Pitch perception corresponds to peaks in the autocorrelation function

Evidence

If pitch is not determined by periodicity, perhaps then by autocorrelation? Now we are getting somewhere. The first major peak in the autocorrelation after the ever-present peak at time 0 in the preceding example occurs at 0.00956 second, which corresponds to 104.6 Hz. If sounds resolve into several distinct pitches, these will have corresponding peaks in the autocorrelation. Pitch is associated with something more important than the presence or absence of a single partial: its tendency to repeat itself at given intervals. The generalization of this concept to sounds that are not strictly periodic is the autocorrelation function. Periodic signals will always have peaks at multiples of the period that mirror the peak at time zero. The analogs of such periodicity are peaks in the autocorrelation of nonperiodic signals. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2033

The dramatic change from a 200 Hz pitch to a 50 Hz pitch after adding partials no lower than 250 Hz was accompanied by a shift in the first large peak in the autocorrelation from 5 ms to 20 ms—that is, the inverse of 200 Hz and 50 Hz, respectively. The 50 Hz pitch was heard in the absence of the first three partials—namely, 50, 100, and 150 Hz. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2072

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces autocorrelation as the quantitative machinery linking pitch perception to a signal’s self-similarity at time lags.
• XREF: Connects to chapter 3.9 on the periodicity of partial combinations (referenced in text) — the same mathematical toolkit generalizes beyond strictly periodic tones. — connects to: Sharp spectral peaks, not narrow gaps, drive strong pitch perception; Impulse velocity response serves as a ready-made autocorrelation; Pitch is a human synthesis keyed to autocorrelation, not pure physics (+19 more)
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2033; Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2072

Broader Connections

• Autocorrelation models explain pitch and can separate concurrent vowel sounds differing in fundamental frequency #expands (0.90) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1658
• Qualitative pitch mirrors the qualitative nature of autocorrelation peaks #expands (0.88)
• Autocorrelation predicts perceived pitch of non-harmonic partial groups #expands (0.85)
• Autocorrelation predicts pitch yet met lukewarm reception #responds-to (0.78) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2085
• Pitch perception involves both spectral and temporal representations of sound #expands (0.75) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4638