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Re: Absolute pitch discussion

Dear Henkjan and list:

..... Schellenberg and Trehub (2003) find support for a normal, not
bimodal, distribution once pitch-naming or reproduction requirements are
eliminated and familiar materials (such as soundtracks of tv
programs) are used.


I agree that this paper reports very useful data, which support earlier
evidence for precognitive absolute pitch (AP) as a general human trait.
However the performance in memory of pitch level of popular TV soundtracks
was only slightly above chance level. This observation indicates that the
underlying memory substrate is not the same as in the AP skill of tone
naming.

We appear to have two different phenomena:

A: A moderately precise memory for pitch that can be learned by adults and
that shows normal distribution of performance in a tested group.

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9280.03432

AND

B: A highly precise memory for pitch that cannot be learned by adults and
that shows bimodal (all-or-nothing) distribution of performance in a tested
group.

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/0703868104v1


Martin

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Martin Braun
Neuroscience of Music
S-671 95 Klässbol
Sweden
web site: http://w1.570.telia.com/~u57011259/index.htm




----- Original Message ----- From: "Henkjan Honing" <honing@xxxxxx>
To: <AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 5:37 PM
Subject: Re: Absolute pitch discussion


The PNAS paper suggests a genetic basis for AP, but actually does not
present any evidence for this. Awaiting this evidence, others —not
cited in this paper— have argued and shown that it is more likely 1)
a result of training (e.g., Vitouch, 2003), or 2) simply a result of
biases due to the task and stimuli used. For example, Schellenberg
and Trehub (2003) find support for a normal, not bimodal,
distribution once pitch-naming or reproduction requirements are
eliminated and familiar materials (such as soundtracks of tv
programs) are used.

hh

[1] http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/mp.2003.21.1.111
[2] http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9280.03432

__________________________________________________

Dr H. Honing
Universiteit van Amsterdam
http://www.hum.uva.nl/mmm/hh/

Music Matters: http://www.musiccognition.nl/blog
__________________________________________________