Abstract:

A number of studies have investigated memory for pitch and timbre using a tone discimination task [e.g., G. Starr and M. Pitt, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 102, 486--494 (1997)], where standard and comparison tones are separated by a retention interval filled with interference tones. These studies found same-dimension similarity to be the primary source of interference. However, the organizational structure of the tone sequence may also affect interference. The present project used two different tasks to evaluate the role of organization on interference in memory for pitch and timbre. The first task was identical to that of previous research. In the second task, listeners discriminated either the pitch or timbre of standard and comparison tones when the standard was presented as the sixth tone of an 11-tone sequence. In both tasks, sequences were constructed that varied the organizational structure of the sequences, while same-dimension similarity was kept constant. The organizational structure of the tone sequences was found to influence interference in both tasks, suggesting that factors other than same-dimension similarity disrupt memory.