech sounds

In the present experiment, the authors tested Mandarin and English listeners on a range of auditory tasks to investigate whether long-term linguistic experience influences the cognitive processing of nonspeech sounds. As expected, Mandarin listeners identified Mandarin tones significantly more accurately than English listeners; however, performance did not differ across the listener groups on a pitch discrimination task requiring fine-grained discrimination of simple nonspeech sounds. The crucial finding was that cross-language differences emerged on a nonspeech pitch contour identification task: The Mandarin listeners more often misidentified flat and falling pitch contours than the English listeners in a manner that could be related to specific features of the sound structure of Mandarin, which suggests that the effect of linguistic experience extends to nonspeech processing under certain stimulus and task conditions.     

Domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are sensitive to the correlation between pitch and timbre in human speech

Animal Cognition - The perceived pitch of human voices is highly correlated with the fundamental frequency (f0) of the laryngeal source, which is determined largely by the length and mass of the...