FDL findings compromise a purely temporal account of low-frequency pitch.

Evidence

Next, we consider the temporal code as a potential mechanism for pitch perception of pure tones at low frequencies. Some data sets are encouraging for the temporal code, but not all data are in robust support. The strong perceptions of pitch of low-frequency tones, in contrast to the weak perceptions at high frequencies, suggest that the same code is not responsible for pitch perception in both low and high frequencies. Given that we just concluded that the place model is supported for the pitch of high-frequency tones, perhaps the temporal code is more active for low-frequency tones. Notably, FDLs are not correlated with measures of frequency selectivity, providing an indication of a failure of the place model (Moore & Peters, 1992). However, there are some issues with a temporal account of pitch perception at low frequencies. The finding that FDLs depend on stimulus level appear to contradict a purely temporal code, and the lowering of pitch with increasing intensity also poses some problems for a purely temporal interpretation. The degree or rate of phase locking does not depend on intensity; rather it is the synchrony across channels. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1278

Categorization

• XREF: The phase-locking constancy across intensity relates to earlier temporal coding chapter detail about firing synchrony.