Absolute memory for popular songs is predicted by auditory working memory ability

Abstract

While most individuals do not possess absolute pitch (AP)—the ability to name an isolated musical note in absence of a reference note—they do show some limited memory for absolute pitch of melodies. For example, most individuals are able to recognize when a well-known song has been subtly pitch shifted. Presumably, individuals are able to select the correct absolute pitch at above-chance levels because well-known songs are frequently heard at a consistent pitch. In the current studies, we ask whether individual differences in absolute pitch judgments for people without AP can be explained by general differences in auditory working memory. Working memory capacity has been shown to predict the perceptual fidelity of long-term category representations in vision; thus, it is possible that auditory working memory capacity explains individual differences in recognizing the tuning of familiar songs. We found that participants were reliably above chance in classifying popular songs as belonging to the correct or incorrect key. Moreover, individual differences in this recognition performance were predicted by auditory working memory capacity, even after controlling for overall music experience and stimulus familiarity. Implications for the interaction between working memory and AP are discussed.