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Karabay A, Nijenkamp R, Sarampalis A, Fougnie D. Introducing ART: A new method for testing auditory memory with circular reproduction tasks. Behav Res Methods 2024:10.3758/s13428-024-02477-2. [PMID: 39251527 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-024-02477-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/10/2024] [Indexed: 09/11/2024]
Abstract
Theories of visual working memory have seen significant progress through the use of continuous reproduction tasks. However, these tasks have mainly focused on studying visual features, with limited examples existing in the auditory domain. Therefore, it is unknown to what extent newly developed memory models reflect domain-general limitations or are specific to the visual domain. To address this gap, we developed a novel methodology: the Auditory Reproduction Task (ART). This task utilizes Shepard tones, which create an infinite rising or falling tone illusion by dissecting pitch chroma and height, to create a 1-360° auditory circular space. In Experiment 1, we validated the perceptual circularity and uniformity of this auditory stimulus space. In Experiment 2, we demonstrated that auditory working memory shows similar set size effects to visual working memory-report error increased at a set size of 2 relative to 1, caused by swap errors. In Experiment 3, we tested the validity of ART by correlating reproduction errors with commonly used auditory and visual working memory tasks. Analyses revealed that ART errors were significantly correlated with performance in both auditory and visual working memory tasks, albeit with a stronger correlation observed with auditory working memory. While these experiments have only scratched the surface of the theoretical and computational constraints on auditory working memory, they provide a valuable proof of concept for ART. Further research with ART has the potential to deepen our understanding of auditory working memory, as well as to explore the extent to which existing models are tapping into domain-general constraints.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aytaç Karabay
- Program in Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
| | - Rob Nijenkamp
- Center for Information Technology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Anastasios Sarampalis
- Department of Psychology, Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Daryl Fougnie
- Program in Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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2
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Van Hedger SC, Halpern AR, Vollweiler DJ, Smith EE, Pfordresher PQ. Is Hey Jude in the right key? Cognitive components of absolute pitch memory. Mem Cognit 2024; 52:1142-1151. [PMID: 38347258 DOI: 10.3758/s13421-024-01530-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 08/10/2024]
Abstract
Most individuals, regardless of formal musical training, have long-term absolute pitch memory (APM) for familiar musical recordings, though with varying levels of accuracy. The present study followed up on recent evidence suggesting an association between singing accuracy and APM (Halpern & Pfordresher, 2022, Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 84(1), 260-269), as well as tonal short-term memory (STM) and APM (Van Hedger et al., 2018, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 71(4), 879-891). Participants from three research sites (n = 108) completed a battery of tasks including APM, tonal STM, singing accuracy, and self-reported auditory imagery. Both tonal STM and singing accuracy predicted APM, replicating prior results. Tonal STM also predicted singing accuracy, music training, and auditory imagery. Further tests suggested that the association between APM and singing accuracy was fully mediated by tonal STM. This pattern comports well with models of vocal pitch matching that include STM for pitch as a mechanism for sensorimotor translation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen C Van Hedger
- Department of Psychology, Huron University College at Western, London, ON, Canada.
- Department of Psychology and Western Institute for Neuroscience, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
| | - Andrea R Halpern
- Department of Psychology, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, USA
| | - David J Vollweiler
- Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA
| | - Evan E Smith
- Department of Psychology, Huron University College at Western, London, ON, Canada
| | - Peter Q Pfordresher
- Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA
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3
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Van Hedger SC, Bongiovanni NR, Heald SLM, Nusbaum HC. Absolute pitch judgments of familiar melodies generalize across timbre and octave. Mem Cognit 2023; 51:1898-1910. [PMID: 37165298 DOI: 10.3758/s13421-023-01429-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Most listeners can determine when a familiar recording of music has been shifted in musical key by as little as one semitone (e.g., from B to C major). These findings appear to suggest that absolute pitch memory is widespread in the general population. However, the use of familiar recordings makes it unclear whether these findings genuinely reflect absolute melody-key associations for at least two reasons. First, listeners may be able to use spectral cues from the familiar instrumentation of the recordings to determine when a familiar recording has been shifted in pitch. Second, listeners may be able to rely solely on pitch height cues (e.g., relying on a feeling that an incorrect recording sounds "too high" or "too low"). Neither of these strategies would require an understanding of pitch chroma or musical key. The present experiments thus assessed whether listeners could make accurate absolute melody-key judgments when listening to novel versions of these melodies, differing from the iconic recording in timbre (Experiment 1) or timbre and octave (Experiment 2). Listeners in both experiments were able to select the correct-key version of the familiar melody at rates that were well above chance. These results fit within a growing body of research supporting the idea that most listeners, regardless of formal musical training, have robust representations of absolute pitch - based on pitch chroma - that generalize to novel listening situations. Implications for theories of auditory pitch memory are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen C Van Hedger
- Department of Psychology, Huron University College at Western, 1349 Western Road, London, ON, N6G 1H3, Canada.
- Department of Psychology and Brain and Mind Institute, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
| | | | - Shannon L M Heald
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Center for Practical Wisdom, University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Howard C Nusbaum
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Center for Practical Wisdom, University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
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Generalizing across tonal context, timbre, and octave in rapid absolute pitch training. Atten Percept Psychophys 2023; 85:525-542. [PMID: 36690914 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-023-02653-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/03/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Absolute pitch (AP) is the rare ability to name any musical note without the use of a reference note. Given that genuine AP representations are based on the identification of isolated notes by their tone chroma, they are considered to be invariant to (1) surrounding tonal context, (2) changes in instrumental timbre, and (3) changes in octave register. However, there is considerable variability in the literature in terms of how AP is trained and tested along these dimensions, making recent claims about AP learning difficult to assess. Here, we examined the effect of tonal context on participant success with a single-note identification training paradigm, including how learning generalized to an untested instrument and octave. We found that participants were able to rapidly learn to distinguish C from other notes, with and without feedback and regardless of the tonal context in which C was presented. Participants were also able to partly generalize this skill to an untrained instrument. However, participants displayed the weakest generalization in recognizing C in a higher octave. The results indicate that participants were likely attending to pitch height in addition to pitch chroma - a conjecture that was supported by analyzing the pattern of response errors. These findings highlight the complex nature of note representation in AP, which requires note identification across contexts, going beyond the simple storage of a note fundamental. The importance of standardizing testing that spans both timbre and octave in assessing AP and further implications on past literature and future work are discussed.
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Causse M, Parmentier FB, Mouratille D, Thibaut D, Kisselenko M, Fabre E. Busy and confused? High risk of missed alerts in the cockpit: an electrophysiological study. Brain Res 2022; 1793:148035. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2022.148035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2022] [Revised: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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What do less accurate singers remember? Pitch-matching ability and long-term memory for music. Atten Percept Psychophys 2021; 84:260-269. [PMID: 34796466 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-021-02391-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
We have only a partial understanding of how people remember nonverbal information such as melodies. Although once learned, melodies can be retained well over long periods of time, remembering newly presented melodies is on average quite difficult. People vary considerably, however, in their level of success in both memory situations. Here, we examine a skill we anticipated would be correlated with memory for melodies: the ability to accurately reproduce pitches. Such a correlation would constitute evidence that melodic memory involves at least covert sensorimotor codes. Experiment 1 looked at episodic memory for new melodies among nonmusicians, both overall and with respect to the Vocal Memory Advantage (VMA): the superiority in remembering melodies presented as sung on a syllable compared to rendered on an instrument. Although we replicated the VMA, our prediction that better pitch matchers would have a larger VMA was not supported, although there was a modest correlation with memory for melodies presented in a piano timbre. Experiment 2 examined long-term memory for the starting pitch of familiar recorded music. Participants selected the starting note of familiar songs on a keyboard, without singing. Nevertheless, we found that better pitch-matchers were more accurate in reproducing the correct starting note. We conclude that sensorimotor coding may be used in storing and retrieving exact melodic information, but is not so useful during early encounters with melodies, as initial coding seems to involve more derived properties such as pitch contour and tonality.
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Van Hedger SC, Veillette J, Heald SLM, Nusbaum HC. Revisiting discrete versus continuous models of human behavior: The case of absolute pitch. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0244308. [PMID: 33370349 PMCID: PMC7769265 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Many human behaviors are discussed in terms of discrete categories. Quantizing behavior in this fashion may provide important traction for understanding the complexities of human experience, but it also may bias understanding of phenomena and associated mechanisms. One example of this is absolute pitch (AP), which is often treated as a discrete trait that is either present or absent (i.e., with easily identifiable near-perfect "genuine" AP possessors and at-chance non-AP possessors) despite emerging evidence that pitch-labeling ability is not all-or-nothing. We used a large-scale online assessment to test the discrete model of AP, specifically by measuring how intermediate performers related to the typically defined "non-AP" and "genuine AP" populations. Consistent with prior research, individuals who performed at-chance (non-AP) reported beginning musical instruction much later than the near-perfect AP participants, and the highest performers were more likely to speak a tonal language than were the lowest performers (though this effect was not as statistically robust as one would expect from prior research). Critically, however, these developmental factors did not differentiate the near-perfect AP performers from the intermediate AP performers. Gaussian mixture modeling supported the existence of two performance distributions-the first distribution encompassed both the intermediate and near-perfect AP possessors, whereas the second distribution encompassed only the at-chance participants. Overall, these results provide support for conceptualizing intermediate levels of pitch-labeling ability along the same continuum as genuine AP-level pitch labeling ability-in other words, a continuous distribution of AP skill among all above-chance performers rather than discrete categories of ability. Expanding the inclusion criteria for AP makes it possible to test hypotheses about the mechanisms that underlie this ability and relate this ability to more general cognitive mechanisms involved in other abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen C. Van Hedger
- Center for Practical Wisdom, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
- Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
- Brain and Mind Institute, Western University, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Psychology, Huron University College, London, ON, Canada
| | - John Veillette
- Center for Practical Wisdom, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
- Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
| | - Shannon L. M. Heald
- Center for Practical Wisdom, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
- Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
| | - Howard C. Nusbaum
- Center for Practical Wisdom, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
- Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
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Groussard M, Chan TG, Coppalle R, Platel H. Preservation of Musical Memory Throughout the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease? Toward a Reconciliation of Theoretical, Clinical, and Neuroimaging Evidence. J Alzheimers Dis 2020; 68:857-883. [PMID: 30883343 DOI: 10.3233/jad-180474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Through this review of 25 clinical and experimental works on long-term musical memories in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, we attempt to clarify the conceptual understanding of musical memories, identify their evolution across the stages of the pathology, and propose possible explanations concerning the neural and cognitive mechanisms that underpin the preservation and impairment of certain musical memories. After clarifying the different kind of musical memories, we investigated their alterations throughout AD's progression from mild to severe stages. Both procedural and retrograde semantic memory seem relatively spared in AD, while episodic memory appears to be impaired early. Moreover, partial preservation of music encoding in AD can be revealed through paradigms that are especially designed for AD patients (relying on behavioral cues, using adapted settings, etc.). Although seldomly used, they would definitely help understanding the preserved capacities in every stage of AD. However, more research is needed to better understand this phenomenon and assess its specificity to music or other types of supports. These findings could lead to multiple applications in care settings and research designs, bringing more nuanced understanding of how long-term musical memory degrades throughout the course of AD, and should encourage us to prioritize patients' preserved cognitive abilities in current AD recreational and care programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathilde Groussard
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, CHU de Caen, Cyceron, Caen, France
| | - Tyler G Chan
- The Grossman Institute for Neuroscience, Quantitative Biology, and Human Behavior, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Renaud Coppalle
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, CHU de Caen, Cyceron, Caen, France
| | - Hervé Platel
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, CHU de Caen, Cyceron, Caen, France
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Van Hedger SC, Heald SLM, Nusbaum HC. Absolute pitch can be learned by some adults. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0223047. [PMID: 31550277 PMCID: PMC6759182 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0223047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2018] [Accepted: 09/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Absolute pitch (AP), the rare ability to name any musical note without the aid of a reference note, is thought to depend on an early critical period of development. Although recent research has shown that adults can improve AP performance in a single training session, the best learners still did not achieve note classification levels comparable to performance of a typical, "genuine" AP possessor. Here, we demonstrate that these "genuine" levels of AP performance can be achieved within eight weeks of training for at least some adults, with the best learner passing all measures of AP ability after training and retaining this knowledge for at least four months after training. Alternative explanations of these positive results, such as improving accuracy through adopting a slower, relative pitch strategy, are not supported based on joint analyses of response time and accuracy. The results also did not appear to be driven by extreme familiarity with a single instrument or octave range, as the post-training AP assessments used eight different timbres and spanned over seven octaves. Yet, it is also important to note that a majority of the participants only exhibited modest improvements in performance, suggesting that adult AP learning is difficult and that near-perfect levels of AP may only be achievable by subset of adults. Overall, these results demonstrate that explicit perceptual training in some adults can lead to AP performance that is behaviorally indistinguishable from AP that manifests within a critical period of development. Implications for theories of AP acquisition are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen C. Van Hedger
- Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago: Chicago, IL, United States of America
- Center for Practical Wisdom, The University of Chicago: Chicago, IL, United States of America
| | - Shannon L. M. Heald
- Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago: Chicago, IL, United States of America
- Center for Practical Wisdom, The University of Chicago: Chicago, IL, United States of America
| | - Howard C. Nusbaum
- Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago: Chicago, IL, United States of America
- Center for Practical Wisdom, The University of Chicago: Chicago, IL, United States of America
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Tużnik P, Francuz P. Factor structure and test-retest reliability of the Polish version of the Clarity of Auditory Imagery Scale. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-019-00367-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
AbstractVividness of imagery usually refers to the degree of similarity between mental images and corresponding percepts of real objects. One of the recently developed questionnaires, proposed to measure the vividness of auditory imagery, is the Clarity of Auditory Imagery Scale (CAIS). The main goal of the present study was to assess the factor structure, internal consistency, and test–retest reliability of the Polish version of the CAIS. The study was conducted on musicians (N = 39) and non-musicians (N = 40) to establish differences between the two groups in the vividness (or more specifically, clarity) of their auditory images. A combination of the minimum average partial (MAP) test and parallel analysis (PA) was used as a method of establishing the number of factors and provided evidence that the CAIS is one factor questionnaire. Test–retest reliability was measured by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between the mean scores obtained in two measurements made over a one-week interval. The test–retest (ICC) obtained between two measurements equaled .85. The ICC value showed satisfactory stability of the measurement of the vividness of auditory images, at least for short time intervals. The internal consistency of the scale was also satisfactory (Cronbach’s α = .87). Summarizing, the psychometric properties of the Polish version of the CAIS indicate that the scale is a reliable measure of the vividness of auditory imagery. Vividness of auditory imagery measured by the CAIS was not influenced by sex or musical expertise factors.
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