Zwicker tones support accurate musical interval matching like pure tones
Evidence
Subjects selected appropriate frequency ratios for ZTs, although the standard deviations of the adjustments were larger for the ZTs than for the equally salient sinusoids by a factor of 1.1–2.2. The results suggest that a musical pitch may exist in the absence of peripheral phase locking. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5392
In stage II, subjects adjusted a sinusoid to be a specified musical interval below the preceding reference tone. The musical intervals that had to be adjusted were a minor third (3 semitones down) and a perfect fifth (7 semitones down). In different sessions, the reference tone was either a ZT or a physically presented pure tone (PT). — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5406
In stage II, subjects adjusted the frequency of a sinusoid so that its pitch was a specified musical interval below that of either a preceding ZT or a preceding sinusoid (as determined in stage I). Subjects selected appropriate frequency ratios for ZTs, although the standard deviations of the adjustments were larger for the ZTs than for the equally salient sinusoids by a factor of 1.1–2.2. The results suggest that a musical pitch may exist in the absence of peripheral phase locking. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5392
Musical interval adjustments for the ZTs were somewhat more variable than for the matched PTs; the ratio of the SDs was between 1.1 and 2.2. Four univariate analyses of variance conducted separately on the data for each subject (using the SD of the logarithms of the individual adjusted frequencies within a given LEF or reference frequency as input data) showed that for three of the subjects the SDs were significantly larger for the ZT than for the PT conditions (with p < 0.01 for subjects 1 and 2, and p < 0.05 for subject 3). The number above each bar in Fig. 2 indicates the size of the representative SD for the PT condition in percent (ranging from 0.9‑1.5 %). The representative SD for the ZT condition ranged from 1.2‑2.5 %. By comparison, the SDs observed by Burns and Feth ( 1983 ) for the same musical interval adjustments were on average 1.2 % and 4.2 % for 1-kHz and 10-kHz 70-dB SPL reference tones, respectively. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5418
The number above each bar indicates the average number of trials (n-listen) for the PT condition. There were inter-individual differences in how many trials a subject needed on average to make a match. For example, in the PT conditions, subject 1 needed on average 7.6 trials while subject 3 needed on average 5.7 trials. However, n-listen was very similar for the two conditions, i.e. the ratio was very close to one. If anything, n-listen was very slightly lower for the ZTs than for the PT. This means that the achieved accuracy and reliability in the ZT conditions did not come at the cost of listening more often in the ZT than the PT conditions. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5408
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to debates about whether peripheral temporal coding (phase locking) is necessary for pitch — relevant to human cochlear implant pitch limits, where phase locking is absent. — connects to: Musically trained listeners judge ZT musical intervals accurately despite missing phase locking.; Zwicker tones produce no correlate in cochlear mechanical activity; Pitch of Zwicker tones is less precisely encoded than pure tones (+1 more)
- QUESTION: This experimental design tests whether a phantom auditory sensation (Zwicker tone) can be pitched relative to real tones — worth chasing how the results came out, since it bears on whether illusory pitches follow the same perceptual rules as physical ones.
- corroborated: 6 independent passages support this claim — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5392; Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5406; Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5418 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Zwicker tones matched in intervals nearly as reliably as pure tones.
#corroborates(0.95) - Pitch of Zwicker tones is less precisely encoded than pure tones
#qualifies(0.80)