Training the absolute identification of pitch

Two methods for training the absolute judgment of pitch, reference training and series training, were studied. Reference training concentrated during training on the identification of three reference tones in a set of nine pure tones, while series training gave equal weight during training to the identification of all nine tones. Results of pre- and posttraining tests, scored for the number of correct judgments, showed that reference training was more effective than series training for listeners with musical experience. In addition, discriminability (d′) scaling of pre- and posttest performance indicated that reference training was particularly effective for training listeners with musical experience when the nine tones of a set were grouped into three pitch classes—high, medium, and low pitch. Listeners without musical experience benefited from both training methods, but their overall improvement was less than that for musical listeners.     

A pseudorandom noise generator for use in auditory research

A noise generator that is capable of delivering long-duration samples of reproducible noise is described. The noise is generated as a pseudorandom telegraph waveform but may be filtered so that its amplitude distribution is approximately Gaussian. The design and construction of the generator are detailed and a few possible applications are given.     

Non-interaction of ventromedial and lateral hypothalamic mechanisms in the regulation of feeding and hoarding behaviour in the rat

Lesions of the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus (VMN) led to an immediate increase in food intake but not to any increase in hoarding activity. Later, when subjects were very obese, they failed to hoard even in response to a 16-hr. deprivation schedule, although this schedule did produce hoarding if body weights were held at, or were brought down to, preoperative levels. These results indicate that the lateral hypothalamic mechanism responsible for hoarding and feeding responds to long-term nutritional factors, and that it is not directly affected by the short-term satiety mechanisms in the VMN. These findings support the hypothesis (a) that even “non-physiological” activities (e.g. hoarding, exploration) are motivated by physiological needs, and (b) that the reason these activities do not ordinarily covary with physiological drives is that, unlike the physiological drives, they are not subject to inhibition by the hypothalamic satiety mechanisms.