Physiological coding of frequency does not by itself explain perceived pitch.

Evidence

Physiological evidence also supports these two codes, as we now know that the auditory system contains place and temporal representations of the frequency and fundamental frequency in the auditory periphery. Yet, a physiological representation does not automatically infer a psychological representation. Thus, we must discuss psychoacoustic data in light of the physiological data in order to fully understand the perception of pitch. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1196

One of the earliest versions of the place theory suggests that the pitch of a sound corresponds to the place stimulated by the lowest-frequency component in the sound, which is f0 (Method 1 above). The assumption underlying this is that f0 is always present in sounds, and the theory was encapsulated by Ohm in his second or “acoustical” law: “a pitch corresponding to a certain frequency can only be heard if the acoustic wave contains power at that frequency.” … This theory came under close scrutiny when it became possible to carry out experiments in which sounds could be synthesized with known spectra. Schouten (1940) demonstrated that the pitch of a pulse wave remained the same when the fundamental component was removed, thus demonstrating (i) that f0 did not have to be present for pitch perception and (ii) that the lowest component present is not the basis for pitch perception because the pitch does not jump up by one octave (since the second harmonic is now the lowest component after f0 has been removed). This experiment has become known as “the phenomenon of the missing fundamental” and suggests that Method 1 cannot account for human pitch perception. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 840

Categorization

• XREF: Mirrors the ‘physiology vs perception’ gap discussed in auditory masking and loudness chapters; also the general lab-to-real-world problem in hearing science. — connects to: Perceived musical qualities like ascending notes reside in experience, not sound waves — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 144; Highest common factor of partials encodes perceived pitch — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 857; Pitch perception is explained by two competing physiological models of the inner ear — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 892
• DEFINE: Defines the missing fundamental phenomenon, a core psychoacoustic concept central to the reader’s goal.
• QUESTION: Why does the auditory system maintain the same pitch when f0 is removed — is this a learned pattern-completion mechanism?
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1196; David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 840