Perceptual Invariances in the Comparative Psychology of Music

Abstract

If one stimulus pattern is transposed to another, and if the two are recognizably the same, then they are said to be perceptually invariant. Usually, transpositions that lead to perceptual invariance involve changes on a ratio scale between the stimuli comprising the two patterns. In this paper, we survey the literature with a view to the conditions of pitch structure (melody and harmony), spectral structure (timbre), intensity structure (loudness), and temporal structure (rhythm, meter, and tempo) that produce perceptual invariance. The review compares perceptual invariance for human infants, young children, and adults and nonhuman animals. For the most part, perceptual invariance holds at all levels of development and for all species throughout the acoustic dimensions surveyed. However, for melody perception, there is evidence that humans go through a stage in early childhood in which absolute (as distinguished from relative) pitch perception plays a role. Without doubt, absolute pitch is important in perception of serial acoustic (melodic) structures by animals. For both humans and nonhumans, melody perception appears to be governed by a hierarchy of perceptual strategies that includes both absolute and relative pitch. The survey suggests the value of a comparative perspective in understanding the perceptual principles underlying music perception in humans and the principles by which human infants and nonhuman animals process acoustic information.

Songbirds use spectral shape, not pitch, for sound pattern recognition

“…Our results indicate that behavioral effects tied classically to changes in the frequencies of pure tones (29,30,(37)(38)(39) should not be strictly interpreted as changes to the percept of pitch. Instead, we suggest a revised perspective on melody recognition by songbirds.…”

“…Although most humans rely primarily on relative pitch for recognizing tone sequences, songbirds are thought to exhibit a strong bias for relying on AP cues in recognizing tone patterns (37). Here AP does not refer to the human ability to assign a note name or pitch chroma to a tone, such as "G sharp," but the more general ability to recognize tones on the basis of their AP height.…”

Toward a Developmental Psychology of Music

“…On the other hand, they indicate that relational pitch processing is not unique to human listeners but may be part of a heritage that is shared with many other species. Indeed, there is considerable evidence to support the contention that relational processing or perceptual invariance operates across age and species for pitch structure, spectral structure, and temporal structure 27…”

Are there critical periods for musical development?

“…Indeed, some people with absolute pitch can have trouble identifying relative pitch in tonal contexts (Miyazaki, 1993) and tend to continue using absolute pitch in situations where relative pitch is required (Miyazaki, 1995;Miyazaki & Rakowski, 2002). It also is interesting in this context that monkeys and birds more readily process absolute than relative pitch (e.g., Hulse, Takeuchi, & Braaten, 1992;Izumi, 2001), given that these species have not developed language or music.…”