PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “PITCH DISCRIMINATION”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Pitch discrimination and pitch matching abilities of adults who sing inaccurately.

Past research regarding singing ability has provided evidence that both supports and refutes a relationship between pitch discrimination ability and pitch production ability. Researchers have suggested that these skills improve with age. Despite this suggestion, most investigators studying singing ability have included only children as participants. Additionally, although many researchers have studied accurate singers, few have directly studied persons who do not sing accurately. We designed this study to examine the relationship between pitch discrimination ability and pitch production ability in inaccurate adult singers. Fifteen adults, aged 18 to 40 years, that met specific criteria qualified as inaccurate singers. Each participated in two tasks, a pitch discrimination task and a pitch production task. We used the Multi-Dimensional Voice Profile-Advanced (Kay Elemetrics Corporation, Lincoln Park, NJ) to determine the frequency of each participant's vocal productions during the pitch production task. We also used a Pearson product moment correlation to analyze the relationship between pitch discrimination and pitch production accuracy within a semitone of the target frequency. No meaningful relationship was found, and results were not statistically significant. However, the inaccurate singers in this study could be classified into two separate categories, those who discriminated pitches accurately, but produced pitches inaccurately, and those who discriminated pitches inaccurately and produced pitches inaccurately. These findings may be of great importance to music educators and impact the focus of instruction when teaching an inaccurate singer to sing more accurately.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

The role of pitch memory in pitch discrimination and pitch matching.

Accurate control of vocal pitch (fundamental frequency) requires coordination of sensory and motor systems. Previous research has supported the relationship between perceptual accuracy and vocal pitch matching accuracy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of memory for pitch in pitch matching and pitch discrimination ability. Three experimental tasks were used. First, a pitch matching task was completed, in which the participants listened to target tones and vocally matched the pitch of the tones. The second task was a pitch discrimination task that required the participants to judge the pitch (same or different) of complex tone pairs. The third task was pitch discrimination with memory interference task that was similar to the pitch discrimination task except interference tones were added. Results of the pitch matching and pitch discrimination tasks yielded a significant correlation between these values. When there was memory interference, pitch discrimination ability was poorer, and there was no significant correlation between pitch discrimination and pitch matching. These results support earlier findings of a relationship between pitch discrimination and pitch matching abilities. The results also suggest a possible role of pitch memory in both tasks. These findings may have implications for abilities related to accurate pitch control.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Pitch discrimination of harmonic complex signals: residue pitch or multiple component discriminations?

Two models for pitch discrimination of harmonic complex sounds are discussed, a multiple-band probability summation model using comparisons among component frequencies, and a model in which residue pitches are compared. The second model is based on Goldstein's optimum-processor pitch theory [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 54, 1496-1516 (1973)], and is distinguished from the multiple-band model by an internal noise process. Pitch difference limens from 2I2AFC tasks show that when the test signals comprise corresponding harmonics, relative pitch difference limens are less than the smaller relative difference limens for the component frequencies, which is consistent with the multiple-band model. The absence of corresponding harmonics significantly reduces relative pitch discriminability; this effect supports the model on Goldstein's theory. It appears that residue pitch comparisons are not used for pitch discrimination between sounds with corresponding components; rather, comparisons based on residue pitch are only employed where there are no common resolved components in the signals to be discriminated.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2004

Pitch discrimination accuracy in musicians vs nonmusicians: an event-related potential and behavioral study.

Previously, professional violin players were found to automatically discriminate tiny pitch changes, not discriminable by nonmusicians. The present study addressed the pitch processing accuracy in musicians with expertise in playing a wide selection of instruments (e.g., piano; wind and string instruments). Of specific interest was whether also musicians with such divergent backgrounds have facilitated accuracy in automatic and/or attentive levels of auditory processing. Thirteen professional musicians and 13 nonmusicians were presented with frequent standard sounds and rare deviant sounds (0.8, 2, or 4% higher in frequency). Auditory event-related potentials evoked by these sounds were recorded while first the subjects read a self-chosen book and second they indicated behaviorally the detection of sounds with deviant frequency. Musicians detected the pitch changes faster and more accurately than nonmusicians. The N2b and P3 responses recorded during attentive listening had larger amplitude in musicians than in nonmusicians. Interestingly, the superiority in pitch discrimination accuracy in musicians over nonmusicians was observed not only with the 0.8% but also with the 2% frequency changes. Moreover, also nonmusicians detected quite reliably the smallest pitch changes of 0.8%. However, the mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a recorded during a reading condition did not differentiate musicians and nonmusicians. These results suggest that musical expertise may exert its effects merely at attentive levels of processing and not necessarily already at the preattentive levels.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2005

Pitch discrimination interference: the role of pitch pulse asynchrony.

Gockel, Carlyon, and Plack [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 116, 1092-1104 (2004)] showed that discrimination of the fundamental frequency (F0) of a target tone containing only unresolved harmonics was impaired when an interfering complex tone with fixed F0 was added to the target, but filtered into a lower frequency region. This pitch discrimination interference (PDI) was greater when the interferer contained resolved harmonics than when it contained only unresolved harmonics. Here, it is examined whether this occurred because, when the interferer contained unresolved harmonics, "pitch pulse asynchrony (PPA)" between the target and interferer provided a cue that enhanced performance; this was possible in the earlier experiment because both target and interferer had components added in sine phase. In experiment 1, it was shown that subjects were moderately sensitive to the direction of PPA across frequency regions. In experiments 2 and 3, PPA cues were eliminated by adding the components of the target only, or of both target and interferer, in random phase. For both experiments, an interferer containing resolved harmonics produced more PDI than an interferer containing unresolved harmonics. These results show that PDI is smaller for an interferer with unresolved harmonics even when cues related to PPA are eliminated.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2005

Place-pitch discrimination of single- versus dual-electrode stimuli by cochlear implant users (L).

Simultaneous or near-simultaneous activation of adjacent cochlear implant electrodes can produce pitch percepts intermediate to those produced by each electrode separately, thereby increasing the number of place-pitch steps available to cochlear implant listeners. To estimate how many distinct pitches could be generated with simultaneous dual-electrode stimulation, the present study measured place-pitch discrimination thresholds for single- versus dual-electrode stimuli in users of the Clarion CII device. Discrimination thresholds were expressed as the proportion of current directed to the secondary electrode of the dual-electrode pair. For 16 of 17 electrode pairs tested in six subjects, thresholds ranged from 0.11 to 0.64, suggesting that dual-electrode stimuli can produce 2-9 discriminable pitches between the pitches of single electrodes. Some subjects demonstrated a level effect, with better place-pitch discrimination at higher stimulus levels. Equal loudness was achieved with dual-electrode stimuli at net current levels that were similar to or slightly higher than those for single-electrode stimuli.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

The relationship between vocal pitch-matching skills and pitch discrimination skills in untrained accurate and inaccurate singers.

Few studies have compared the relationship between pitch discrimination accuracy and the accuracy of fundamental frequency (F(o)) control. This study investigated the relationship between vocal pitch-matching skills, which is one method of testing F(o) control, and pitch discrimination skills in untrained accurate and inaccurate singers, and the effect of timbre on their pitch discrimination accuracy. Data showed that accurate singers had more precise discrimination and pitch-matching abilities compared with their inaccurate counterparts. Pitch discrimination was differentially affected by the timbre (eg, spectral differences) of comparison tones. In addition, results showed a significant relationship between pitch discrimination abilities and pitch-matching accuracy. The results suggest that accurate F(o) control is at least partially dependent on pitch discrimination abilities, which are important for accurate singing.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Influence of musical and psychoacoustical training on pitch discrimination.

This study compared the influence of musical and psychoacoustical training on auditory pitch discrimination abilities. In a first experiment, pitch discrimination thresholds for pure and complex tones were measured in 30 classical musicians and 30 non-musicians, none of whom had prior psychoacoustical training. The non-musicians' mean thresholds were more than six times larger than those of the classical musicians initially, and still about four times larger after 2h of training using an adaptive two-interval forced-choice procedure; this difference is two to three times larger than suggested by previous studies. The musicians' thresholds were close to those measured in earlier psychoacoustical studies using highly trained listeners, and showed little improvement with training; this suggests that classical musical training can lead to optimal or nearly optimal pitch discrimination performance. A second experiment was performed to determine how much additional training was required for the non-musicians to obtain thresholds as low as those of the classical musicians from experiment 1. Eight new non-musicians with no prior training practiced the frequency discrimination task for a total of 14 h. It took between 4 and 8h of training for their thresholds to become as small as those measured in the classical musicians from experiment 1. These findings supplement and qualify earlier data in the literature regarding the respective influence of musical and psychoacoustical training on pitch discrimination performance.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2006

Differential effects of indoleamines on auditory choice reaction, selective attention, and pitch discrimination.

The indoleamines serotonin and melatonin (MT) affected visual processing such as choice reaction. This study determined whether the indoleamines influence the processing of auditory stimuli. Serotonergic activity was increased using citalopram (CIT). We compared effects of single doses of 40 mg CIT, 1 mg MT, and placebo (randomized double-blind, cross-over design) in 18 healthy men. The applied tests assessed auditory choice reaction, selective attention, and serial discrimination using pitch variations as stimuli in each task. CIT reduced the performance in choice reaction and selective attention but not discrimination. MT tended to reduce selective attention and to improve discrimination. The findings suggest that indoleamines had different effects on distinct kinds of auditory processing. Serotonergic activation improved visual choice reaction, whereas the opposite effect was found in the auditory domain. We conclude that disorders and drugs affecting the indoleamines must be considered differentially in the auditory and the visual system.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Pitch discrimination of patterned electric stimulation.

One reason for the poor pitch performance in current cochlear-implant users may be the highly synchronized neural firing in electric hearing that lacks stochastic properties of neural firing in normal acoustic hearing. This study used three different electric stimulation patterns, jittered, probabilistic, and auditory-model-generated pulses, to mimic some aspects of the normal neural firing pattern in acoustic hearing. Pitch discrimination was measured at standard frequencies of 100, 250, 500, and 1000 Hz on three Nucleus-24 cochlear-implant users. To test the utility of the autocorrelation pitch perception model in electric hearing, one, two, and four electrodes were stimulated independently with the same patterned electric stimulation. Results showed no improvement in performance with any experimental pattern compared to the fixed-rate control. Pitch discrimination was actually worsened with the jittered pattern at low frequencies (125 and 250 Hz) than that of the control, suggesting that externally introduced stochastic properties do not improve pitch perception in electric stimulation. The multiple-electrode stimulation did not improve performance but did not degrade performance either. The present results suggest that both "the right time and the right place" may be needed to restore normal pitch perception in cochlear-implant users.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

Cerebral correlates of hemispheric lateralization during a pitch discrimination task: an ERP study in dichotic situation.

OBJECTIVE: Electrophysiological correlates of perceptual asymmetry for dichotic pitch discrimination were investigated in 12 right-handed volunteers, whose dichotic listening performances attested the classical 'right ear advantage' in a verbal discrimination task. METHODS: Event related potentials (ERPs), elicited by dichotic and binaural pairs of tones applied in a classical oddball paradigm including right ear targets, left ear targets and binaural targets (5% occurrence each) were recorded from medial and lateral scalp locations. Latencies and baseline to peak amplitudes were measured for P1, N1, P2, N2 and P3 components. RESULTS: ERPs recorded in response to dichotic (compared with binaural) target pairs, exhibited delayed latencies for N2 and P3, correlated with prolonged RTs, probably linked to greater difficulty in identification of the target. They also displayed enhanced N1 and P2 voltages, which may reflect the simultaneous activation of two different populations of neurons in the auditory cortical areas. We observed specific lateralization effects for pitch discrimination with a left ear advantage on latency of early components. CONCLUSIONS: Together with amplitude asymmetries in the N2 component, the findings bring strong electrophysiological support to Kimura's structural model for dichotic perceptions with a right hemisphere prevalence in a pitch discrimination task.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2002

The results in patients implanted with the nucleus double array cochlear implant: pitch discrimination and auditory performance.

OBJECTIVE: In patients with total or surgically inaccessible cochlear obliteration, only a reduced number of active electrodes can be inserted with standard cochlear implants, resulting in below average auditory performance. Therefore, a special implant with two electrode arrays was developed on the basis of the Nucleus 22 cochlear implant, the socalled Double Array. One electrode array with 11 active electrodes is inserted into the basal turn of the cochlea, while the second array with 10 active electrodes is inserted into the second turn. The Double Array is now available on the basis of the more advanced Nucleus 24 with 11 active electrodes on each array and two reference electrodes, one at the case and the second one an additional ball electrode, which is placed under the temporalis muscle. For device description and surgical technique see Lenarz et al. (2001). This paper presents psychophysical data on pitch discrimination and auditory performance of patients implanted with a Double Array on the basis of the Nucleus 22. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective intra-individual study using a Latin square paradigm was performed in six adult patients with obliterated cochlea who received the Nucleus 22 Double Array. After appropriate fitting and loudness balancing, patients were tested either with the basal, the apical or both electrode arrays. Apart from auditory performance tests including numbers and monosyllable word tests, pitch discrimination was determined with a defined procedure. RESULTS: When activating each array alone, auditory performance was better with the basal array than with the apical array. Both arrays together showed marked improvement compared with the basal array, indicating an additional effect of the second array. Pitch discrimination was significantly better for the electrodes in the basal turn than in the second turn, indicating differences in electrical excitation of the auditory nerve fibers. Pitch discrimination was positively correlated with auditory performance data. CONCLUSION: The additional apical array leads to significant improvement in auditory performance in patients with obliterated cochleae by increasing the number of intracochlear electrodes. Despite reduced pitch discrimination, the apical array provides important information for speech recognition. For this reason the Double Array provides a profound advantage for patients with obliterated or surgically inaccessible cochleae.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1977

The assessment of pitch discrimination ability in young children.

This study tested the hypothesis that some tasks used in assessing pitch discrimination ability may instead by assessing children's ability to deal with relational language. Five tasks were given to 36 normal children who were equally divided into three age groups, six to six and one-half years, seven to seven and one-half years, and eight to eight and one-half years of age. Task 1 involved a training procedure to assess the children's ability to hear the differences in the pitch of two tones, which were an octave apart. A simple motor response was required. Task 2 assessed the children's ability to label these tones as high or low. Task 3 assessed their ability to compare two tones and label the second as higher or lower than the first. Task 4 examined their ability to label as high or low the position of a man on a ladder. Task 5 examined their ability to compare the positions of two men on two ladders and say whether the second man was higher or lower than the first. Results indicated that children who make pitch discriminations as demonstrated by nearly perfect scores on Task 1 often fail to demonstrate those discriminations on tasks requiring relational language. A comparison of Tasks 2 and 3 to Tasks 4 and 5 suggests that children in the age range studied are less proficient in applying high-low and higher-lower to pitch than to spatial relations.

Child↗
PubMed2000

Harmonic partials facilitate pitch discrimination in humans: electrophysiological and behavioral evidence.

The effect of the spectral tone structure on pre-attentive and attentive pitch discrimination was investigated. The mismatch negativity (MMN) component was recorded from reading subjects to pitch changes of identical magnitude in pure tones with only one sinusoidal frequency component and in spectrally rich tones with two additional harmonic partials. In a separate condition, subjects were asked to indicate detection of pitch change by a button press. The MMN was elicited with a larger amplitude and shorter latency by change in spectrally rich tones than by change in pure tones. Furthermore, the subjects' behavioral responses were more accurate for spectrally rich tones than for sinusoidal tones. Together these data indicate that pre-attentive and attentive pitch discrimination is facilitated with spectrally rich sounds in comparison to pure sinusoidal tones.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Dual-electrode pitch discrimination with sequential interleaved stimulation by cochlear implant users.

Cochlear implant users may perceive intermediate place-pitches between those elicited by the individual electrodes when two electrodes are stimulated simultaneously or sequentially. This study examined pitch discrimination between adjacent electrodes using sequential dual-electrode stimulation in terms of the sensitivity index, d', which was obtained by adding d's from intermediate dual-electrode stimuli. Loudness was balanced for each tested pair and the intensities were roved. Twelve ears with the Nucleus 24 or Freedom implants demonstrated a wide range of d', from 0.7 to 9.6. "Virtual channels" can be implemented through nonsimultaneous stimulation, with comparable pitch discrimination to that observed with simultaneous stimulation.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1978

Pitch and pitch discrimination of broadband signals with rippled power spectra.

A random-interval pulse train or wide-band noise when delayed (tau) and added back to itself (cos+) produces a stimulus with a consinusoidally varying (or trippled) power spectrum. The spacing between the peaks in the spectrum is equal to the reciprocal of the delay (1/tau). If the stimulus is delayed and added back at 180 degrees phase reversal (cos-), then a cosinusoidally varying power spectrum is generated whose spectral peaks are separated by 1/tau, but whose peaks are displaced by 1/2tau relative to the power spectrum of the cos+ stimulus generated with the same day, tau. These stimuli yield a pitch, such that the pitch of the cos+ stimulus is equal to approximately 1/tau and the pitches of the cos- stimuli are equal to approximately 0.9/tau and 1.1/tau. These pitch matching results were studied using a variety of matching stimuli and conditions. Following the identification of the pitches, a method of limits and a same-different procedure were used to study the pitch discriminability of both the cos+ and cos- stimuli. Delays (tau) ranging from 1 to 10 ms were studied covering a pitch range of 90-1100 Hz. The pitch discriminations associated with the cos+ and cos- stimuli were essentially the same for both the random-interval pulse train and the wide-band stimuli. These pitch-discrimination results are compared to those associated with a periodic pulse train. The research is also discussed in terms of discriminations of delayed sounds in reverberant environments. These are consistent with assumptions concerning the autocorrelation of the rippled stimuli within the dominant frequency region for pitch perception.

Acoustics↗
PubMed1986

A psychophysical measure of pitch discrimination loss resulting from a frequency range constraint in European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris).

Earlier research (Hulse & Cynx, 1985) revealed that a number of species of songbirds acquired a pitch discrimination between rising and falling sequences in an arbitrarily defined training range of frequencies, but then failed to generalize the discrimination to new frequency ranges--a frequency range constraint. The two experiments here provide a psychophysical estimate of how pitch discrimination deteriorated in one species as sequences were stepped out from the training range. The gradient showing loss of discrimination was much sharper than would have been anticipated by stimulus generalization or the training procedures, and appeared unaffected by the removal of rising and falling frequency information. The frequency range constraint and its psychophysical properties have implications both for the analysis of birdsong and the study of animal cognition.

Animals↗