Helmholtz’s place theory failed to explain all pitch phenomena, prompting more complex models.

Evidence

For years, Helmholtz’s place theory of pitch perception was the dominant theory of pitch perception. However, modern experimentation has demonstrated that Helmholtz’s ideas, while elegant, have not been able to explain all pitch phenomena. These failings will be discussed in subsequent sections in this chapter. Because of failures of his model, more complex variants of the place model have been developed to explain the pitch of complex sounds. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1201

Categorization

• QUESTION: What specifically did modern experiments show that broke Helmholtz’s model? The chapter promises the failings ahead.