Subject: Re: Effect of duration on pitch perception From: "William C. Treurniet" <wtreurniet(at)rogers.com> Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2005 10:07:06 -0400One would think that the ear architecture is ideal for parallel processing in the frequency domain. In that case, one would not expect f0 pitch to be discriminated more slowly than pure-tone pitch due to the additional neural processing. Rather, one could argue the converse. The complex f0 signal delivers more information in parallel within a given time interval than the pure-tone signal, so the discrimination should be faster. William Treurniet ----- Original Message ----- From: "Martin Braun" <nombraun(at)TELIA.COM> To: <AUDITORY(at)LISTS.MCGILL.CA> Sent: Friday, August 26, 2005 8:14 AM Subject: Re: [AUDITORY] Effect of duration on pitch perception > > There is a big difference between pure and complex tones, here. Pitch of the > latter is discriminated much faster. For example, a pitch of a complex tone > with a fundamental f0 = 100 Hz is perceived more than four times as fast as > the pitch of a pure-tone of 100 Hz (Patterson et al., 1983). The probable > reason is that cochlear and neural latencies decrease with frequency, which > means that harmonics provide earlier periodicity information for the pitch > detector than the fundamental. > > [By the way, these results should have been the ultimate death for all place > and pattern theories of pitch, because these theories necessarily imply that > f0 pitch should be discriminated slower than pure-tone pitch, due to the > additional neural processing. Well, it's just one of the many examples in > hearing research, where progress has been impeded for decades by massive > self-amputation.] > ---------------------------- > > Martin Braun > Neuroscience of Music > S-671 95 Klässbol > Sweden > web site: http://w1.570.telia.com/~u57011259/index.htm > >