Greater interval variance in tone patterns impairs relative pitch detection

Evidence

The effect of variance in interval range (contrasting block 7 with the average of blocks 4 and 6) was significant (t = 3.20, p = 0.002). The more detailed trial-level correlation analysis showed performance correlated negatively with the variance of the pattern intervals (correlation coefficient = ‑0.336, p < 0.001). There was no significant correlation between the magnitude of the final interval and performance (correlation coefficient ‑0.298, p = 0.147). Posthoc multiple comparison analysis showed performance for musically important final intervals (perfect fourth and fifth, 5 and 7 semitones, respectively) was significantly lower than that for 1 semitone. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5312

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to work on working memory load and melodic contour processing — more variable patterns tax the comparisons holding the reference interval.