http://popups.lib.uliege.be/1373-5411/index.php?id=4097 Index terms fr 0 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/1373-5411/index.php?id=1549 A number of recent articles have demonstrated the existence of widely held misperceptions and misunderstandings about the nature of "absolute pitch." Fundamentally, absolute pitch is a cognitive ability that relies on self-referencing (to an internalized pitch template), and a highly developed coding mechanism that links verbal labels with abstract representations of perceptual input. Many researchers in genetics, cybernetics, and other fields (e.g. Baharloo, et al., 1998; Drayna, 1998) labor under the misconception that absolute pitch involves more highly developed perceptual mechanisms, whereas the preponderance of evidence is that absolute pitch ability is an ability of long term memory and linguistic coding (Levitin, 1996). Further, many equate "absolute pitch" with "perfect pitch" whereas in fact, absolute pitch possessors do not perceive pitch any better than non-absolute pitch possessors. In this paper, I will review what is known about absolute pitch, correct common and pervasive misconceptions, and present new data on the nature of absolute pitch from our psychoacoustics laboratory. I also discuss why absolute pitch is of interest to cognitive psychologists, philosophers of mind, linguists, and cyberneticists, in terms of what the ability reveals about the processing, coding, and memory functions of human beings. Finally, I propose the first arguments toward a coherent theory of absolute pitch ability. Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:50:17 +0200 Mon, 07 Oct 2024 15:46:39 +0200 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/1373-5411/index.php?id=1549 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/1373-5411/index.php?id=1546 « Tone deafness » is a term that tends to be applied indiscriminately to a constellation of musical processing, perceptual, and production deficits. It has been estimated that 3 - 10% of the population are tone deaf (Cox, 1947; Joyner, 1968). Tone deafness can result from organic trauma (in which case the term "amusia" is often applied) or from some as-yet-unknown combination of genetic, neurochemical and environmental (i.e., learning) factors. Although the medical term "amusia" was first applied over a century ago (Edgren, 1895) the various forms of the syndrome have not been systematically classified. Preliminary research suggests that at least some of those individuals who are labeled as tone deaf lack the cognitive structures necessary to anticipate musical tonality and harmony; or lack internal self-referencing tonal schema within which to understand, process, and remember musical material. In this paper, I propose a taxonomic system for classifying the various forms of tone deafness, as a precis to new empirical research. First, I propose that tone deafness can be grouped according to four different deficits: production deficits, perceptual deficits, memory deficits, and deficits in symbolic manipulation (either music reading or writing). Among the medically documented deficits is a condition that parallels "pure word deafness" in which the subject can perceive sound, but is unable to recognize any musical or melodic qualities. Within each of these deficit families, I propose a number of specific deficits with varying causes, and describe tests that can determine the nature of a given individual's deficits. The present work, in addition to providing a formal theoretical structure within which to think about musical processing, also has relevance for artificial intelligence researchers attempting to model human cognition and music processing. Specifically, the study of individuals with tone deafness presents us with a window into the neural mechanisms of musical processing, revealing evidence for which sub-processes might be modular, and which might be interlinked Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:44:40 +0200 Mon, 07 Oct 2024 15:05:03 +0200 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/1373-5411/index.php?id=1546