Pitch Identification in Children and Adults: Naming and Discrimination

Abstract

Elementary school children and adults selected for significant pitch identification ability, so called "absolute pitch", were given two tasks to determine some of the characteristics of this skill. In a pitch-naming task, participants gave the note names for tones randomly selected from the chromatic scale either with a conventional piano or pure tone timbre. Naming accuracy was higher among the adults, on trials having the piano timbre, and for certain pitch categories (note names), reflecting more accurate identification of "white key" pitches. Analysis of errors indicated a strong bias towards certain pitch categories, again primarily the "white key" pitches, in both children and adults. Comparison subjects having similar musical training, but no absolute pitch, also showed these biases. In a pitch recognition task, participants were asked to detect additional exemplars of a target tone in an extended series of tones varying in pitch. While those with significant pitch naming skill were quite adept at this task as well, biases associated with pitch category were less apparent. These results suggest a distinction between pitch encoding and naming in those who excel in pitch identification.

References

Bachem, A. (1937). Various types of absolute pitch. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 9, 146-151.

Bachem, A. (1954). Time factors in absolute and relative pitch discrimination. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 26, 751-753.

Baird, J. W. (1917). Memory for absolute pitch. In: E. C. Sanford (Ed.), Studies in Psychology, Tichener Commemorative volume (pp. 43-78). Worcester, Ma: Wilson.

Block, L. (1983). Comparative tone-color responses of college music majors with absolute pitch and good relative pitch. Psychology of Music, 11, 59-66.

Cohen, A. and Baird, K. (1990). Acquisition of absolute pitch: the question of critical periods. Psychomusicology, 9, 31-37.

Deutsch, D. (1970). Tones and numbers: Specificity of interference in short-term memory. Science, 168, 1604-1605.

Halpem, A. (1989). Memory for the absolute pitch of familiar songs. Memory and Cognition, 17, 572-581.

Halpem, A. (1992). Musical aspects of auditory imagery. In: D. Reisberg (Ed.), Auditory Imagery (pp. 1-27). Hillsdale, NJ: LEA Associates.

Levitin, D. (1994). Absolute representation in auditory memory: evidence from the production of learned melodies. Perception and Psychophysics, 56, 414-423.

10.

Lockhead, G. R. and Byrd, R. (1981). Practically perfect pitch. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 70, 387-389.

11.

Miller, L. (1989). Musical Savants. Hillsdale, NJ: LEA Associates.

12.

Miyazaki, K. (1989). Absolute pitch identification: effects of timbre and pitch region. Music Perception, 7, 1-14.

13.

Miyazaki, K. (1990). The speed of musical pitch identification by absolute pitch possessors. Music Perception, 3, 175-186.

14.

Oakes, W. (1955). An experimental study of pitch naming and pitch discrimination reactions. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 86, 237-259.

15.

Schonberg, H. (1981). The lives of great composers. NY: Norton.

16.

Sergeant, D. (1969). Experimental investigation of absolute pitch. Journal of Research in Music Education, 1, 135-145.

17.

Siegel, J. A. (1974). Sensory and verbal coding strategies in subjects with absolute pitch. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 103, 37-44.

18.

Siegel, J. A. and Siegel, W. (1977). Absolute identification of notes and intervals by musicians. Perception and Psychophysics, 21, 143-152.

19.

Simpson, J. and Huron, D. (1994). Absolute pitch as a learned phenomenon: evidence consistent with the Hick-Hyman Law. Music Perception, 12, 267-270.

20.

Takeuchi, A. and Hulse, S. (1991). Absolute pitch judgments of black-and white-key pitches. Music Perception, 9, 27-46.

21.

Takeuchi, A. and Hulse, S. (1993). Absolute pitch. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 345-361.

22.

Ward, W. D. and Burns, E. (1982). Absolute pitch. In: D. Deutsch (Ed.), The psychology of music (pp. 431-451). New York: Academic Press.

23.

Winer, B. (1968). Statistical principles in experimental design. New York: McGraw-Hill.

24.

Zatorre, R. and Beckett, C. (1989). Multiple coding strategies in the retention of musical tones by possessors of absolute pitch. Memory and Cognition, 17, 582-589.