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    Pitch-change detection and pitch-direction discrimination in children

    Fancourt, A. and Dick, Frederic and Stewart, L. (2013) Pitch-change detection and pitch-direction discrimination in children. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain 23 (2), p. 73. ISSN 0275-3987.

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    Abstract

    The present study investigated developmental changes in the ability to detect a change in pitch and to discriminate the direction of a pitch change using pitch glides. Adaptive-tracking procedures established separate thresholds for both of these abilities in musically untrained participants across nine age-groups (5-, 6-, 7-, 8-, 9-, 10-, 11-, 13-year-olds, and adults). The use of an odd-one-out paradigm avoided the need for participants to use semantic labels when determining the direction of a pitch change, and screening of the adaptive-staircase profile plots permitted the exclusion of inattentive performers. Although adults achieved equivalent thresholds for pitch-change detection and pitch-direction discrimination, there were age-related improvements for pitch-direction discrimination but not pitch-change detection in children between the ages of 6 and 11 years. The findings may indicate that the capacities to detect a change in pitch versus to discriminate the direction of a pitch change follow different developmental trajectories.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences
    Research Centres and Institutes: Brain and Cognitive Development, Centre for (CBCD)
    Depositing User: Sarah Hall
    Date Deposited: 05 May 2015 16:09
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 17:16
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/12066

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