Effect of repetition of standard and comparison tones on recognition memory for pitch.

Abstract

In all conditions, pitch recognition was required after a 4-sec. interval during which four other tones were played. The effects of including in the interpolated sequence a tone at the same pitch as the standard (S) or comparison (C) tone were investigated. When the S and C tones were identical in pitch, inserting in the interpolated sequence a tone at that pitch caused a reduction in errors. When the S and C tones differed in pitch, inserting a tone at the pitch of the S tone produced a reduction in errors and inserting a tone at the pitch of the C tone produced an increase in errors. Inserting one tone at the pitch of the S tone and another at the pitch of the C tone produced no significant change in errors, compared with the condition in which no tone at either pitch was included in the interpolated sequence. Several studies have been made of recognition memory for pitch when the tones to be compared are separated by a retention interval. Koester (1945) has demonstrated that memory for both loudness and pitch deteriorates with time, using the differential threshold (DL) as a measure of memory. Bachem (1954) found a continuing deterioration of pitch recognition up to a week, yet showing that we can maintain some sort of memory for an auditory stimulus over very long periods. Harris (1953) measured the DL with various interstimulus intervals (ISIs) under two conditions. When the standard tone was fixed at 1,000 cps, the DL was found to remain constant at around 4 cps for ISIs of up to 3.5 sec., with a decline of only .8 cps with an IS I of 15 sec. With a roving standard tone varying in frequency from 950 to 1050 cps, no increase in the