Pitch Dimensions Research Articles

An investigation into the physical, physiological and technical demands of small sided games using varying pitch dimensions in Gaelic football

ABSTRACTIntroduction: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of pitch size on the physical, physiological and technical demands of small-sided games (SSGs) in a sub-elite Gaelic football setting. Methods: Thirty-four sub-elite adult male Gaelic football players completed tailored Gaelic football SSGs on three different pitch sizes (40 x 20 m, 60 x 20 m, 80 x 20 m) in a 4v4 format, resulting in 312 individual player observations over the course of the 2018 season. Results: Participants performed significantly greater high-speed running (>17 km∙h−1) (p ≤ 0.001) and sprinting (>22 km∙h−1) (p ≤ 0.001) on the 60x20 m pitch compared to the 40x20 m and 80x20 m pitches. Pitch size had only trivial effects on the average heart rate and the peak heart rate recorded in games. Games played on the 40x20 m pitch resulted in more scores per team (p = 0.062; η2 = 0.071), no-score entries (p = 0.075; η2 = 0.067) and possessions per team (p = 0.015; η2 = 0.106), while ball-in-play percentage was moderately higher (p = 0.040; η2 = 0.082) on the 80x20 m pitch. Conclusion: Coaches should consider pitch size and the associated effects on physical and technical demands when planning training games, with specific reference to the stated objectives of each respective session.

Event-related brain potentials suggest a late interaction of pitch and time in music perception

Given the key role of pitch and time in the mental representation of music, the way the two dimensions combine is a crucial question in music cognition. In the present study, using electroencephalography (EEG), we manipulated both musical pitch and time structures and investigated how the two dimensions work together. Musicians were presented with eight-chord sequences, in which the last target chord was harmonically or temporally expected or unexpected based on the preceding contexts. ERP analysis showed that listeners track both dimensions as music unfolds in time. For the time dimension, irregular temporal events induced greater MMN than regular temporal events. For the pitch dimension, harmonically less-related chords revealed greater ERAN and N5 than harmonically related chords. Moreover, there was an interaction between musical pitch and time dimensions in the N5 effect. These results indicate that for music perception, pitch and time dimensions are processed independently at the early stage and interactively at the late stage.

Plasmon-coupled hybrid Fabry–Pérot cavity modes in submicron metal–dielectric–metal arrays for enhanced color filtering

We design and experimentally demonstrate micron- and submicron-sized color filters in the visible region using metal–dielectric–metal (MDM) Fabry–Perot cavity arrays. Large-area MDM filters (150 μm × 150 μm) of varying dielectric thicknesses show polarization-independent bandpass filtering of primary and secondary colors. The lateral dimensions of each cavity and the spacing between adjacent cavities are systematically reduced to study the possibility of using these color filters as Bayer filter arrays for color cameras. Up to micron-sized dimensions with micron-sized spacing between the adjacent MDM cavities, it is observed that the dominant mechanism for color filtering is Fabry–Perot effect. However, as the size and the pitch of the arrays of MDM are reduced further to the submicron length scale, polarization-dependent transmission is observed, and the dominant effect for color filtering is observed to be the leaked radiation from the grating-coupled plasmons. By keeping the pitch and lateral dimensions of MDM arrays fixed for plasmon resonance, the dielectric spacer thickness is systematically varied. Our electromagnetic simulations and microscopy-based imaging reveal that there exists a critical dielectric thickness for a specific cavity period, where the Fabry–Perot resonance and the Plasmons couple to each other and exhibit a high transmittivity. However, at other dielectric thicknesses, two weaker transmission peaks corresponding to decoupled modes; one corresponding to Fabry–Perot effect and the other corresponding to the signature of grating-coupled plasmons are present. Such MDM filter arrays can act as polarization-insensitive Bayer filters, as well as current-drawing contacts of multispectral imaging sensors with pixel sizes and separations, each up to a micron. With the pixel sizes in submicron regime, the integrated color filters with photodiodes may be useful for polarization-sensitive color imaging and surface sensors.

On the Relative Nature of (Pitch-Based) CrossmodalCorrespondences.

This review deals with the question of the relative vs absolute nature of crossmodal correspondences, with a specific focus on those correspondences involving the auditory dimension of pitch. Crossmodal correspondences have been defined as the often-surprising crossmodal associations that people experience between features, attributes, or dimensions of experience in different sensory modalities, when either physically present, or else merely imagined. In the literature, crossmodal correspondences have often been contrasted with synaesthesia in that the former are frequently said to be relative phenomena (e.g., it is the higher-pitched of two sounds that is matched with the smaller of two visual stimuli, say, rather than there being a specific one-to-one crossmodal mapping between a particular pitch of sound and size of object). By contrast, in the case of synaesthesia, the idiosyncratic mapping between inducer and concurrent tends to be absolute (e.g., it is a particular sonic inducer that elicits a specific colour concurrent). However, a closer analysis of the literature soon reveals that the distinction between relative and absolute in the case of crossmodal correspondences may not be as clear-cut as some commentators would have us believe. Furthermore, it is important to note that the relative vs absolute question may receive different answers depending on the particular (class of) correspondence under empirical investigation.

COMPARISON OF AEROBIC POWER AND CAPACITY BETWEEN ATHLETES FROM DIFFERENT SPORTS

ABSTRACT Introduction: Ergospirometry is a noninvasive procedure used to assess physical performance or the capacity of an individual, through an analysis of expired gases and respiratory variables. This procedure is crucially important in sports, and makes a significant contribution to the measurement of cardiorespiratory fitness indices, such as maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max) and the anaerobic threshold (AT). Objective: To assess aerobic capacity and potency in professional and junior soccer players, handball athletes, and women soccer players. Methods: Forty-eight athletes participated voluntarily and were divided into 4 groups. The first group consisted of 12 youth soccer players in the under-20 category, the second group was made up of 12 professional soccer players, the third group was made up of female soccer players, and the fourth group consisted of handball players. Results: We analyzed values such as peak VO2, average speed and heart rate at the anaerobic threshold as well as pulmonary ventilation. We found that the values were always greater for the group formed by professional soccer players, with the exception of mean maximum O2 consumption, in which the difference between this group and that of soccer players in the junior category was not significant. In other physical valences, there was a degree of similarity between the other groups, with special emphasis on pulmonary ventilation, which was significantly lower in the group of female soccer players. Conclusion: The particularities of each sport, such as pitch dimensions, duration, and tactical system, together with the morphology and sex of the athletes, directly influence peak VO2, AT and VE values in athletes who play different sports. Level of Evidence III; Development of diagnostic criteria in consecutive patients (with gold reference standard applied).

Design and implementation of low cost thrust benchmarking system (TBS) in application for small scale electric UAV propeller characterization

Thrust Benchmarking System (TBS), a low cost and easy to manufacture instrument for electric UAV propulsion system performance measurement is being proposed. With one of its uses for determining the static thrust of a propeller based on simple empirical characterization modeling. In this paper, characteristic modeling is performed on 3 APC-Electric propellers with different pitch and diameter dimensions. As a result, there are 2 constants K1 and K2 which can express similar propeller characteristics with different dimensions. It costs IDR 1.6 million and took two-and-a-half months of manufacture and assembly process.

Compressive spectral imaging system based on liquid crystal tunable filter.

Liquid crystal tunable filters (LCTF) are extensively used in hyperspectral imaging systems to successively acquire different spectral components of scenes by adjusting the center wavelength of the filter. However, the spectral and spatial resolutions of the imager are limited by the bandwidth of LCTF, and the pitch dimension of the detector, respectively. This paper applies compressive sensing principles to improve both of the spatial and spectral resolutions of the LCTF-based hyperspectral imaging system. An accurate transmission model of the LCTF is used to represent its bandpass filtering effects on the spectra. In addition, a random coded aperture placed behind the LCTF is used to modulate the spectral images in the spatial domain. Then, the three-dimensional encoded spectral images are projected onto a two-dimensional detector. Benefiting from the spectral-dependent transmission property of the LCTF, information of the entire spectrum is collected by a few snapshots using different center wavelengths of the LCTF. Super-resolution hyperspectral images can be reconstructed from a small set of compressive measurements by solving a convex optimization problem. Simulations and experiments show that the proposed method can effectively improve the spectral and spatial resolutions of traditional LCTF-based spectral imager without changing the structures of the LCTF and detector. Finally, a multi-channel spectral coding method is proposed to further increase the compression capacity of the system.

On the uncertainty principle for the pitch of brief tones

Many experiments have shown that the ability of human listeners to discriminate the frequencies of brief tones can violate the wave uncertainty principle that applies to linear systems. Several observations can be made: (1) Experiments that associate the duration of the tone envelope, or the second central moment of the squared envelope, with temporal uncertainty are consistent with the application of the energy-time principle in non-relativistic quantum mechanics. (2) The role of echoic memory in confounding the definition of duration can be avoided by immediately following the target tone to be judged by a tone of different frequency. (3) Whereas the uncertainty principle relates well-defined conjugate variables, such as time and frequency, listeners in psychoacoustical experiments may benefit from comparisons in both the pitch dimension (coding frequency) and a timbral dimension associated with the spectral distribution of energy. The latter provides additional information that is outside the context for the uncertainty principle. Its influence can be reduced by experiments in which the listener compares target tones having different brief durations. When these considerations are applied, it is found that human listeners still beat the uncertainty principle, but not as impressively.

Acoustic-phonetic consequences of clear speech in Cantonese vowels and lexical tones

In adverse communicative contexts, speakers will modify their speech style to enhance intelligibility, which can involve a range of acoustic and articulatory adjustments. Prior work has focused on the influence of speaking style on spectral (e.g., vowel space expansion) and temporal distinctions (e.g., voice-onset time). Thus, this study investigated the extent to which such adjustments extend to the pitch dimension, namely lexical tone. Ten native Cantonese speakers were recorded producing five monosyllables with six Cantonese tones embedded in sentence contexts in both clear and conversational speaking styles. Acoustic analyses revealed that speakers produced two distinct styles, with longer vowel durations and greater vowel dispersion in clear relative to conversational speech. However, with regards to lexical tone production, the results indicated only a marginal re-adjustment of tones within the tone space as a result of clear speech. Specific contour tones, such as the low- and high-rising tones, saw increases in their F0 offset. However, mean F0, F0 range and tonal dispersion did not differ substantially between styles. These findings indicate that speakers maintain tonal stability across speaking styles, suggesting that, relative to segments, lexical tones may not be prioritized as phonological contrasts vital to enhance the overall intelligibility of the utterance.

Four-dimensional calibration turntable of the motional Stark effect diagnostic on EAST.

The motional Stark effect (MSE) diagnostic is applied to measure the safety factor q and current density profile of a tokamak device, which are important parameters in realizing the high-performance and long-pulse steady state of a tokamak. A single-channel MSE diagnostic based on dual photoelastic modulators, whose sightline meets with the neutral beam injection at a major radius of R = 2.12 m, has been built for the D window of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). According to the requirements of MSE diagnostic polarimetric calibration, a high-precision four-dimensional calibration turntable, driven by four stepping motors and controlled by software running on the computer, was designed for EAST. The turntable allows us to rapidly calibrate the MSE diagnostic in a series of positions and angles during EAST maintenance. The turntable can move in four dimensions of translation, yaw, pitch, and roll of the polarizer and can create linearly polarized light at any given angle with accuracy of ∼0.05° for the MSE system offline calibration. The experimental results of the MSE diagnostic calibration in the laboratory show that the turntable has the advantages of high positioning accuracy, flexible spatial movement, and convenient control and fully meets the calibration requirements of an MSE diagnosis system.

GEM detector performance with innovative micro-TPC readout in high magnetic field

Gas detector development is one of the pillars of the research in fundamental physics. Since several years, a new concept of detectors, called Micro Pattern Gas Detector (MPGD), allowed to overcome several problems related to other types of commonly used detectors, like drift chamber and micro strips detectors, reducing the rate of discharges and providing better radiation tolerance. Among the most used MPGDs are the Gas Electron Multipliers (GEMs). Invented by Sauli in 1997, nowadays GEMs have become an important reality for particle detectors in high energy physics. Commonly deployed as fast timing detectors and triggers, their fast response, high rate capability and high radiation hardness make them also suitable as tracking detectors. The readout scheme is one of the most important features in tracking technology. Analog readout based on the calculation of the center of gravity technique allows to overcome the limit imposed by digital pads, whose spatial resolution is limited by the pitch dimensions. However, the presence of high external magnetic fields can distort the electronic cloud and affect the performance. The development of the micro-TPC reconstruction method brings GEM detectors into a new prospective, improving significantly the spatial resolutionin presence of high magnetic fields. This innovative technique allows to reconstruct the 3-dimensional particle position, as Time Projection Chamber, but within a drift gap of a few millimeters. In these report, the charge centroid and micro-TPC methods are described in details. We discuss the results of several test beams performed with planar chambers in magnetic field. These results are one of the first developments of micro-TPC technique for GEM detectors, which allows to reach unprecedented performance in a high magnetic field of 1 T.

A Jersey Reverie on <em>New York Notes</em>

A SERIES OF OPENINGS: BROWN, MARTINO, AND WUORINEN RICHARD HERMANN NTRIGUED BY JOSEPH STRAUS’S BOOK on serialism in the United States, I examined aspects of the earlier phase of serial composition.2 Here I consider openings of three early piano works by Earle Brown, Perspectives (1952); Donald Martino, Piano Fantasy (1958); and Charles Wuorinen, Piano Variations (1963).2 In spite of some similarity for that day’s listener of surface intervallic combinations, temporal features, and gestures that were common for avant-garde composers of that generation, each composer took a different path. Here I explore how such similar sounding works at that time are truly radically different. Comparing work proximate in medium, time and place also clarifies both technical and aesthetic premises and accomplishments. While Straus mentions Cage’s quasi-serial durational plans and study with Schoenberg, Feldman’s study with Riegger and Wolpe as well as his “regulatory schemes” starting in the late 1970s, and Wolff’s careful study of Webern under Cage’s guidance, there is no mention of serialism’s influence upon Brown.3 Brown writes: There are three works composed in Denver just before composing Folio: Three Pieces for Piano, 1951; Music for Violin, Cello, and Piano, I 68 Perspectives of New Music which was also 1951, I believe; and Perspectives for Piano, 1952. All three of these works are technically based on Schillinger principles of generative units and cellules, rhythmic groups, and so forth. . . . The title of the piece, Perspectives, suggests that it’s oriented around a visual kind of parallel with conception and listening. The “perspectives” are of a relatively small amount of material, but the material is seen from many different angles—as one can look at a mobile from many different angles and see different relationships of the units. . . .4 Let us examine the opening of Perspectives with his thought in mind. * * * Medium and large cardinality set-classes (hereafter scs) have few repetitions. Various kinds of pitch-class (hereafter pc) networks yield quite limited information. Strings of pcs of cardinality 5 or more do not seem to reproduce series of ordered pc-intervals. Although there is a constant turnover of the chromatic, the pcs completing an aggregate do not seem to fall in special or expected places at the ends of phenomenally well-articulated segments. Let us start by examining the opening’s “small amount of material” in the pitch and pc dimension as Brown’s comments suggest. Example 1 is the opening three systems of Brown’s Perspectives displaying my “time signatures” and segmentations with their durations.5 These are full of dyadic and triadic details. In Hanninen’s terms, I indicate change or a disjunction orientation for the sonic domain with the following articulators, given here as lower case letters in italics: a = articulation, d = density (no. of simultaneously attacking pitches), l = length (duration), p = pedal, r = register, v = volume, and s = sound or silence (the lone toggle in this list).6 Vertical lines of various kinds through systems suggest relative strength of segmentation boundaries in increasing importance: dotted, dashed, solid-thin, and solid-thick.7 I made no attempt to scale these variables as this rough calculus is sufficient for my purposes at present; certainly, some sonic segmentations will have a degree of subjective interpretation too. For visual clarity, sub-segments within each segment are usually not marked. Example 2 considers pitch and pc segments; unless otherwise designated , dotted or dashed lines or enclosures indicate weaker segments or foreshadowing. Interval-class (hereafter ic) 1 receives significant emphasis at the very start in the first segment; see Example 2a. By the end of segment 1, ic 3 comes to the fore; see Example 2b. Ic 4 is foreshadowed in Example 2c, and that suggests an initial hierarchy of A Series of Openings: Brown, Martino, and Wuorinen 69 ics via ubiquity. They are listed from most to least prominent: 1, 3, 4, and 2; ics 5 and 6 are relatively equally deemphasized at this point. The three most prominent ics appear as members of scs 3-2 [013] and 3-3 [014] as shown in Example 2d; ic 2 is deemphasized in these realizations. Segments 3-5 (Example 2e) documents...

Musical pitch classes have rainbow hues in pitch class-color synesthesia

Synesthesia, an anomalous blending of senses in which stimulation of one sensory modality produces sensation in a different modality, provides a unique opportunity to study how multimodal information is represented in the human brain. We investigated how pitch classes (do, re, mi, etc.) are associated with the three dimensions of color (hue, saturation, and value/brightness) in 15 subjects who possessed “pitch class-color synesthesia”. Across-subject averaging of reported colors revealed that pitch classes have rainbow hues, beginning with do-red, re-yellow, and so forth, ending with si-violet, accompanied by a decrease in saturation. Enharmonic pitch classes that referred to the same pitch class with a different name produced color sensations according to the name of the base pitch class, e.g., a reddish color for do-sharp and a yellowish color for re-flat. Thus the main factor producing color sensations was the name, not the sound, of the note; behavioral experiments corroborated this interpretation. Pitch class-color synesthesia represents a newly described type of synesthesia that is distinct from the well-known crossmodal association between pitch height and value/brightness. Findings suggest that the two dimensions of musical pitch, pitch class and pitch height, are mapped to the hue-saturation plane and the value/brightness dimension of color, respectively.

Systematic Adjustment of Pitch and Particle Dimensions within a Family of Chiral Plasmonic Gold Nanoparticle Single Helices.

Systematically controlling the assembly architecture within a class of chiral nanoparticle superstructures is important for fine-tuning their chiroptical properties. Here, we report a family of chiral gold nanoparticle single helices, varying in helical pitch and nanoparticle dimensions, that is assembled using a series of peptide conjugate molecules Cx-(PEPAuM-ox)2 (PEPAuM-ox = AYSSGAPPMoxPPF; x = 16-22). We demonstrate that the aliphatic tail length (i) can be used as a handle to systematically tune the helical pitch from 80 to 130 nm; and (ii) influences the size, shape, and aspect ratio of the component nanoparticles. Certain members of this family of materials exhibit intense plasmonic chiroptical activity. These studies highlight the multiple levels of structural control that can be achieved within a class of chiral nanoparticle superstructures via careful design and selection of peptide conjugate precursor.

The effects of large-sided soccer training games and pitch size manipulation on time–motion profile, spatial exploration and surface area: Tactical opportunities

Analysis of the physical, technical and physiological variations induced through the use of different soccer game formats have been widely discussed. However, the coaching justification for the specific use of certain game formats based on individual and collective spatial awareness is unclear. As a result, the purpose of this study was to analyze 11 versus 11 game formats conducted across two pitch sizes (half-size: 54 m × 68 m vs full-size: 108 m × 68 m) to identify effects of time–motion profiles, individual exploration behavior and collective organization. A total of 10 amateur soccer players from the same team (23.39 ± 3.91 years old) participated in this study. Data position of the players was used to calculate the spatial exploration index and the surface area. Distances covered in different speeds were used to observe the time–motion profile. The full-size pitch dimensions significantly contributed to greater distances covered via running (3.86–5.52 m s−1) and sprinting (>5.52 m s−1). Total distance and number of sprints were also significantly greater in the full-size pitch as compared to the half-size pitch. The surface area covered by the team (half-size pitch: 431.83 m2 vs full-size pitch: 589.14 m2) was significantly larger in the full-size pitch condition. However, the reduced half-size pitch significantly contributed to a greater individual spatial exploration. Results of this study suggest that running and sprinting activities increase when large, full-size pitch dimensions are utilized. Smaller surface area half-size pitch contributes to a better exploration of the pitch measured by spatial exploration index while maintaining adequate surface area coverage by the team. In conclusion, the authors suggest that the small half-size pitch is more appropriate for low-intensity training sessions and field exploration for players in different positions. Alternatively, the large full-size pitch is more appropriate for greater physically demanding training sessions with players focused on positional tactical behavior.

Measurement of the Energy-Dependent Angular Response of the ARES Detector System and Application to Aerial Imaging

The Airborne Radiological Enhanced-sensor System (ARES) includes a prototype helicopter-borne CsI(Na) detector array that has been developed as part of the DHS Domestic Nuclear Detection Office Advanced Technology Demonstration. The detector system geometry comprises two pairs of 23-detector arrays designed to function as active masks, providing additional angular resolution of measured gamma rays in the roll dimension. Experimental measurements, using five radioisotopes (137Cs, 60Co, 241Am, 131I, and $^{99m}$ Tc), were performed to map the detector response in both roll and pitch dimensions. This paper describes the acquisition and analysis of these characterization measurements, calculation of the angular response of the ARES system, and how this response function is used to improve aerial detection and localization of radiological and nuclear threat sources.

The Influence of Pitch Size on Running Performance and Physiological Responses During Hurling-Specific Small-Sided Games.

The current study examined how the impact of pitch dimensions influences physiological and running performance during 4-minute small-sided games (SSGs). Twenty-four (n = 24) hurling players were monitored with global positioning system and heart rate monitors during the in-season training period. Total distance (in meters), high-speed running distance (in meters) (≥17 km·h), very high-speed running distance (≥22 km·h) (in meters), total accelerations (n), acceleration distance (in meters), and peak and mean velocity (in kilometers per hour) were calculated. Additionally, SSGs rate of perceived exertion (RPESSG; AU), % maximum heart rate, and individualized training impulse (iTRIMP; AU) were collected. The current results show that the manipulation of SSGs pitch size has an impact on the running performance and physiological responses. The data showed that SSGs played on large pitches (SSG80 × 20 m) had greater running demands than medium (SSG60 × 20 m) or small (SSG40 × 20 m) pitches, with significantly more distance covered in all movement categories. Total distance covered at high speed was 354 ± 111 m on a large pitch, 254 ± 72 m on a medium pitch, and 198 ± 62 m on a small pitch. Large pitch dimensions resulted in greater physiological and perceptual demands on players (higher %HRmax, iTRIMP [AU], and RPESSG [AU]) compared with medium and small pitches. The current data help applied practitioners to understand further how modifying different aspects of SSGs can alter the running and physiological responses of players. Moreover, applied practitioners now have consistent information to design and optimize their training time in mixing the physical, technical, and tactical elements within specific SSGs pitch dimensions.

Musical rhythm and pitch: A differential effect on auditory dynamics as revealed by the N1/MMN/P3a complex

Music represents a complex form of human cognition. To what extent our auditory system is attuned to music is yet to be clearly understood. Our principal aim was to determine whether the neurophysiological operations underlying pre-attentive auditory change detection (N1 enhancement (N1e)/Mismatch Negativity (MMN)) and the subsequent involuntary attentional reallocation (P3a) towards infrequent sound omissions, are influenced by differences in musical content. Specifically, we intended to explore any interaction effects that rhythmic and pitch dimensions of musical organization may have over these processes. Results showed that both the N1e and MMN amplitudes were differentially influenced by rhythm and pitch dimensions. MMN latencies were shorter for musical structures containing both features. This suggests some neurocognitive independence between pitch and rhythm domains, but also calls for further address on possible interactions between both of them at the level of early, automatic auditory detection. Furthermore, results demonstrate that the N1e reflects basic sensory memory processes. Lastly, we show that the involuntary switch of attention associated with the P3a reflects a general-purpose mechanism not modulated by musical features. Altogether, the N1e/MMN/P3a complex elicited by infrequent sound omissions revealed evidence of musical influence over early stages of auditory perception.

Pitch shape modulates the time course of tone vs pitch-accent identification in Mandarin Chinese

In Mandarin Chinese pitch is used to express both lexical meanings via tones and sentence-level meanings via pitch-accents raising the question of which information is processed first. While research with meaningful sentence materials suggested a general processing advantage of tone over pitch-accents, research on pure tones and nonce speech in pre-attentive processing found that the f0-shape led to timing and site processing differences. The current study reconciles these results by exploring whether the tone advantage found in meaningful speech materials is modulated by the f0-shape by establishing via a gating paradigm the relative timing of tone and pitch-accent identification. Target words containing static (T1) and dynamic (T2, T4) tones were embedded into meaningful sentences and were divided into 50 ms gates which were added incrementally either from the left- or right-edge of the target word. Results showed that dynamic targets had either a tone or pitch-accent advantage contingent on the direction of gate processing. In contrast, for static T1 targets, tone and pitch-accent were identified simultaneously regardless of the direction of gate processing. Altogether, these results indicate that the f0-shape, as defined by pitch dimensions of f0 and pitch range, mediates the timing of tone and pitch-accent identification in meaningful speech supporting highly interactive models of speech perception.

On the relation between pitch and level

Pitch is the perceptual dimension along which musical notes are ordered from low to high. It is often described as the perceptual correlate of the periodicity of the sound's waveform. Previous reports have shown that pitch can depend slightly on sound level. We wanted to verify that these observations reflect genuine changes in perceived pitch, and were not due to procedural factors or confusion between dimensions of pitch and level. We first conducted a systematic pitch matching task and confirmed that the pitch of low frequency pure tones, but not complex tones, decreases by an amount equivalent to a change in frequency of more than half a semitone when level increases. We then showed that the structure of pitch shifts is anti-symmetric and transitive, as expected for changes in pitch. We also observed shifts in the same direction (although smaller) in an interval matching task. Finally, we observed that musicians are more precise in pitch matching tasks than non-musicians but show the same average shifts with level. These combined experiments confirm that the pitch of low frequency pure tones depends weakly but systematically on level. These observations pose a challenge to current theories of pitch.