Browsing by Author "Steingaszner, Severian Geza"

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    Absolute pitch and serial digit recall under irrelevant speech conditions: investigating automatic pitch class labelling through cognitive psychology
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-03) Steingaszner, Severian Geza; Venter, Carina; Ross, Barry; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences. Dept. of Music.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A serial digit recall experiment was conducted to test for differences in short-term memory (STM) interference in both absolute pitch (AP) and non-absolute pitch (NAP) possessors under irrelevant pitch conditions. Participants (n = 20) all completed a screening test in order to determine AP status, recording both mean semitone deviation (MD) and reaction time (RT). A cutoff of less than 0.5 MD used to determine AP possession and the results of outliers in RT were removed under the assumption relative pitch (RP) skills were being used. The serial experiment required participants to recall visually presented digit sequences of length 7 and 9, and was conducted either under an auditory interference condition or silence. The interference condition consisted of auditorily presented pure tones (sine waves) during both the initial digit presentation retention interval (10 seconds). A significant effect was found for sequence length (p<0.001) and condition (p<0.001), the latter of which replicates the ‘irrelevant pitch effect’ in digit recall found by Jones and Macken (1993); LeCompte, Neely, and Wilson (1997); and Williamson, Hitch, and Baddeley (2010b). However, although it approached significance (p=0.524), no significant interaction effect between AP group and condition was found, contrary to the results found by Miyazaki (2004b). As such, these results do not demonstrate evidence of the presence of innate verbal labels being applied to pitches perceived by AP possessors. Prior to experimentation a comprehensive literature review of verbal STM, STM interference effects, pitch perception, and AP possession was conducted, with a particular focus on the intersection between STM interference effects and STM of pitch.