Musicians are typically considered to exhibit exceptional auditory
skills. Only few studies, however, have substantiated this in basic
psychoacoustic tasks. The purpose of the present investigation was
to expand our knowledge on basic auditory abilities of musicians
compared to non-musicians. Specific goals were: (1) to compare frequency
discrimination thresholds (difference limen for frequency DLF)
of non-musical pure tones in controlled groups of professional musicians
and non-musicians; (2) to relate DLF performance to musical background;
and (3) to compare DLF thresholds obtained with two threshold estimation
procedures: 2- and 3- interval forced choice procedures (2IFC and
3IFC). Subjects were 16 professional musicians and 14 non-musicians.
DLFs were obtained for three frequencies (0.25, 1 and 1.5 kHz) using
the 3IFC adaptive procedure, and for one frequency (1 kHz) also using
the 2IFC. Three threshold estimates were obtained for each frequency,
procedure and subject. The results of the present study support five
major findings: (a) mean DLFs for musicians were approximately half
the values of the non-musicians; (b) significant learning for both
groups during the three threshold estimations; (c) classical musicians
performed better than those with contemporary musical background;
(d) performance was influenced by years of musical experience; and
(e) both groups showed better DLF in a 2IFC paradigm compared to
the 3IFC. These data highlight the importance of short-term training
on an auditory task, auditory memory and factors related to musical
background (such as musical genre and years of experience) on auditory
performance.
%0 Journal Article
%1 Kishon-Rabin2001
%A Kishon-Rabin, Liat
%A Amir, Ofer
%A Vexler, Y
%A Zaltz, Y
%D 2001
%J Journal of Basic and Clinical Physiology and Pharmacology
%K Acoustic Discrimination,Pitch Discrimination: Stimulation,Adult,Audiometry,Auditory Style,Male,Music,Occupations,Pitch Threshold,Auditory Threshold,Differential Threshold: physiology,Differential physiology,Education,Humans,Life physiology,Pure-Tone,music,musicality,perception,pitch
%N 2 Suppl
%P 125--43
%T Pitch discrimination: are professional musicians better than non-musicians?
%U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11605682
%V 12
%X Musicians are typically considered to exhibit exceptional auditory
skills. Only few studies, however, have substantiated this in basic
psychoacoustic tasks. The purpose of the present investigation was
to expand our knowledge on basic auditory abilities of musicians
compared to non-musicians. Specific goals were: (1) to compare frequency
discrimination thresholds (difference limen for frequency DLF)
of non-musical pure tones in controlled groups of professional musicians
and non-musicians; (2) to relate DLF performance to musical background;
and (3) to compare DLF thresholds obtained with two threshold estimation
procedures: 2- and 3- interval forced choice procedures (2IFC and
3IFC). Subjects were 16 professional musicians and 14 non-musicians.
DLFs were obtained for three frequencies (0.25, 1 and 1.5 kHz) using
the 3IFC adaptive procedure, and for one frequency (1 kHz) also using
the 2IFC. Three threshold estimates were obtained for each frequency,
procedure and subject. The results of the present study support five
major findings: (a) mean DLFs for musicians were approximately half
the values of the non-musicians; (b) significant learning for both
groups during the three threshold estimations; (c) classical musicians
performed better than those with contemporary musical background;
(d) performance was influenced by years of musical experience; and
(e) both groups showed better DLF in a 2IFC paradigm compared to
the 3IFC. These data highlight the importance of short-term training
on an auditory task, auditory memory and factors related to musical
background (such as musical genre and years of experience) on auditory
performance.
@article{Kishon-Rabin2001,
abstract = {Musicians are typically considered to exhibit exceptional auditory
skills. Only few studies, however, have substantiated this in basic
psychoacoustic tasks. The purpose of the present investigation was
to expand our knowledge on basic auditory abilities of musicians
compared to non-musicians. Specific goals were: (1) to compare frequency
discrimination thresholds (difference limen for frequency [DLF])
of non-musical pure tones in controlled groups of professional musicians
and non-musicians; (2) to relate DLF performance to musical background;
and (3) to compare DLF thresholds obtained with two threshold estimation
procedures: 2- and 3- interval forced choice procedures (2IFC and
3IFC). Subjects were 16 professional musicians and 14 non-musicians.
DLFs were obtained for three frequencies (0.25, 1 and 1.5 kHz) using
the 3IFC adaptive procedure, and for one frequency (1 kHz) also using
the 2IFC. Three threshold estimates were obtained for each frequency,
procedure and subject. The results of the present study support five
major findings: (a) mean DLFs for musicians were approximately half
the values of the non-musicians; (b) significant learning for both
groups during the three threshold estimations; (c) classical musicians
performed better than those with contemporary musical background;
(d) performance was influenced by years of musical experience; and
(e) both groups showed better DLF in a 2IFC paradigm compared to
the 3IFC. These data highlight the importance of short-term training
on an auditory task, auditory memory and factors related to musical
background (such as musical genre and years of experience) on auditory
performance.},
added-at = {2011-03-27T17:20:41.000+0200},
author = {Kishon-Rabin, Liat and Amir, Ofer and Vexler, Y and Zaltz, Y},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/216828f6028678583cdc42ad0a68f685d/yevb0},
interhash = {286a7b2e02b1ba4bc6ed5b31605ac0df},
intrahash = {16828f6028678583cdc42ad0a68f685d},
issn = {0792-6855},
journal = {Journal of Basic and Clinical Physiology and Pharmacology},
keywords = {Acoustic Discrimination,Pitch Discrimination: Stimulation,Adult,Audiometry,Auditory Style,Male,Music,Occupations,Pitch Threshold,Auditory Threshold,Differential Threshold: physiology,Differential physiology,Education,Humans,Life physiology,Pure-Tone,music,musicality,perception,pitch},
mendeley-tags = {music,musicality,perception,pitch},
month = jan,
number = {2 Suppl},
pages = {125--43},
timestamp = {2011-03-27T17:20:56.000+0200},
title = {Pitch discrimination: are professional musicians better than non-musicians?},
url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11605682},
volume = 12,
year = 2001
}