Pitch-change detection and pitch-direction discrimination in children.

Absolute pitch (AP), a superior ability of pitch letter naming in the absence of a reference note, has long been viewed as an indicator of human musical talent and thus as evidence for the adaptationist hypothesis of music evolution. Little is known, however, whether AP possessors are superior to non-AP possessors in music processing. The present study investigated whether the AP ability facilitates musical tension processing in perceptual and experienced tasks. Twenty-one AP possessors and 21 matched non-AP possessors were tested using novel melodies in C and non-C contexts. Results indicated that the two groups provided comparable ratings of perceived and felt tension for melodies in both contexts. While AP possessors demonstrated lower accuracy with longer reaction time than non-AP possessors in naming movable solfège syllables for pitch in the pretest, their tension rating profiles showed a similar tonal hierarchy as non-AP possessors in regard to the stability of the ending tones of the melodies in both major and minor keys. Correlation analyses suggested that musical tension ratings were not significantly related to performance in pitch letter, movable solfège syllable naming, pitch change detection threshold, or pitch direction discrimination threshold for either group. These findings suggest that pitch naming abilities (either pitch letter or movable solfège syllable naming) do not benefit processing of perceived or felt musical tension, providing evidence to support the hypothesis that AP ability is not associated with advantage in music processing.

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Higher is Faster

Music Perception An Interdisciplinary Journal ◽

10.1525/mp.2015.33.2.179 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 179-198 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Hila Tamir-Ostrover ◽

Zohar Eitan

Keyword(s):

Experimental Design ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Music Training ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Pitch Change ◽

Musical Pitch ◽

Pitch Direction ◽

Pitch Structure ◽

Musical Tempo

While determining an appropriate tempo is crucial to music performers, composers and listeners, few empirical studies have investigated the musical factors affecting tempo choices. In two experiments we examined how aspects of musical pitch affect tempo choice, by asking participants (musically trained and untrained) to adjust the tempi of melodic sequences varying in pitch register and pitch direction, as well as sequences typically associated with specific registers in common period music. In Experiment 1, faster tempi were assigned to higher registers. Specific melodic direction (rise vs. fall) did not affect tempo preferences; nevertheless, pitch change in both directions elicited faster tempi than a repeating, unchanging pitch. The effect of register on tempo preference was stronger for participants with music training, and also (unexpectedly) for female participants. In Experiment 2, melodic figures typically related to lower and higher parts in common-period music were associated with slower and faster tempi, respectively. Results support a “holistic” notion of musical tempo, viewing the choice of proper tempo as determined by interactions among diverse musical dimensions, including aspects of pitch structure, rather than by rhythmic considerations alone. The experimental design presented here can be further applied to explore the effects of other musical parameters on tempo preferences.

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Neurophysiological network dynamics of pitch change detection

10.1101/2020.10.07.328450 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Soheila Samiee ◽

Dominique Vuvan ◽

Esther Florin ◽

Philippe Albouy ◽

Isabelle Peretz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Motor Cortex ◽

Auditory Cortex ◽

Change Detection ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Brain Network ◽

Slow Phase ◽

Speech Comprehension ◽

Pitch Change ◽

Phase Amplitude

AbstractThe detection of pitch changes is crucial to sound localization, music appreciation and speech comprehension, yet the brain network oscillatory dynamics involved remain unclear. We used time-resolved cortical imaging in a pitch change detection task. Tone sequences were presented to both typical listeners and participants affected with congenital amusia, as a model of altered pitch change perception.Our data show that tone sequences entrained slow (2-4 Hz) oscillations in the auditory cortex and inferior frontal gyrus, at the pace of tone presentations. Inter-regional signaling at this slow pace was directed from auditory cortex towards the inferior frontal gyrus and motor cortex. Bursts of faster (15-35Hz) oscillations were also generated in these regions, with directed influence from the motor cortex. These faster components occurred precisely at the expected latencies of each tone in a sequence, yielding a form of local phase-amplitude coupling with slower concurrent activity. The intensity of this coupling peaked dynamically at the moment of anticipated pitch changes.We clarify the mechanistic relevance of these observations in relation to behavior as, by task design, typical listeners outperformed amusic participants. Compared to typical listeners, inter-regional slow signaling toward motor and inferior frontal cortices was depressed in amusia. Also, the auditory cortex of amusic participants over-expressed tonic, fast-slow phase-amplitude coupling, pointing at a possible misalignment between stimulus encoding and internal predictive signaling. Our study provides novel insight into the functional architecture of polyrhythmic brain activity in auditory perception and emphasizes active, network processes involving the motor system in sensory integration.

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Moving Music

Music Perception An Interdisciplinary Journal ◽

10.1525/mp.2016.34.1.40 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 40-55 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Dafna Kohn ◽

Zohar Eitan

Keyword(s):

Temporal Order ◽

Vertical Motion ◽

Pitch Contour ◽

Pitch Change ◽

Motion Responses ◽

Pitch Direction ◽

Verbal Tasks ◽

Tempo Change ◽

Local Direction ◽

Motion Features

We examined how children (5- and 8-year-olds) associate changes in musical parameters with bodily motion, using movement and verbal tasks. In Task 1, participants moved to short musical stimuli involving bidirectional changes in pitch, loudness, or tempo. In Task 2, participants selected motion features appropriate to the same stimuli (forced-choice verbal task). In Task 1 the distribution of movement features significantly varied for different musical parameters: pitch change associated most strongly with vertical motion, loudness change with muscular energy and vertical motion, and tempo change with speed and muscular energy. In both tasks and for both ages, directions of change in motion and musical parameters correlated, e.g., increase in loudness was associated with increasing speed, increasing muscular energy, and spatial rise. The effect of pitch direction was mediated by temporal order, suggesting that overall pitch contour, rather than local direction only, affects bodily motion. Age affected responses to pitch direction, rather than loudness or tempo change. Results suggest that children consistently correlate musical and movement features through both verbal and motion responses, presenting an intricate web of auditory-motor-cognitive mappings.

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Frequency specific impairment of automatic pitch change detection by fMRI acoustic noise: An MEG study

Journal of Neuroscience Methods ◽

10.1016/j.jneumeth.2006.01.030 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 155 (1) ◽

pp. 149-159 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

N. Novitski ◽

B. Maess ◽

M. Tervaniemi

Keyword(s):

Change Detection ◽

Acoustic Noise ◽

Pitch Change

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Perception and Production of Statement-Question Intonation in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Developmental Investigation

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders ◽

10.1007/s10803-021-05220-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Li Wang ◽

C. Philip Beaman ◽

Cunmei Jiang ◽

Fang Liu

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Pitch Processing ◽

Age Cohorts ◽

Direction Discrimination ◽

Pitch Direction ◽

Adolescents And Adults ◽

High Level ◽

Question Intonation

AbstractProsody or “melody in speech” in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is often perceived as atypical. This study examined perception and production of statements and questions in 84 children, adolescents and adults with and without ASD, as well as participants’ pitch direction discrimination thresholds. The results suggested that the abilities to discriminate (in both speech and music conditions), identify, and imitate statement-question intonation were intact in individuals with ASD across age cohorts. Sensitivity to pitch direction predicted performance on intonation processing in both groups, who also exhibited similar developmental changes. These findings provide evidence for shared mechanisms in pitch processing between speech and music, as well as associations between low- and high-level pitch processing and between perception and production of pitch.

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Rapid Assessment of Non-Verbal Auditory Perception in Normal-Hearing Participants and Cochlear Implant Users

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm10102093 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 2093

Author(s):

Agathe Pralus ◽

Ruben Hermann ◽

Fanny Cholvy ◽

Pierre-Emmanuel Aguera ◽

Annie Moulin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Change Detection ◽

Emotion Recognition ◽

Auditory Perception ◽

Visual Cues ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Rapid Assessment ◽

Normal Hearing ◽

Stream Segregation ◽

Pitch Change ◽

Small Pitch

In the case of hearing loss, cochlear implants (CI) allow for the restoration of hearing. Despite the advantages of CIs for speech perception, CI users still complain about their poor perception of their auditory environment. Aiming to assess non-verbal auditory perception in CI users, we developed five listening tests. These tests measure pitch change detection, pitch direction identification, pitch short-term memory, auditory stream segregation, and emotional prosody recognition, along with perceived intensity ratings. In order to test the potential benefit of visual cues for pitch processing, the three pitch tests included half of the trials with visual indications to perform the task. We tested 10 normal-hearing (NH) participants with material being presented as original and vocoded sounds, and 10 post-lingually deaf CI users. With the vocoded sounds, the NH participants had reduced scores for the detection of small pitch differences, and reduced emotion recognition and streaming abilities compared to the original sounds. Similarly, the CI users had deficits for small differences in the pitch change detection task and emotion recognition, as well as a decreased streaming capacity. Overall, this assessment allows for the rapid detection of specific patterns of non-verbal auditory perception deficits. The current findings also open new perspectives about how to enhance pitch perception capacities using visual cues.

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Change detection and schematic processing in music

Psychology of Music ◽

10.1177/0305735617751249 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 47 (2) ◽

pp. 173-193

Author(s):

Kat R. Agres

Keyword(s):

Change Detection ◽

Factorial Design ◽

Memory Representation ◽

Memory Encoding ◽

Tonal Structure ◽

Single Tone ◽

Pitch Change ◽

Schematic Processing ◽

Memory Representations ◽

Full Factorial

Research into vision has highlighted the importance of gist representations in change detection and memory. This article puts forth the hypothesis that schematic processing and gist provide an account for change detection in music as well, where a musical gist is an abstracted memory representation for schematically consistent tones. The present experiments illuminate the content of gist memory representations by testing when listeners can detect single-tone changes in pairs of melodies. In Experiment 1, musicians and non-musicians listened to melodies varying in tonal structure. Less structure resulted in compromised change detection in both groups. Most often, musicians displayed more accurate change detection than non-musicians, but, surprisingly, when schematic processing could not contribute to memory encoding, musicians performed worse than their untrained counterparts. Experiment 2 utilized a full-factorial design to examine tonality, interval of pitch change, metrical position, and rhythm. Tonality had a particularly large effect on performance, with non-scale tones generally aiding change detection. Listeners were unlikely, however, to detect schematically-inconsistent tones when only brief melodic context was available. The results uphold the hypothesis that memory for melodies relies on schematic processing, with change detection dependent upon whether the change alters the schematic gist of the melody.

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