Perceived pitch persists even when the matching frequency partial is absent

Evidence

The key point is not to confuse pitch with presence of a partial at the frequency of the perceived pitch. Create the tone 200+400+600+800 Hz, in Fourier or Partials, and then raise and lower the amplitude of the 200 Hz partial, all the way to zero. Concentrate on what a 200 Hz partial sounds like, and try to hear it when it is at zero amplitude. You won’t hear that partial, but you will hear the 200 Hz pitch. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2064

Categorization

• DEFINE: Sharply distinguishes the concept of pitch from that of a physical partial at the pitch frequency.
• XREF: connects to: Highest common factor of partials encodes perceived pitch — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 857