Working memory for pitch, timbre, and words
نویسندگان
چکیده
Aiming to further our understanding of fundamental mechanisms of auditory working memory (WM), the present study compared performance for three auditory materials (words, tones, timbres). In a forward recognition task (Experiment 1) participants indicated whether the order of the items in the second sequence was the same as in the first sequence. In a backward recognition task (Experiment 2) participants indicated whether the items of the second sequence were played in the correct backward order. In Experiment 3 participants performed an articulatory suppression task during the retention delay of the backward task. To investigate potential length effects the number of items per sequence was manipulated. Overall findings underline the benefit of a cross-material experimental approach and suggest that human auditory WM is not a unitary system. Whereas WM processes for timbres differed from those for tones and words, similarities and differences were observed for words and tones: Both types of stimuli appear to rely on rehearsal mechanisms, but might differ in the involved sensorimotor codes.
منابع مشابه
Separate Neural Processing of Timbre Dimensions in Auditory Sensory Memory
Timbre is a multidimensional perceptual attribute of complex tones that characterizes the identity of a sound source. Our study explores the representation in auditory sensory memory of three timbre dimensions (acoustically related to attack time, spectral centroid, and spectrum fine structure), using the mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the auditory event-related potential. MMN is elicit...
متن کاملInterference effects in short-term memory for timbre.
Four experiments investigated memory for timbre using the interpolated-tone paradigm [Deutsch, Science 168, 1604-1605 (1970)], in which participants discriminate pairs of tones (standard and comparison) separated by intervening (interpolated) tones. Interpolated tones varied from the standard tone in spectral similarity (within-dimensional variation), fundamental frequency (cross-dimensional va...
متن کاملRight temporal cortex is critical for utilization of melodic contextual cues in a pitch constancy task.
Pitch constancy, perceiving the same pitch from tones with differing spectral shapes, requires one to extract the fundamental frequency from two sets of harmonics and compare them. We previously showed this difficult task to be easier when tonal context is present, presumably because the context creates a tonal reference point from which to judge the test tone. The present study assessed the ro...
متن کاملImpaired perception of harmonic complexity in congenital amusia: a case study.
This study investigates whether congenital amusia (an inability to perceive music from birth) also impairs the perception of musical qualities that do not rely on fine-grained pitch discrimination. We established that G.G. (64-year-old male, age-typical hearing) met the criteria of congenital amusia and demonstrated music-specific deficits (e.g., language processing, intonation, prosody, fine-g...
متن کاملThe Effect of Working Memory Training on Vocabulary Recall and Retention of Iranian EFL Learners: The Case of Dual N-Back Task
This study examined the effect of working memory training on vocabulary recall and retention ofIranian EFL learners using dual N-back task technique. To this end, 50 EFL learners at IslamicAzad University of Shoushtar were randomly assigned to the experimental (n = 25) and control (n= 25) groups. Before the treatment, a vocabulary test was administered to the participants to assessthe participa...
متن کامل