Pitch-change detection and pitch-direction discrimination in children

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Fancourt, Amy; Dick, Frederic and Stewart, Lauren. 2013. Pitch-change detection and pitch-direction discrimination in children. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain, 23(2), pp. 73-81. ISSN 0275-3987 [Article]

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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. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)

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Article

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https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033301