Poststimulatorypitch shifts for pure tones

AndrzejRakowski
a)and Ira J. Hirsh
CentralInstitutefor the Deaf Saint Louis,Missouri63110
(Received
12October1979;accepted
for publication
12April 1980)

Changes in thepitchof a shorttonepulse(25msec,1000Hz), following

a leading
tone,weremeasured
at various
leading-tone
frequenciesandfor various
timeintervals
betweentheleadingtoneandthetone
pulse.
Theresultsshowthatpoststimulatory
pitchshiftsawayfromthepitchof theleadingtoneare
significant
andreproducible.
It is suggested
thatpoststimulatory
pitchshiftsmayinfluence
theresults
of
variouspsychoacoustic
experiments
on pitchperception.

PACSnumbers:
43.66.Hg,43.66.Mk,43.66.Lj[DM]

INTRODUCTION equal to that of the standard. Subjects were instructed

It has been noted that the pitch of a short-tone pulse
may change if the pulse is immediately preceded by
another stimulus. Although pitch shifts following stimu-
lation by filtered noise have been described in some de-
tail (Rakowskiand Jaroszewski, 1974; Jaroszewski and
Rakowski, 1976), shifts following pure-tone stimulation
have been studied but not described in detail (Christman
and Williams, 1963; Minick, Elmasian and Galambos,
1975; Hartmann and Blumenstock, 1976; Larkin, 1978).
Different directions of the shift, both toward and away
from the pitch of the leading tone, have been reported.
In the present series of experiments, we were inter-
ested in investigating the effects of stimulus duration,
intervals separating stimuli, and especially frequency
separation of leader and trailer tones on the poststim-
ulatory pitch shift.
I. SUBJECTS
The three subjects who particpated in these experi-
ments all had several years of experience in psycho-
acoustic experiments concerning pitch discrimination.
All three also had formal musical training, in classical
guitar (DH), singing(LC), or music theory (AR), and
the first two had performed professionally. One subject
(LC) claimed possessionof absolutepitch. All three
listeners had audiometrically normal hearing.
Prior to the collection of data, the subjects were giv-
en a few weeks of intensive training in pitch discrimina-
tion with tonal patterns similar to those to be used in the
experiments.
II. PROCEDURE
to disregard the leading tone and to try to listen ex-
clusively to the standard-variable tone pair. The series
of tones was presented until the subject reported a sat-
isfactory match. The frequency difference between the
variable and the standard was used as a measure of
pitch shift due to the influence of the leader on the stan-
dard. The time interval between the standard and the
variable (•Xtsv)was large enoughto eliminate the pos-
sible influence of the leader on both the standard and
the subsequentvariable (see below for detail). Before
the next match, the subject returned the variable to
the highest or (alternatively) lowest position. All ex-
perimental trials were alternated with control trials in
which the leader was switched off. For high accuracy,
feedback in terms of accuracy of the match was always
given after control trials; no feedback, however, was
provided after experimental trials.
One experimental session lasted about 60 minutes and
included one or more rest periods. During this time
approximately 12 pairs of adjustments(experimental and
control trials) were collected. On any day, the experi-
ment was always terminated whenever an unusual growth
of dispersion in control data signalled a subject's fat-
igue or lack of concentration.
The stimuli were generated by two voltage-controlled
tone generators (Wavetek 116 and 136) and the time se-
quence was under control of a PDP-8 computer. Rise
and decay times were 5 msec in all cases except when
short interstimulus time intervals (3 and 10 msec) re-
quired faster rises; in these cases the rise/decay times
were 1 and 2.5 msec, respectively. The levels of all
stimuli were kept constant at 70 dB SPL. Subjects were
tested monaurally in a sound-treated booth.

The method of adjustment was used throughout. Sub-
jects were presented with a constantly repeating series
of stimuli consisting of three-tone pulses: a leading
tone (L--leader), a standardtone (S--standard), anda
tone whose frequency was under the control of the sub-
ject (V--variable). The frequencyof the standardwas
always 1000 Hz. Durations of all tones and inter-tone
intervals will be described below.
Using a 10-turn potentiometer, a subject could change
the frequency of the variable until its pitch appeared
a)Presentaddress: Academyof Music, Okohnik
2, 00-368 War-
saw, Poland.
Experiments were conductedin the following order:
(1) Preliminary test 1: Minimumpulseduration(for
standardandvariable) for reliable pitch matching,
(2) Preliminary test 2: Minimum durationof leader-
tone to evoke pitch shifts,
(3) Preliminarytest 3: Critical temporalseparations
among the soundsto evoke pitch shifts,
(4) Experiment1: Dependence
of pitch shift on fre-
quency separation between leader and standard tones,
(5) Experiment2: Pitch shiftsin tuningof musicalin-
tervals.

467 J. Acoust.Soc.Am. 68(2), Aug.1980 0001-4966/80/080467-08500.80 ¸ 1980Acoustical

Societyof America 467

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 III. RESULTS of the standard and variable tones to be used in subse-
quent testing.
A. Preliminary test 1: Minimum standard-variable
duration for reliable pitch matching
B. Preliminary test 2: Minimum leader-toneduration to
The standard and variable pulses were to be equal in evoke pitch shifts
duration; we needed to do preliminary testing to estab-
The next parameter to be determined was the mini-
lish the appropriate duration, which we envisioned as a
mum duration of the leading tone necessary to evoke
compromise between a length sufficient to allow the de-
sired match accuracy and the brevity necessary for in-
pitch-shift effects in the standard tone that fol,lowed.
We fixed the frequency difference between the standard
vestigating the temporal course of the effect. (The
(1003 Hz) and the leader (972 Hz). • Durations of stand-
poststimulatory pitch shift appeared to be a rapidly de-
ard and variable were fixed at 25 msec. The interstim-
caying phenomenon, and longer pulses, e.g., 100 msec,
ulus time intervals were: 10 msec between leader and
might have resulted in a noticeable pitch glide within a
standardpulse, and a consequentdrop in accuracy.)
standard,2 500 msecbetweenstandardandvariable, and
1 sec between offset of the variable and the beginning of
The three subjects listened to a series of standard and the next trial. The time paradigm used in this experi-
variable tones. (This format, lacking a leadingtone, ment is shown with the results in Fig. 2.
will be used later for the control trials in experiment
1.) Subjects adjustedthe pitch of the variable tone to As shownin Fig. 2, significant poststimulatory pitch
match that of the preceding standard. Durations of both shifts occur for some of the subjects even at short lead-
tones were equal within each trial, and values of 10,
er durations. At 500 msec, all three subjects show
25, 40, 100, and 500 msec were randomized from trial "pitch repulsion"(i.e., the variable tone is set higher
to trial within a block. than the standard)3 andthe magnitudeof the pitch shift
does not seem to increase for leader durations longer
Pitch-matching performance at various pulse dura- than 500 msec. Thus we selected 500 msec as the
tions is shown in Fig. 1. Standard deviations for 16 length for the leader tone in subsequent experiments.
matches at various pulse lengths are presented for each
of the three subjects. Results for the three subjects C. Preliminary test 3: Critical temporal separations
are indicated with symbols to be used throughout this among the soundsto evoke pitch shifts
report: DH=squares, AR- circles, LC=triangles.
The time course of the poststimulatory pitch shift ap-
We judged that the standard deviations for standard- peared to be particularly important and was investigated
variable duration of T-25 msec (1.2, 1.6, and 1.8 Hz
for the three listeners) indicated sufficiently accurate I I
,

I I I
18 - L S V " -
frequency discrimination, for a tone duration short
enough to permit observation of pitch-shift effects over
[ i r'-] r-] Vt._. ..
16
_ TL 25 25 msec ..
10 500 1000 -
time. Therefore, 25 msec was adopted as the duration
14 f = 1000 Hz _+(2,4,6) Hz
- s [] -
I I I I fL=972Hz ....
12
-

- (i' t] -
Ts Tv --- 10

S 500 V 1500

t
msec

•
ß=- 8 -
''

()
• () _

TS= Tv I
__

ß 6

•- 4

I:! I -
_.

-r 2 r:] -- -

-2 - () -
[]
A o
._

-4 -- _

0 - ..

[]
A- -6 --

..

-8 I I'- I I I
I i I i
10 25 100 500 4000
10 25 40 100 500
PULSE DURATION (msec) DURATION
OFLEADER
(TLinmsec)
FIG. 1. Standard deviations (Hz) of control-pitch matches for FIG. 2. Poststimulatory pitch shift, shown as a deviation
three subjects as a function of the duration of the standard and frorely-rs=o, as a function of the duration of the leader
variabletones(Ts and Tv). Thetime paradigmfor the con- (TL). Frequency of the standard varied over a range of
trol matches, without leading tone, is given at the top of the + 6 Hz. Means and standard deviations (n = 16 adjustments)
figure. for each of three experienced listeners.

468 J. Acoust.Soc.Am.,Vol.68, No.2, August1980 A. Rakowskiand I. J. Hirsh' Poststimulatory

pitchshifts 468

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 in some detail. Six values ranging from 3 to 1500 msec
28
were chosen for the time interval between the leader L S V
I I I--I
andthe standardtone (AtLS)
, with a constanttime inter- 24 500 25
val of 1500 msec between the standard and the variable 5tLS 1500 1000 ms

(Atsv). Lookingaheadto later experiments,we also 2O

selected seven different leader frequencies for testing:
500 Hz (an octave below the standard), 841 Hz (a musi- fs=1000Hz
cal minor third below), 988 Hz (12 Hz below), 1000Hz rs- ft.= + 12Hz
(in tunewith the standardfrequency),1012Hz (12 Hz 12

above),1189Hz (a minorthird above),and2000Hz

(an octaveabovestandardfrequency).
Subjectslistened to a single time paradigm in each
block, with the seven leader frequenciesrandomized
within the block. The results are shown in Figs. 3-5.

Data in Fig. 3 represent the effect at a comparatively ----4

small frequencydifferencebetweenstandardandleader, I I I I

12 Hz. When the frequency of the leader is lower than i i i i

the standard(fs--fLpositive: topof Fig. 3), pitchshifts T_T IT..,-

in all listeners are positive (upward). Whenleader fre-
quencyis higherthanthestandard(fS--fLnegative:
bottomof Fig. 3), pitchshiftsare negative(downward).
Both curves are consistent with a conception of the pitch
of a short pulse being pushedaway from the pitch of a
precedingtone ("pitchrepulsion"). However, the effect n -12
decays rapidly, and after 500 msec only a slight trace
of it remains for some of the listeners. -16

f$- fL= -12 Hz

In Fig. 4 the same effect is shownfor frequency dif- -20
ferences roughly corresponding to a critical bandwidth
(plusandminusa musicalminor third). The effect at -24

these frequency differences appears to be smaller.

-28
In contrast, in Fig. 5 the poststimulatory pitch shifts
are shown for an octave difference between leader and -32
standard tone. 'Two of the subjects show some pitch
shift, at least when the leader frequency is lower than -36

that of the standard(fs--fL positive). For onesubject

these smaller shifts are more persistent with time than -4O

the larger shifts observed at small frequency differ-

ences, andare of oppositesign ("pitch attraction" in-
stead of "pitch repulsion").
On the basis of this series of measurements, we con-
clude:
(1) The largest pitch shifts are obtained for very short
time intervals separating the leader and the standard--3
and 10 msec. The somewhat smaller pitch-shift
at AtLs=25msec is accompanied
by a smaller disper-
sion of pitch matches and is probably less influenced
by an admixture of forward masking. Therefore we de-
cided to use AtLs=25 msec for further tests.
(2) Most of the effect disappears for AtLsgreater than
500 msec. We decided that an interstimulus time
val betweenstandardandvariable (Atsv)of 500 msec
would be sufficient to prevent the variable tone from
being influenced by either the standard or the leader.
D. Experiment1: Dependence of pitchshiftson
frequencyseparation
betweenthe leadingandstandard
tones
For this experiment, durations of tones and intervals
were set according to the guidelines established in the
preliminary series of tests: leader tone at 500 msec,
-44
I I I I I I ,
3 10 25 100 500 1500
INTERVAL BETWEEN LEADER AND STANDARD
(•t L$in msec)
FIG. 3. Poststimulatory pitch shift as a function of the time
interval between the leader and the standard (At LS) for the
case in which the leader frequency is 12 Hz below (top portion)
effect or 12 Hz above(bottomportion)the standardfrequencyof 1000
Hz. Means and standard deviations (n = 16 adjustments) for
each of three experienced listeners.
standard and variable at 25 msec, leader-standard
interval of 25 msec, and standard-variable interval of
500 msec. The time paradigm used for each trial is
inter.- shown as an inset on the displays of results.
1. Large frequencydifferences
The dependence of poststimulatory pitch shifts on fre-
quency separation between leader and standard tones
was investigated for large frequency differences be-
tween these two tones. The frequency of the leader
ranged from one octave below to one octave above the
frequency of the standard. This two-octave range was
organized on a logarithmic frequency scale with partic-

469 J.Acoust.
Soc.Am.,Vol.68,No.2,August
1980 A. Rakowski
andI. J. Hirsh'Poststimulatory
pitchshifts 469

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 .,,

I I I I I 1
..
I I I I I I

44 [ l

4O I l

II
36 - _

32 ._ ½) fs = 1000Hz
fL = 841 Hz
--

28
- i) " fs-fL= 159Hz - ,,.? -1.2
I rs- fL = 500 -
24 -- ..
-

• -16,
()
..

2O _
-

16 '' --

'•. 4 fs - fL = - zooo _

• 0
;' - 4 _

•
---
i i I i
aT,
i -
-12 •
3 10
I
25
I
100
I
500 ]500
INTERVAL BETWEEN LEADER AND STANDARD
I
-

i (At
LS
in
msec
)
FIG. 5. Poststimulatorypitch shift as a functionof At• (as
in Fig. 3) for the case where the leader frequency is one octave
below (top portion) for one octave above (bottom portion) the
standard frequency of 1000 Hz. Means and standard deviations
(n = 16 adjustments)for each of three experienced listeners.

--
each block. The results are shownin Fig. 6. (For

•i•'' 3
, ,
]o 2s ]oo soo ]$oo
, , ,- the
combined
results
ofal!
contro!
matches
(i.e.,
no
!eader tone) included within each test block are shown
in the inset of this figure as means and standard devia-
INTERVAL
BETWEEN
LEADER ANDSTANDARD tions for 224 matches by each subject.
(At in msec )
L$ Poststimulatory
pitchshiftsin mostcasesseemto be
FIG. 4. 1)oststimulatory
pitchshiftas a function
of At us (as in the direction of pitch repulsion. Pitch attraction is
in Fig.3)forthecase
wheretheleader
is159Hzbelow
or shown
bytwoofthesubjects
onlyat leaderfrequencies
189Hzabove thestandard
frequency
of1000
Hz. Means
and considerably
lowerthanthestandard.At leaderfre-
standard
deviations
(n=16
adjustments)
perienced listeners. foreach
ofthree
ex- quencies
higher
than
thestandard
(leftside
ofFig.6),
the pitch-repulsion effect seems to be limited to the
ular values corresponding to arbitrarily chosen musical critical bandwidth. On the right side of the figure,
intervals between standard and leader frequencies. where the leader frequencyis lower thanthe standard,
These
intervals,
taken
symmetrically
inbothdirections thesituation
seems
tobemorecomplex;
theeffectis
from
thestandard
frequency,
1000Hz,were:quarter- generally stronger and (atleas[ fortwoofthesubjects)
extends to larger frequency ratios. It is clear here that
tones(corresponding
to frequencydifferencesfS--fL
equal
+28and-29 Hz),semitones
(frequency
differences
large individual
eral trends.
differences
aresuperimposed
ongen-
+56 and-59 Hz), minor thirds (frequencydifferences
+159 and -189 Hz), tritones (frequencydifferences +293
and-414Hz), majorsixths(frequency
differences
+405 2. Small
frequency
differences
and-682Hz)andoctaves (frequency
differences
+500 Thesharpdiscontinuity
in theresults
of Fig.6 near
and-1000Hz). Additionally
twolargeintervals,
with fs-fL=0suggested
measurement offrequency
dependence
standardfrequencyhigherthanthat of a leaderby a of poststimulatory
pitchshifts in more detail. A second
minoror majorseventh
(+439and+471Hz), werein- setof measurements
wascarriedout, thistimefor
cludedin the blockto investigatemore closelythe ap- small frequencydifferencesbetweenthe leader andthe
pearance of "pitch attraction" shownby two of the lis- standard tones.
teners.
Nine or ten values of [s-f•. ranging from -12 to +12 Hz
All 14 tonalpatternswere randomlypresentedwithin were selected.Thesevalues,chosenonthebasisof

470 J.Acoust.
Soc.Am.,Vol.68,No.2,August
1980 A.Rakowski
andI.J.Hirsh'Poststimulatory
pitch
shifts 470

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 I I I I I II II I [ I I I I I

t6
-
.

L $ V
[ [ [--] I--] ,r-- t--'
12

8
_ 500
2525 msec
.
25 500 1000

fs" 1'000Hz
4 -

.E FIG. 6. Poststimulatory

i
o
t - pitch shift as a function of the
frequency difference between
the standard and leader tones
• ,
for a fixed time interval be-
ß

- tween leader and standard of

25 msec. Means and stand-
ard deviations (n= 16 adjust-
• -8 . Controls( NoL)
ments) for each of three ex-
perienced listeners.
-!2
- HZO
-16 .

Oct
I
M6
I
T
I
m3
I
i
Sem Sem m3
I
-2- T M6m7 M7 Oct

-!000 -682 -4!4 •.•9•/ '••__.•5..• 293 405

439
47]
500
-59 -29 _1.2 o 1.2 28 56

fs- fL (Hz)
preliminary testing, were tested becausewe were par- Means and standard deviations for the control trials
ticularly interested in investigatingpoststimulatory are shown in the inset of Fig. 7. They are based on 144
pitch shifts in individuallisteners at thosefrequency matches for two of the listeners, and 160 matches for
combinationswhere most rapid changesof the effect the third, and indicate continuedconsistencyof adjust-
could be expected. ment for all subjects.

The results shownin Fig. 7, separately for each sub-

3. Replications
of themeasurements
afterfivemonths
ject, are in goodagreementwith thosepresentedin Fig.
3. At afrequencydifferenceof 12 Hz the pitch of a stan- In order to investigate stability of the observed effect,
dard-tonepulse is pushedawayfrom that of the leader. measurements with two of the three listeners were re-
At zero frequencydifference, the directionof the pitch peated after aboutfive months. Six of the values of
shift varies among listeners, but for each listener the frequencydifferencebetweenleader andstandard, rang-
effect remains consistent. On the basis of the results ing from -12 to +12 Hz, were tested, in additionto val-
obtained for the whole set of selected values Offs--fL, it ues at octave separations. All eight frequency separa-
is possibleto draw an individual curve of the poststim- tions were tested within blocks until 16 experimental
ulatory pitch shift for each listener. trials and 16 control trials had been collected for each

m m r-- t --. II I II Controls

(NoL)
500 25 25 msec

205002]5500251000
msec FIG. 7. Poststimulatory
pitch shift as a function of
small frequency differences
between standard and leader
tones. The means and stand-
ard deviations (n= 16 adjust-
ments) are plotted separately
for each of three experienced
listeners.

,,,
-12 -8 -4 0 4 8
I ,II_I , I ,
fs- fL ( HZ)

471 J.Acoust.
Soc.Am.,Vol.68,No.2,August
1980 A. Rakowski
andI. J.Hirsh:Poststimulatory
pitchshifts 471

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 data point.
The results of the new measurements
quencydifferencesonly are presentedin Fig. 8 (filled
symbols), together with the results of the original ser-
ies (opensymbols) from Fig. 7. (Performance on the
octave separations is not includedhere.) Comparison
of the two sets for each subject.showsgoodagreement
from test to retest. The correlation
puted for the raw data is 0.79 for subjectAR (circles),
and 0.72 for subject LC (triangles). The correlation
coefficient computedfor the means are 0.98 (AR) and
0.96 (LC). These computationsinclude data for the oc-
tave separations.
Means and standard deviations for 16 matches per
data point are shown in Fig. 9. As might have been ex-
for small fre-
pected, taking into account the difficulty of the task and
the limited experience of the subjects, dispersion of re-
sults and individual differences are great; however, the
pitch shifts indicated in Fig. 9 for the most part resem-
ble the effects demonstrated with experienced subjects
(as in Fig. 6). Indeed, if we average the results of all
coefficient com-
three naive subjects, the general tendency of pitch
shifts becomes clearly visible. This group of listeners,
then, agrees with the musicians that when the leader
frequency is higher than the following standard, pitch
of the second tone is inclined to shift downward.

E. Experiment 2' Poststimulatorypitch shifts in tuning

4. Measurements with inexperienced subjects
musical intervals
All results described so far were obtained with care-
Some phenomenaof musical perception might be af-
fully selected and musically trained subjects. The
fected by poststimulatory pitch shift. One such effect
training included years of processing musical sequences,
reportedby Rakowski(1976)is the generaltendencyof
years in psychoacoustic experiments, and about five
musicians to tune large pure-tone intervals within an
weeks in this particular task. We were curious to com-
octave generally larger, and small intervals generally
pare their performance with results from average,
smaller than wouldbe predicted by equal temperament
nonmusical listeners after limited laboratory training.
or other musical tuning systems. In order to investi-
Three new, audiometrically normal subjects were sel-
gate this effect further, the following experiment was
ected. Two of them (CF and LR) had limited laboratory
designed.
experience as subjects in various tasks, not including
frequencydiscrimination. The third subject(MJ) had The three musically experienced subjects who par-
no laboratory experience of any kind. The subjects were ticipated in the first experiment listened to a contin-
given minimum training in these experimental tasks-- uously alternating series of two tones. The first pulse
four training sessions. in the series was 500 msec long and was followed after
10 msecby anotherpulse, 25 mseclong, whosefrequen-
After four training sessions, the series of measure-
cy was under the control of a subject. The series was
ments used in experiment 1 was begun. The series was
repeated after 1000 msec. The subject's task was to
prepared and tested exactly as with the experienced
tune the frequency of the secondpulse in such a way as
listeners except that ZXtLS
was reduced to 10 msec. Nine to produce a stipulated musical interval between the two
values of frequency difference between leading and stan-
tones. Before each setting, the frequency of the first
dard-tone frequency ranged from an octave below to an
tone was set at such a value that tuning the interval up-
octave above and included a zero-frequency difference.
wards according to an equally tempered scale would
Frequency combinations were randomized within each
have resulted in the secondtone frequency being set at
block, and interspersed with control trials.
1000 Hz (withinñ15 Hz followingthe rovingstandard
i I
technique).
L
' S
' V' I
24 •--- t.__ • Controls
500 25 25 IT1SeC
ti /i , , II , II ,

60
1• I ' •
2O 25 500 1000 Hz 0 L S V
-2
I•1 I'-I I-I ;-- t ----
500 25 25 rnsec
N 16- T 40- 10 500 1000
._c 12
x
, 8

-r- o, 0
o -4

-8
-20
-12

-16
t i

-12 -6-3 0 6
I

12 -12 -6 0 6 9 12
-
-40

-60
fs- fL (Hz)
' ;!-189
-1000 ' /!- 29• - 12• 0 •
12 • I/ 159
28 ' '' s/--•oo
FIG. 8. Poststimulatory pitch shift as a function of small dif-
ferences between leader and standard tones. The open sym-
fs- fL ( Hz)
bols repeat the data of Fig. 7, while the closed symbols show FIG. 9. Poststimulatorypitch shift as a functionof frequency
means and standard deviations for another 16 adjustments differencesof standardand leader tonesfor three inexperi-
on two experienced listeners, measured five months later. encedlisteners (n--16 adjustments). Comparewith Fig. 6.

472 J. Acoust.Soc.Am., Vol. 68, No. 2, August1980 A. Rakowski and I. J. Hirsh' Poststimulatory pitch shifts 472

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 Four musical intervals were selected for testing:
octave (frequencyof the first tone 500 Hz ñ 15 Hz, a
major sixth (595 Hz+.15 Hz), a tritone (707 Hz + 15 Hz),
a minor third (841 Hz + 15 Hz), a semitone (944 Hz + 15
Hz) and a unison (1000 Hz+. 15 Hz). The intervals were
tuned by the subjects in random order (instructions
givenbefore eachtrial) during the subsequent
experi-
mental sessions until ,a total of 10 judgments for each
leader frequency had been completed.
In order to evaluate how much the expected shifts
from equal-tempered intervals could have been caused
by poststimulatory pitch shifts and how much they were
due to other factors, a control series of measurements
was performed. The temporal relations in this series
were arranged to exclude the poststimulatory effect of
the first tone upon the second tone, by making both
pulses the same duration (25 msec) and separating
them by a 500-msec interstimulus interval.
The results of both tests are presented together in
Fig. 10. Means and standard deviations for 10 trials
per interval are shown for each subject. Open symbols
correspond to the series with a longer duration of the
first tone (500 msec) and shorter interstimulus time
interval (10 msec).
The tuning of intervals, like the pitch matching in the
previous experiments, shows the effects of a consider-
able pitch shift of the secondtone at certain frequency
separations of leader and standard. The effect of post-
stimulatory pitch shift can be seen in Fig. 10 most
clearly for the results of tuning small intervals. In
tuning, e.g., a semitone upward, the subject would pre-
sumably perceive the pitch of the standard tone higher
as a result of the effect of pitch repulsion exerted by the
leading, longer tone. Perhaps, then, in order to com-
pensate for this effect and to tune the interval according
40 • • i i
$oo
I-[-I
10
25
20 500
o 10
-3O Musicol intervols to be tuned upwords
Oct M6 T The same sort of mechanism may explain the apparent
-40 500m j)
5 5 I
707
fL (Hz)
FIG. 10. Errors in musical-interval tuning, shown as devia-
tions from the equal-temperament values of musical intervals
by three experienced musician listeners. The open and closed
symbols refer to two different temporal relations between the
first, or lower, tone and the second variable tone. The tar-
get intervals are scaled on the abscissa from right to left by
size of the musical interval and also (below) as the frequency
of the lower tone. Means and standard
ings.
473 J.Acoust.
Soc.Am.,Vol.68,No.2, August
1980
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an to a pattern stored in memory, the musical subject
actually lowe•'s the frequency of the variable tone. The
pattern of change would remain even if the ordinate
scale were shifted slightly from equal temperament, to
tuning more appropriate to each listener's instrument.
A comparable effect, to a lesser extent and in the op-
posite direction, may be observed in Fig. 10 for the oc-
tave interval. Note also that the results obtained with
this paradigm in the "unison" conditions correspond to
poststimulatorypitch shifts in controltrials (nofrequen-
cy difference betweenleader and standard, as in Fig. 7).
IV. DISCUSSION
The principal findingsof the present report (1) con-
firm previous observations that a stimulating tone may
affect the judged pitch of a tone that follows, (2) ex-
tend those observations to include details about the time
course of the effect and the frequency relations of the
stimulating or leading tone to the subsequent tone to
be judged, and (3) provide an example in which this
poststimulatory pitch shift has a predictable effect on
judgments of musical intervals.
The pitch of a brief 1000-Hz tone appears to be pushed
upward (i.e., matched to a frequency some 10 Hz
greater) when it is preceded by a leading tone of slight-
ly lower frequency. The shift increases as the dura-
tion of the leader increases up to about 500 msec, after
which our observations suggest there is no further in-
crease out to 4 sec, and indeed, according to Larkin
(19'/8), perhaps out to as long as three minutes. At
very short durations of the leading tone (i.e., 25 msec,
see Fig. 2), there is some evidencefor a pitch shift in
the opposite direction.
The poststimulatory pitch shift decreases as a func-
tion of time after the leading tone is turned off. The ef-
i
fect is maximum at very brief intervals, and decreases
25
F• F-- (• •o) reaching essentially a no-shift value at between 100 and
1000 msec
25
500 msec (Figs. 3 and 4) for small values of frequency
1000 msec
difference between the leading tone and the standard
tone.
A place mechanism for pitch, where the excitation
pattern due to stimulation by the leading tone remains
TT TTT for a short time after cessation of the physical stimulus,
might be convenient for explaining the poststimulatory
pitch shift and related phenomena. If, while excitation
continues, a new pitch-carrying stimulus arrives, its
normal maximum point of excitation might be shifted
away from the region of the previous excitation pattern.
841 944 1000 pitch shifts of a tone partially masked by narrow-band
noise when compared with an equally loud unmasked tone
in the same ear (Egan and Meyer, 1950). Egan and Mey-
er referred to this as a kind of"adaptation" phenomenon;
we are inclined to agree with Larkin (19'/8) and Kanis-
tanaux and Hartmann (19'/9) that a preceding or leading
tone can similarly affect the excitation pattern of a test
tone.
deviations of ten tun- There are two observations that may make such an
explanation unacceptable. First, we should remember
A. Rakowski
andI. J. Hirsh'Poststimulatory
pitchshifts 473
 that Christman and Williams (1963) and Larkin (19'/8)
observed the same magnitude of shift, in the same direc-
tion, even though the leading tones were much longer
than ours (one or three minutes as opposedto 500 msec).
The effects of a process such as adaptation should in-
crease with the total energy in the adapting stimulus
(more energy in 3-minute tone than in 500-msec tone),
although it is conceivable that an asymptote would be
reached with our '/0 dB SPL 500-msec tone which would
last out to Larkin's 3-minute durations. A second point
involves interaction of adaptation and contrast, illus-
trated by the performance on one of our inexperienced
subjects. This observer could not distinguish the sep-
arate pitches of the leading and standard tones when the
tones were equal in level. When the leading tone was
reduced by 20 dB, however, she could both separate
the pitches and reveal the shift: apparently there is
a complicated interaction between a phenomenon such
as adaptation on the one hand and perceptual enhance-
ment related to contrast on the other.
V. CONCLUSIONS
Poststimulatory pitch shifts may play an important
role in pitch discrimination tasks (see, for example,
the effects of leading tones in Ronken, 19•2 and in Wro-
ton and Watson, 1974, and submitted), and also in ex-
periments concerning the construction of pitch scales,
time error in pitch perception, perception of tonal
glides and evaluation of the size of musical intervals.
The importance of this phenomenon in affecting some
aspectsof musical practice (like dictation, successive
tuning) is suggestedby the results of the secondexperi-
ment.
While the origins of poststimulatory pitch shift are
still not fully understood, the effects seem to be both
significant and replicable. They are related to the dur-
ationsof the stimuli, to durationsof interveningsilent
intervals, and to the frequency separation of the stimu-
li.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical as-
sistance of Dr. Larry Robinerie, the critical reading of
Dr. Patrick Zurek and the editorial collaboration of
Dr. Judith Lauter. Support of the work was provided by
the Program Project Grant NS 03856 from the National
Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders
and Stroke to the Central Institute for the Deaf.
474 J. Acoust.Soc.Am., Vol. 68, No. 2, August1980
Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://acousticalsociety.org/content/terms. Download to IP: 129.21.35.191 On: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 07:06:11
1Thisfrequency
difference
actuallyvariedrandomly
by +6 Hz
aroundthe value + 28 Hz to avoid memory effects of a fixed
pitch. The "roving standard"techniqueused in this case was
not essentialin anyof the other experimentswherefrequency
of the leader varies randomly.
2possible
influences
of forwardmasking
withthisseparation
will be discussed later.
3"Pitch
repulsion"
referstothedirection
of pitchshiftre, the
leader tone. If the leader is 972 Hz (thefixed value here),
and the standard is 1000 Hz (fixed here), and a listener sets
the variableto 1005Hz (thusfv-fs = 1005-1000=+ 5 Hz),
this is termed "pitchrepulsion"sincethe listener's judg-
mentpointsawayfrom the frequencyof the leader: fL 972,
fs 1000, fV 1005. If the variable were set at 995 Hz, toward
the leader, this would be called "pitch attraction."
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the time interval on experimentally induced shifts of pitch,"
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 35, 1030-1033.
Egan, J.P., and Meyer, D. R. (1950). "Changes of pitch of
tones of low frequency as a function of the pattern of excita-
tion produced by a band of noise," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 22,
827-833.
Hartmann, W. M., and Blumenstock, B. J. (1976). "Time de-
pendence of pitch perception--pitch step experiment," J.
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Jaroszewski, A., and Rakowski, A. (1976). "Pitch shifts 'in
post-stimulatory masking, "Acustica 34, 220-223.
Kanistanaux, D.C., and Hartmann, W. M. (1979). "On the
shift of a sine tone caused by a preceding tone," J. Acoust.
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dary masking effects (Pitch shifts in post-stimulatory mask-
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Ronken,
D. A. (1972)."Changes
in frequency
discrimination
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A. Rakowski
andI. J. Hirsh: Poststimulatory
pitchshifts 474