Pitch memory for music played backward: A perceptual learning study

1
Pitch memory for music played backward A
perceptual learning study
Nestor Matthews, Kristin M. Reardon, Megan
Loveland
Department of Psychology, Denison University,
Granville OH 43023 USA
Poster D40
Discussion
Background and Purpose
Experiment 1
Experiment 2
Our findings replicate Schellenberg and
Trehub (2003), showing that pitch memory is
precise for familiar melodies. The present
findings also show that pitch memory is above
chance for ecologically atypical timbres
(backward-played songs) despite a strong forward
superiority effect for familiar tunes. This
effect appears to be limited to melodies, as the
results from Experiment 2 show no significant
difference between the forward and backward
conditions for single notes. When using novel
melodies, results show direction specific
training effects either acoustically forward or
backward superiority effects can be generated
with training. Furthermore, participants appear
to use a melody-specific strategy as evidenced in
Exp3 by d values greater than zero for
overlapping delta-cent values in the two melodies.
Previous data indicate that non-musicians can
identify the original musical key of popular
tunes with precision1, and that musical
transients are cues to detecting differences in
timbre2- a subjective quality of pitch. The
present study explored the role of timbre when
learning a tunes original key.
Method
Exp.1 Participants listened to original version
excerpts of 4 popular tunes Mrs. Robinson,
Imagine, Ill Be There for You and Livin La
Vida Loca. Participants were then presented 160
pitch-altered excerpts to compare to the
original. Excerpts were played forward and
backward as well as with and without lyrics. Exp.
2 Participants made sharper/flatter judgments
about two separate piano tones3 played forward
and backward, and in 50 cent intervals higher and
lower than the original, with a maximum of 250
cents. Exp. 3 Melodies (see below) incorporating
the same tonalities as Exp. 2 were created, and
altered according to the same cent shifts, played
forward/backward. All participants were exposed
to pre and post sessions, but split into 2
statistically similar groups for training,
listening to either forward or backward excerpts
only. The task was the same as in Exp. 2.
Experiment 3
The Bottom Line
Non-musicians show a strong forward-superiority
effect when listening to familiar tunes, but can
acquire an acoustical backward-superiority effect
through training. Remarkably, performance is
above chance for ecologically atypical timbres in
both familiar and unfamiliar tunes. Results also
show that individuals use a melody-specific
strategy instead of a frequency-specific strategy
when learning a tunes original key.
References
1.Schellenberg Trehub (2003) PMID 12741751
2. Thayer, R.J. (1974). The effect of the
attack transient on aural recognition of
instrumental timbres. Psychology of Music, 2,
39-52. 3.Pantev, Oostenveld, Engelien, Ross,
Roberts, Hoke (1998) PMID 9572139
Melody X
http//www.denison.edu/matthewsn/percetpuallearni
ngmusicalkeycns2007.html
Melody Y