Perceptual integrality of major chord components

Abstract

In the present study, an accuracy, rather than a reaction time, version of the Garner paradigm was used to evaluate the integrality or separability of major chord components. Tuned (prototype, or P) and mistuned (nonprototype, or NP) sets of root position C-major triads were constructed by holding the C constant in all stimuli and varying the E and G frequencies in 2-and 4-Hzsteps. The P stimuli represent small systematic mistunings in the E and G notes relative to an equal-tempered C-major chord. The NP stimuli represent an equivalent range of frequency variation, but relative to a significantly out-of-tune C-major triad. In different experimental sessions, a same-different (AX) task was used to separately evaluate discrimination performance for the E and G frequencies as a function of whether the nontarget frequency (G or E) was fixed or varied in either a correlated or an orthogonal fashion (with the C frequency always held constant). Compared with a fixed baseline condition where only the target frequency changed, both chord components exhibited a significant redundancy gain in the correlated conditions and, to varying degrees, significant interference effects in the orthogonal condition, indicating that the chord components function largely in an integral fashion. Relative to the discrimination of G, discrimination of the E frequency was less influenced by variation in the nontarget (G) frequency, showing that attention, to some degree, could be selectively allocated to the E chord component. In addition, the results were consistent with previous findings that the functional prototype for the major chord category seems to act as a perceptual anchor, rather than as a magnet, and appears to be located in the physiologically defined area of just temperament, as opposed to the more experientially defined area of equal temperament.Historically, classes of speech and, to a lesser extent, music stimuli were often investigated from the perspective of absolute conceptualizations of categorical perception.' With the central assumption that perceptual categories were discrete (with only irrelevant variation within categories), studies tended to focus on the relationship between category boundary locations and heightened discriminability across the category boundary, with discriminability both expected and found to be reduced within categories. This early work is consistent with discrete categorization processes based on feature detectors, where perceptual differentiation is defined primarily in terms of the limits of feature activation, and thus, the category boundary. In contrast to early discrete feature-detector mechanisms, more recent concepts of categorization have been based on the use of prototypes or exemplars located within categories, thus shifting the focus of importance from the category boundary to the nature of perception within categories. Early research based directly or indirectly on discrete concepts of categorical perception could tell us very little about the nature of internal category structure...

Change detection in multi-voice music: The role of musical structure, musical training, and task demands.

“…This same integration, however, limited their ability to then determine the voice in which the error occurred. This conjecture fits with Sloboda's (1985, p. 170) proposal, as well as with data provided by Acker and Pastore (1996c) for chord mistunings, that listeners can often detect an error without being able to specify the voice in which it occurred, especially when the mistuning is in the middle voice.…”

Asymmetries in the Discrimination of Musical Intervals: Going Out-of-Tune Is More Noticeable Than Going In-Tune

“…Previous reports of perceptual anchors in music perception (Acker & Pastore, 1996;Acker et al, 1995, McFadden & Calloway, 1999 may also benefit from further examination. In each of these reports, the possibility of asymmetric performance was not examined.…”

“…Although the anchor hypothesis is the exact opposite of the magnet hypothesis, it provides a good explanation of response patterns observed in some music-perception experiments. For example, listeners find it easier to detect the mistuning of one tone in a major chord (a musical prototype) than an identical mistuning in a nonprototypic chord (Acker & Pastore, 1996;Acker et al, 1995;McFadden & Calloway, 1999). McFadden and Calloway propose that such response patterns are indicative of enhanced discrimination for "commonly encountered" stimuli (compared to stimuli that are encountered less frequently), which may generalize widely across the auditory domain.…”

Absolute Judgment of Musical Interval Width

“…A trichord is a musical structure of three tones, in which the lowestand highest-frequency tones are separated by a 700-cent interval, or perfect fifth, and a third ''middle'' tone is located between the other two. Interval comparisons were generated by varying the middle tone, because a trichord's middle tone is the most salient to its identity (Acker & Pastore, 1996). Trichords were used, rather than two-tone intervals, because trichords have been explicitly observed to function as categorical prototypes, exhibiting either magnet or anchor effects depending on the manner of their presentation and a listener's level of musical experience (Barrett, 1999).…”