Greek bilingual listeners perceive the tritone stimuli differently from speakers of English

The tritone paradox occurs when two tones that are related by a half-octave (or tritone) are presented in succession and the tones are constructed in such a way that their pitch classes (C, C♯♯, D, etc.) are clearly defined but their octave placement is ambiguous. Previous studies have shown that there are large individual differences in how such tone pairs are perceived, and these differences correlate with the listener's language or dialect. We here present findings showing that perception of the tritone paradox can be heavily influenced by speech heard early in life, even for listeners who do not speak their first language fluently. Our findings point to a specific linkage between speech and music, and they also shed light on the issue of critical periods for the acquisition of intonational properties of speech.

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confidence: 75%

Speech Patterns Heard Early in Life Influence Later Perception of the Tritone Paradox

Deutsch

Henthorn

Dolson³

2004

“…It has further been found that the way the pitch class circle is oriented with respect to height is related to the language or dialect to which the individual has been exposed (Chalikia & Leinfelt, 2000;Chalikia, Miller, & Vaid, 2001;Chalikia, Norberg, & Paterakis, 2000;Chalikia, & Vaid, 1999;Dawe, Platt, & Welsh, 1998;Deutsch, 1991;Deutsch, Henthorn, & Dolson, 2004;Giangrande, 1998;Ragozzine & Deutsch, 1994) and to the pitch range of his or her speaking voice (Deutsch, Henthorn, & Dolson, 1999Deutsch, North, & Ray, 1990). Given these findings, Deutsch (2002) hypothesized that the partial form of absolute pitch that is reflected in judgments of the tritone paradox had originally evolved to subserve speech.…”

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confidence: 99%

Absolute Pitch, Speech, and Tone Language: Some Experiments and a Proposed Framework

Deutsch

Henthorn

Dolson³

2004

154

103

Absolute pitch is generally considered to reflect a rare musical endowment; however, its characteristics are puzzling and its genesis is unclear. We describe two experiments in which native speakers of tone languages——Mandarin and Vietnamese——were found to display a remarkably precise and stable form of absolute pitch in enunciating words. We further describe a third experiment in which speakers of English displayed less stability on an analogous task. Based on these findings, and considering the related literatures on critical periods in speech development, and the neurological underpinnings of lexical tone, we propose a framework for the genesis of absolute pitch. The framework assumes that absolute pitch originally evolved as a feature of speech, analogous to other features such as vowel quality, and that speakers of tone language naturally acquire this feature during the critical period for speech acquisition. We further propose that the acquisition of absolute pitch by rare individuals who speak an intonation language may be associated with a critical period of unusually long duration, so that it encompasses the age at which the child can take music lessons. We conclude that the potential to acquire absolute pitch is universally present at birth, and that it can be realized by enabling the infant to associate pitches with verbal labels during the critical period for speech acquisition.

“…Various researchers have found evidence supportive of this theory. For example, there are differences in perception of the tritone paradox associated with geographical location and linguistic background (Chalikia & Leinfelt, 2000;Chalikia, Norberg, & Paterakis, 2000;Dawe, Platt, & Welsh, 1998;Deutsch, 1991;Deutsch, Henthorn, & Dolson, 2004b;Ragozzine & Deutsch, 1994), and an influence of familial The two participants for whom a clear orientation of the pitch class circle was not obtained for tritone stimuli were excluded from this analysis. Additionally, one participant who showed a difference of exactly three semitones was not included in this analysis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Ragozzine

2012

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.