title: Pitch priming in sequences of two sounds.
abstract: Frequency discrimination limens (FDLs) were measured for pairs of stimuli differing from each other with respect to pitch salience. One of the two stimuli to be compared within a trial was a pure tone of at least 100 ms, evoking a salient pitch, while the other stimulus consisted of only eight sinusoidal cycles (experiment 1), or was a noise band with a Gaussian spectral envelope, evoking a weak pitch corresponding to the peak frequency (experiment 2). From trial to trial, frequency was varied randomly and widely. In both experiments, the FDLs were lower, by an average factor of about 3, when the stimulus with the more salient pitch preceded the other stimulus than vice versa. Evidence is presented against an interpretation of this temporal asymmetry in terms of memory limitations. It is suggested that the asymmetry reflects a pitch-priming effect. In two additional experiments, both of the stimuli to be compared within a trial were very short tone bursts or noise bands; perceptually, they differed only with respect to pitch height. Performance was markedly better than in experiments 1 and 2, and was not improved when the two stimuli were preceded by a 300-ms tone intended to produce pitch priming.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Université de Bordeaux, 146 rue Leo Saignat, F-33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Demany
authors.affiliation: Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Université de Bordeaux, 146 rue Leo Saignat, F-33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lucas
authors.affiliation: Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Université de Bordeaux, 146 rue Leo Saignat, F-33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Semal