Abstract
Sets of recycled sequences of four successive tones were presented in all six possible orders to untrained listeners. For pitches within the musical range, recognition (as measured by matching of any unknown order with an array of permuted orders of the same tones) could be accomplished as readily for tonal durations and frequency separations outside the limits employed for melodic construction as inside these limits. Identifying or naming of relative pitches of successive tones was considerably more difficult than matching for these tonal sequences, and appeared to follow different rules based upon duration and upon frequency separation. Use of frequencies above the pitch limits for music (4,500 Hz and above) resulted in poor performance both for matching and naming of order. Introduction of short silent intervals between items was without effect for both tasks. Naming of order and pattern recognition appear to reflect different basic processes, in agreement with earlier formulations based on experiments with phonemic sequences of speech and sequences of unrelated sounds (hisses, tones, buzzes). Special characteristics of tonal sequences are discussed, and some speculations concerning music are offered.
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Warren, R. M.Temporal resolution of auditory events. Mimeographed copy of paper presented at a symposium at the American Psychological Association, Summer 1972.
Neisser, U.On the perception of auditory sequence. Mimeographed copy of paper presented at a symposium at the American Psychological Association, Summer 1972.
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The research was supported by grants both from the National Science Foundation (GB-26459 and GB-36986X) and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Graduate School to the first author, and by a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee postdoctoral fellowship to the second author.
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Warren, R.M., Byrnes, D.L. Temporal discrimination of recycled tonal sequences: Pattern matching and naming of order by untrained listeners. Perception & Psychophysics 18, 273–280 (1975). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03199374
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03199374