Spectral Envelope and Context Effects in the Tritone Paradox

Perception ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 645-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno H Repp
Keyword(s):  
Context Effects ◽  
Spectral Envelope ◽  
Center Frequency ◽  
Pitch Class ◽  
Relative Pitch ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Complex Tones ◽  
Preceding Context ◽  
Tritone Paradox ◽  
Context Free

In previous studies of the ‘tritone paradox’ Deutsch has suggested that, when listeners are presented with pairs of octave-complex tones that are equal in average log frequency but differ in chroma by 6 semitones (a tritone), they perceive the direction of the chroma difference according to an individual pitch-class template. However, it has also been found that the perceived direction changes for many listeners when the spectral envelope of the tones is shifted along the frequency axis. Reanalysis of these data indicates a strong tendency to perceive the pitch class corresponding to the frequency on which the spectral envelope is centered as subjectively lowest. In experiment 1 this spectral-envelope effect was replicated with tone pairs presented in isolation, at the rate of one a day, which rules out artifacts of test format. In experiment 2, involving another context-free format, envelope center frequency was varied over a wide range and it was shown that some individuals are totally envelope dependent, whereas others rely more on pitch class, and yet others show mixed patterns. Experiment 3 demonstrated that listeners' judgments of tritone pairs can be swayed easily by preceding context. Finally, experiment 4 showed that strong envelope effects are also obtained with Deutsch's own tritone test (issued on CD). The subjective relative pitch height of octave-complex tones thus depends on several competing factors, only one of which is pitch class.

Some new pitch paradoxes and their implications

1992 ◽  
Vol 336 (1278) ◽  
pp. 391-397 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Spectral Envelope ◽  
Pitch Class ◽  
Speech Characteristics ◽  
Class C ◽  
Tritone Paradox ◽  
Sound Patterns ◽  
The Way

This paper explores two new paradoxical sound patterns. The tones used to produce these patterns consist of six octave-related harmonics, whose amplitudes are scaled by a bell-shaped spectral envelope; these tones are clearly defined in terms of pitch class (C, C#, D, and so on) but are poorly defined in term s of height. One pattern consists of two tones that are separated by a half-octave. It is heard as ascending when played in one key, yet as descending when played in a different key. Further, when the pattern is played in any one key it is heard as ascending by some listeners but as descending by others (the tritone paradox). Another pattern that consists of simultaneous pairs of tones displays related properties (the semitone paradox). It is shown that the way the tritone paradox is perceived correlates with the speech characteristics of the listener, including his or her linguistic dialect. The findings suggest that the same, culturally acquired representation of pitch classes influences both speech production and also perception of this musical pattern.

Implicit Absolute Pitch Representation Affects Basic Tonal Perception

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 569-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zohar Eitan ◽  
Moshe Shay Ben-Haim ◽  
Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis
Keyword(s):  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
Occurrence Frequency ◽  
Tonal Music ◽  
Pitch Class ◽  
Harmonic Progression ◽  
Relative Pitch ◽  
Preceding Context ◽  
Tonal Hierarchy ◽  
Tonal Perception ◽  
Tonal Context

It is undisputed that the cognition of tonal music is primarily established by pitch relationships set within a tonal scheme such as a major or minor key. The corresponding notion—that absolute pitch and absolute key are largely inconsequential for tonal cognition—thus seems inevitable. Here, we challenge the latter notion, presenting data suggesting that absolute pitch and absolute key significantly modify listeners’ judgments of tonal fit and tonal tension. In two experiments extending the probe tone technique (as applied in Krumhansl & Kessler, 1982) participants heard a brief tonal context (a major triad in Experiment 1, a harmonic progression in Experiment 2) followed by individual probe tones, and rated how well each probe fitted the preceding context, as well as the musical tension conveyed by each probe. Two maximally distant key contexts, G major and D♭ major, were used in both experiments and in both tasks. Ratings revealed significant absolute pitch effects in both tasks, though in different ways. In the tonal fit task, diatonic pitches in G major were rated higher than those in D♭ major; in contrast, chromatic pitches were rated higher in D♭ major, compared to G. In the tension task, overall ratings were significantly higher for D♭ major contexts than for G major context (Experiment 1). Importantly, these effects reflect the occurrence frequency of pitch classes and keys in the tonal repertory: frequent pitch classes were rated as better fits than rarer ones, and a rarer key (D♭) rated tenser than a frequently-occurring key (G). Absolute pitch effects were most strongly manifested by participants without formal training, for whom the relative pitch effects of the tonal hierarchy were weak, and were stronger when tonal context was weaker (Experiment 1 as compared to Experiment 2). Results suggest that implicit absolute pitch perception, reflecting key and pitch class occurrence frequency, significantly affects tonal music processing; such absolute pitch effects may be activated principally when tonal perception or tonal cues are lacking.

The Tritone Paradox: Correlate with the Listener's Vocal Range for Speech

1990 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Deutsch ◽  
Tom North ◽  
Lee Ray
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
The Other ◽  
Spectral Envelope ◽  
Pitch Class ◽  
Fundamental Frequencies ◽  
Speech Characteristics ◽  
Orderly Fashion ◽  
Tritone Paradox ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual

In the tritone paradox, two tones are presented that are related by a halfoctave. Each tone consists of a set of octave-related sinusoids whose amplitudes are scaled by a bell-shaped spectral envelope; thus the usual cues to height attribution are missing. When listeners judge whether such tone pairs form ascending or descending patterns, judgments are related in an orderly fashion to the positions of the tones along the pitch class circle: Tones in one region of the circle are heard as higher and those in the opposite region as lower. However, listeners differ strikingly in the orientation of the pitch-class circle with respect to height. So far, the basis of the tritone paradox and the reasons for the individual differences in its manifestation have proved elusive. In the present study, a correlation is found between perception of the tritone paradox and the range of fundamental frequencies of the listener's speaking voice. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a close connection between the perception of a musical pattern on the one hand and the listener's speech characteristics on the other.

The Tritone Paradox: Effects of Pitch Class and Position of the Spectral Envelope

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janice Giangrande
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
The United States ◽  
South Florida ◽  
Spectral Envelope ◽  
Geographical Differences ◽  
Interesting Issue ◽  
Pitch Class ◽  
Tritone Paradox

The tritone paradox reveals compelling individual differences in the orientation of the pitch class circle derived from judgments of tritone pairs. Some subjects perceive tones in one half of the pitch class circle as higher than tones in the opposite half, whereas other subjects produce the converse pattern. Because geographical differences in perception of the tritone paradox have been found, an interesting issue concerns how subjects in additional regions of the United States may perceive the tritone paradox. A second issue of interest concerns the extent to which the position of the spectral envelope affects how the pattern is perceived. These issues are here addressed in a study of the tritone paradox in a group of subjects from South Florida. With respect to the first issue, the overall histogram of peak pitch classes produced by the subjects from South Florida was similar to the histogram found among Californian subjects. To address the second issue, tone pairs were generated under four spectral envelopes spaced at half-octave intervals. The majority of subjects evidenced differences in peak pitch class of no more than 2 semitones when judgments under each of the four spectral envelopes were compared.

The Tritone Paradox: An Influence of Language on Music Perception

1991 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 335-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Deutsch
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Music Perception ◽  
The Other ◽  
Spectral Envelope ◽  
Pitch Range ◽  
Pitch Class ◽  
Systematic Relationships ◽  
Tritone Paradox ◽  
The Individual ◽  
English Group

The tritone paradox is produced when two tones that are related by a half- octave (or tritone) are presented in succession. Each tone is composed of a set of octave- related harmonics, whose amplitudes are determined by a bell-shaped spectral envelope; thus the tones are clearly defined in terms of pitch class, but poorly defined in terms of height. When listeners judge whether such tone pairs form ascending or descending patterns, their judgments generally show systematic relationships to the positions of the tones along the pitch-class circle: Tones in one region of the circle are heard as higher and those in the opposite region are heard as lower. However, listeners disagree substantially as to whether a given tone pair forms an ascending or a descending pattern, and therefore as to which tones are heard as higher and which as lower. This paper demonstrates that the basis for the individual differences in perception of this musical pattern lies in the language spoken by the listener. Two groups of subjects made judgments of the tritone paradox. One group had grown up in California, and the other group had grown up in southern England. It was found that when the Californian group tended to hear the pattern as ascending the English group tended to hear it as descending, and when the Californian group tended to hear the pattern as descending the English group tended to hear it as ascending. This finding, coupled with the earlier results of Deutsch, North, and Ray (1990) that showed a correlate between perception of the tritone paradox and the pitch range of the listener's spontaneous speaking voice, indicates strongly that the same, culturally acquired representation of pitch classes influences both speech production and perception of this musical pattern.

Correspondence in Perception of the Tritone Paradox and Perfect-Fifth/Perfect-Fourth Intervals

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-406
Author(s):  
Frank Ragozzine
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Pitch Height ◽  
Pitch Class ◽  
Complex Tones ◽  
Tritone Paradox ◽  
Related Complex

Shepard (1964) found that the pitch height of a pair of octave-related complex tones is perceived in accordance with the principle of proximity around a pitch class circle. However, when these tones form a tritone interval, proximity cannot be used. In the tritone paradox, Deutsch (1986) found that listeners perceive these tones such that half of the pitch class circle is heard as higher in pitch, and the opposite half as lower, with individual differences in which half is heard as higher. In the present experiments, listeners judged the height of octave-related complexes forming tritones and forming intervals of perfect fifths (P5) and perfect fourths (P4). There was a strong relationship between the pitch classes heard higher in the tritone paradox and those heard higher when presented with P5/P4 intervals. Rather than using proximity to judge pitch height with P5/P4 intervals, listeners instead use the same mechanism involved in perception of the tritone paradox.

Effects of Preceding Context on Aesthetic Preference

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Mullennix ◽  
Grant M. Kristo ◽  
Julien Robinet
Keyword(s):  
Response Time ◽  
Context Effects ◽  
Viewing Time ◽  
Art Appreciation ◽  
Assimilation Effect ◽  
Aesthetic Preference ◽  
Preceding Context

Two experiments were conducted to examine sequential context effects on judgments of liking for artistic photographs. In Experiment 1, target photographs were preceded in a sequence by context photographs prerated for liking. The results showed that viewing time and response time for targets increased when preceded by highly liked context photographs. However, ratings of liking for targets were unaffected. In Experiment 2, target photographs were preceded by pleasant or unpleasant context photographs. An assimilation effect on target ratings was produced by unpleasant context, with targets rated lower for liking. Both pleasant and unpleasant context photographs affected viewing time and response time for targets. Overall, the results from both experiments show that the presence of an artwork that immediately precedes another artwork in a sequence can affect the processing of the subsequent artwork. This suggests that the positioning of artworks in sequences can produce context effects on art appreciation.

scholarly journals Decoding the Real-Time Neurobiological Properties of Incremental Semantic Interpretation

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 233-247
Author(s):  
Hun S Choi ◽  
William D Marslen-Wilson ◽  
Bingjiang Lyu ◽  
Billi Randall ◽  
Lorraine K Tyler
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Semantic Constraints ◽  
Incremental Processing ◽  
Prior Context ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Preceding Context ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Communication through spoken language is a central human capacity, involving a wide range of complex computations that incrementally interpret each word into meaningful sentences. However, surprisingly little is known about the spatiotemporal properties of the complex neurobiological systems that support these dynamic predictive and integrative computations. Here, we focus on prediction, a core incremental processing operation guiding the interpretation of each upcoming word with respect to its preceding context. To investigate the neurobiological basis of how semantic constraints change and evolve as each word in a sentence accumulates over time, in a spoken sentence comprehension study, we analyzed the multivariate patterns of neural activity recorded by source-localized electro/magnetoencephalography (EMEG), using computational models capturing semantic constraints derived from the prior context on each upcoming word. Our results provide insights into predictive operations subserved by different regions within a bi-hemispheric system, which over time generate, refine, and evaluate constraints on each word as it is heard.

scholarly journals Application of Bayesian Active Learning to the Estimation of Auditory Filter Shapes Using the Notched-Noise Method

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 233121652095299
Author(s):  
Josef Schlittenlacher ◽  
Richard E. Turner ◽  
Brian C. J. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Active Learning ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Detection Efficiency ◽  
Center Frequency ◽  
Signal Frequency ◽  
Testing Time ◽  
Auditory Filter ◽  
Notch Width ◽  
Wide Range

Time-efficient hearing tests are important in both clinical practice and research studies. This particularly applies to notched-noise tests, which are rarely done in clinical practice because of the time required. Auditory-filter shapes derived from notched-noise data may be useful for diagnosis of the cause of hearing loss and for fitting of hearing aids, especially if measured over a wide range of center frequencies. To reduce the testing time, we applied Bayesian active learning (BAL) to the notched-noise test, picking the most informative stimulus parameters for each trial based on nine Gaussian Processes. A total of 11 hearing-impaired subjects were tested. In 20 to 30 min, the test provided estimates of signal threshold as a continuous function of frequency from 500 to 4000 Hz for nine notch widths and for notches placed both symmetrically and asymmetrically around the signal frequency. The thresholds were found to be consistent with those obtained using a 2-up/1-down forced-choice procedure at a single center frequency. In particular, differences in threshold between the methods did not vary with notch width. An independent second run of the BAL test for one notch width showed that it is reliable. The data derived from the BAL test were used to estimate auditory-filter width and asymmetry and detection efficiency for center frequencies from 500 to 4000 Hz. The results agreed with expectations for cochlear hearing losses that were derived from the audiogram and a hearing model.

scholarly journals Elastic least-squares migration for quantitative reflection imaging of fracture compliances

Geophysics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
pp. S327-S342
Author(s):  
Shohei Minato ◽  
Kees Wapenaar ◽  
Ranajit Ghose
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Least Squares ◽  
Boundary Integral ◽  
Center Frequency ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Thin Structures ◽  
Imaging Results ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Reflection Imaging ◽  
Least Squares Migration

To quantitatively image fractures with high resolution, we have developed an elastic least-squares migration (LSM) algorithm coupled with linear-slip theory, which accurately addresses seismic wave interaction with thin structures. We derive a linearized waveform inversion using the Born approximation to the boundary integral equation for scattered waves, including linear-slip interfaces for P-SV and SH wavefields. Numerical modeling tests assuming a laboratory-scale fracture where a 20 cm long fracture is illuminated by waves with a 50 kHz center frequency show that our LSM successfully estimates fracture compliances. Furthermore, due to the presence of coupling compliances at the fracture, the results using our LSM show better images than those using the conventional LSM estimating the Lamé constants. We also numerically illustrate that our LSM can be successfully applied to dipole acoustic borehole logging data with 3 kHz center frequency for single-well reflection imaging of a 10 m long, dipping fracture embedded in a random background. Finally, we apply LSM to laboratory experimental data, measuring PP reflections from a fluid-filled fracture. We confirm that the estimated fracture compliances correspond well to those estimated by earlier amplitude variation with offset inversion. Furthermore, the LSM resolves the spatially varying fracture compliances due to local filling of water in the fracture. Because the linear-slip theory can be applied to thin structures in a wide range of scales, high-resolution imaging results and estimated fracture compliance distributions will be crucial to further address small-scale properties at fractures, joints, and geologic faults.

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