Pitch-Matching Accuracy and Temporal Auditory Processing

Abstract

Introduction Pitch-matching refers to the ability to vocally reproduce an acoustic model in a corresponding tone to the presented sound. This ability, which is dependent on pitch perception ability, can vary among individuals, and some are not able to sing in the correct tune or discriminate differences between tones. Objective To correlate pitch-matching accuracy and auditory processing in individuals without musical training. Methods A Pitch-Matching Test (vocal reproduction of synthesized and human voice sounds) and two commercially available tests of auditory temporal processing (the Pitch Pattern Sequence Test and the Random Gap Detection Test) were administered to all participants. A total of 62 college students of both genders, aged between 18 and 35 years old, were divided into 2 groups, according to their performances in the Pitch-Matching Test (the accurate match group and the inaccurate match group). Results In the Pitch-Matching Test, both groups achieved better results when reproducing vocalized sounds. The accurate match group achieved a significantly higher pitch pattern sequence test performance. In the Random Gap Detection Test analysis, there were no differences between the two groups. The Pearson's chi-squared test showed a direct correlation between the Pitch-Matching Test and the Pitch Pattern Sequence Test. Conclusion The findings of this study suggest the existence of a significant relationship between temporal auditory processing and pitch-matching, through which accurate pitch-matching individuals perform better in the Pitch Pattern Sequence Test. Inaccurate pitch-matching individuals may be skilled at discriminating pitch, despite their poor performance in the Pitch-Matching Test.

Evaluation of Auditory Stream Segregation in Musicians and Nonmusicians

“…Greater attention would be paid by the musicians to the acoustic stimuli when compared with nonmusician peers. 13 Enhanced auditory abilities have also been reported in professional musicians in tasks involving auditory memory, 14,15 temporal processing 16,17 pitch discrimination [17][18][19][20] or auditory attention. 21 The results of the study also showed that there was a positive correlation between profile analysis threshold and the number of years of musical training.…”

Choir Singing Practice and Temporal Ordering in the Elderly

“…Therefore, it was necessary to reduce the number of presentations. Fadel et al 51 used the pitch matching test with a sequence of 10 sound tasks, the first 5 of which were synthesized sound and, the last 5, sound recordings of the vowel / u /, to assess the accuracy in the reproduction of sounds. They also applied the PPS with 10 items in each ear to be able to correlate the results of the 2 tests.…”

The Impact of Pitch on Tempo-Spatial Accuracy and Precision in Intercepting a Virtually Moving Ball

“…Likewise, for pitch it is known that it is a unitary attribute of auditory experience and that the cochlea of the inner ear performs the frequency analysis of sound (Licklider, 1951). Further, pitch influences sound localization processes (Kawashima & Sato, 2012;Mondor, Hurlburt, & Thorne, 2003) and thus impacts perceptual judgments (Bendor & Wang, 2005;Fadel et al, 2018). For instance, there is evidence that pitch is associated with height on the y axis (Walker, 1987) and does change movement parameters such as speed and amplitude (Küssner et al, 2014).…”