Accuracy of same/different judgments of sequences of complex tones differing in tonal order under various levels of fundamental frequency range, listener training, and type of standard sequence

Abstract

Same/different judgments of sequences of complex tones differing in tonal order were obtained so that the relationship of performance to the range among the sequential tones’ fundamental frequencies could be measured. Frequency range was defined as the difference between the mean of the two higher fundamental frequencies and the mean of the two lower fundamental frequencies which alternated with them; strengths and weaknesses of this measure are discussed. Data were taken from naive and trained listeners using fixed and random standards. Performance declined as frequency range increased. The performance of listeners trained with a variable standard and in a single condition of the study improved only at the narrowest frequency range; with a fixed standard, this training yielded improvements at a wider frequency range. The performance of listeners trained with a variable standard and in all the conditions improved at the narrow and moderate frequency ranges; with a fixed standard, this training yielded the highest levels of performance measured in each frequency range. The results are discussed in terms of subdivided temporal compounds, auditory attention, and memory for sequences.