Categorical perception revisited, yet again: Frequency and frequency ratio resolution by “possessors” and other musicians

Abstract

Macmillan et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 84, 1262–1280 (1988)] recently demonstrated the advantages gained by applying experimental techniques and analyses derived from a model of intensity resolution to the phenomenon of categorical perception of speech. In this paper, the application of these techniques to both the perception of musical intervals (frequency ratios) by musicians with relative pitch, and the perception of frequency by musicians with absolute pitch is discussed. The results suggest that the perception of frequency ratios by musicians differs from perception along most unidimensional psychophysical continua (characterized by the “7 ± 2” principle) in two ways. First, identification resolution for frequency ratios is much better than for stimuli along 7 ± 2 continua. Second, musical interval perception seems to be a case of ideal categorical perception (as originally defined) in that musicians apparently can discriminate between two musical intervals only to the extent that they can differentially identify them. Although the identification resolution for frequency by absolute pitch possessors is much better than that of nonpossessors (whose identification resolution is consistent with the 7 ± 2 limitation), their discrimination resolution for frequency remains much better than their identification resolution. [Work supported by NIDCD.]