Rapid pattern detection rests on memory for absolute pitch rather than relative pitch relationships

Evidence

Most people easily recognise well known melodies even when they are transposed to a different key. The invariant property of transposed melodies is the preserved pitch ratio relationship between notes of the melody; i.e. pitch intervals of the melody remain the same despite changes in absolute pitch. For this reason, it is assumed that the ability to recognise pitch relationships (relative pitch perception) is rather robust and commonly found in the population. Recognition of preserved pitch interval patterns irrespective of absolute pitch is an auditory example of translation-invariant object perception (Kubovy and Van Valkenburg 2001 ; Griffiths and Warren 2004 ; Winkler et al. 2009 ). — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5265 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Relative pitch perception resists explanation by invariant interval ratios — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5327; Recognizing interval patterns fails when tested on transposed melodic deviants; Exact repetition allows direct pitch comparison whereas transposition forces interval processing (+3 more)

Related

• Relative pitch recognition is an auditory case of translation-invariant object perception (similarity 0.94)
• Exact repetition allows direct pitch comparison whereas transposition forces interval processing (similarity 0.92)
• Melody recognition survives transposition because pitch intervals, not absolute pitches, are encoded (similarity 0.92)
• Relative pitch perception is more limited than commonly assumed (similarity 0.88)
• Relative pitch perception resists explanation by invariant interval ratios (similarity 0.88)
• Neural detection of transposed melodies coexists with surprisingly poor explicit interval recognition (similarity 0.86)
• Even trained musicians have great difficulty detecting deviant melodic patterns under transposition (similarity 0.84)
• Neonates detect transposed pattern violations while adult interval discrimination stays surprisingly poor (similarity 0.82)
• Western music’s privileged intervals show no perceptual detection advantage (similarity 0.82)
• Large melodic intervals and multiple transpositions each independently impair deviant detection. (similarity 0.81)
• Listeners cannot use a repeated pattern as a template for transposed comparisons (similarity 0.81)
• Rapid pattern detection does not support transposition comparison across versions (similarity 0.80)
• Interval patterns are recognized by relative pitch relations, not absolute frequencies (similarity 0.80)
• Perfect pitch works by matching autocorrelation peaks between heard sound and remembered notes (similarity 0.80)
• Exact repetition outperforms transposed interval matching in pattern detection (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Relative pitch recognition is an auditory case of translation-invariant object perception #contradicts (0.80) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5265