Short-Term Retention of Pitch Sequence

Abstract

This research focused on short-term memory (STM) and the extent to which pitch sequence length and pitch position within a sequence affect the amount of pitch information losi between offset of the stimulus and the time of perceptual report. Loss of pitch information in STM was shown as a result of increased time before recall, the position of a pitch within a sequence (recency > primacy > center), and the increased length of a sequence. It was also demonstrated that loss of pitch information due to an increased number of pitch items stored in STM was dependent upon the amount of time before report. Moreover, time was shown to be a selective function depending upon the pitch position in a melodic sequence. Implications were indicated for research design in several areas. These included music perception, pedagogical and measurement techniques in eartraining instruction, and programed instruction design in melodic dictation and sight-singing.