Facilitation by repetition in recognition memory for tonal pitch

Subjects made delayed pitch comparisons when the standard and comparison tones were separated by a sequence of interpolated tones. In some conditions, a tone of the same pitch as the standard tone was included among the interpolated tones. Recognition performance was superior for sequences where the standard tone pitch was repeated, even compared with control sequences of reduced size. The improvement in performance produced by the repeated tone depended on its position in the intervening sequence. Improvement was substantial and highly significant when the standard tone pitch was repeated in the second serial position of a sequence of six interpolated tones, but small and insignificant when it was repeated in the fifth serial position.