Changes in melodic perception as a function of age and lowest harmonic component

Authors

  • Huiwen Goy Dept. of Psychology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Rd North, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada
  • D. Timothy Ives Centre for the Neural Basis of Hearing, Department of Physiology Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing St., Cambridge, CB2 3EG, United Kingdom
  • Frank A. Russo Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St., Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada
  • M. Kathleen Pichora-Fuller Dept. of Psychology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Rd North, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada
  • Roy D. Patterson Centre for the Neural Basis of Hearing, Department of Physiology Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing St., Cambridge, CB2 3EG, United Kingdom

Keywords:

Age differences, Age groups, Harmonic components, Hearing threshold, Older adults, Pitch perception

Abstract

A study was conducted to investigate age differences in spectral and temporal mechanisms in pitch perception, using a melodic pitch task adapted from a earlier study. The performance of the age groups participating in the study was expected to decline with an increase in the lowest harmonic component of a complex stimulus. The performance of older adults was expected to be worse than that of younger adults despite the presence of harmonics. The reduction in performance with increases in the lowest harmonic component was expected to be smaller for older than for young adults. Older adults with better audiograms were selected to match younger adults' hearing thresholds as closely as possible. Listeners heard two consecutive four-note melodies with the tonic note of the melodic scale twice before each melody in each trial.

Additional Files

Published

2009-09-01

How to Cite

1.
Goy H, Ives DT, Russo FA, Pichora-Fuller MK, Patterson RD. Changes in melodic perception as a function of age and lowest harmonic component. Canadian Acoustics [Internet]. 2009 Sep. 1 [cited 2024 Apr. 16];37(3):184-5. Available from: https://jcaa.caa-aca.ca/index.php/jcaa/article/view/2195

Issue

Section

Proceedings of the Acoustics Week in Canada

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