Subject: Re: effects of musical experience on pitch perception? From: "G. Robert Arrabito" <Robert.Arrabito@xxxxxxxx> Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2006 13:09:27 -0400Dear Bill, Thank you for your reply. The information you provided is of great help. regards, Rob At 10:28 AM 7/14/2006, Bill wrote: > > I am writing to get some input from the list that may help me > > interpret my data. Specifically, I recently ran a study that > > investigated the effect of timbre on pitch perception for two groups > >Rob, The attached paper should provide you with background for studying >effects of timbre on pitch perception, as well as training effects. > >Russo, F.A. & Thompson, W.F. (2005). An interval size illusion: Extra pitch >influences on the perceived size of melodic intervals. Perception & >Psychophysics, 67(4), 559-568. > >See also: > >Warrier, C. M., & Zatorre, R. J. (2002). Influence of tonal context and >timbral variation on perception of pitch. Perception & Psychophysics, 64, >198-207. > >Beal A.L. (1985): The skill of recognizing musical structures. Memory & >Cognition 13, 405-412. > >Bill Thompson > > > Dear list, > > > > I am writing to get some input from the list that may help me > > interpret my data. Specifically, I recently ran a study that > > investigated the effect of timbre on pitch perception for two groups > > of eight participants who had normal hearing: those who had formal > > experience playing a musical instrument (musicians), and those who > > had no formal experience playing a musical instrument > > (nonmusicians). Prior to participation in the experimental session, > > each participant was given a detailed demonstration of pitch and > > timbre, and then was evaluated in a training session that screened to > > ensure that he/she understood these attributes. A score of chance or > > better was required to proceed to the experimental session. I note > > that 7/15 (46.67% of the musicians failed the training procedure and > > 22/30 (73.33%) of the nonmusicians failed the training procedure. In > > analyzing my data, I found no statistical difference in performance > > between musicians and nonmusicians. I am thus wondering whether this > > might be due to my training procedure or whether pitch/timbre is an > > inherent "skill" regardless of any formal musical experience. (I > > acknowledge that studies have reported mixed outcomes on musical > > experience.) Any comments or suggestions for recommended reading > > that would help me put things into perspective would be greatly > appreciated. > > > > > > Regards, > > > > Rob > > > > -- > > Robert Arrabito > > Defence R&D Canada - Toronto > > 1133 Sheppard Avenue West > > P.O. Box 2000 > > Toronto, ON M3M 3B9 > > Canada > > > > phone: (416) 635-2033 > > CSN: 634-2033 > > fax: (416) 635-2013 > > e-mail: Robert.Arrabito@xxxxxxxx > > www.toronto.drdc-rddc.gc.ca > > > > > > --