A Psychophysical Pitch Function Determined by Absolute Magnitude Estimation and Its Relation to the Musical Pitch Scale

A psychophysical pitch function, describing the relation of perceived magnitude of pitch to the frequency of a pure tone, was determined by absolute magnitude estimation. Pitch estimates were made by listeners with relative pitch and by absolute pitch possessors for 27 tones spanning a frequency range of 31.5-12,500 Hz in 1/3 octave steps. Results show that the pitch function, plotted in log-log coordinates, is steeper below 200 Hz than at higher frequencies. It is hypothesized that the pitch function's bend may reflect the diversity of neurophysiological mechanisms of pitch encoding in frequency ranges below and above 200 Hz. The variation of the function's slope implies that pitch distances between tones with the same frequency ratios are perceived as larger below 200 Hz than at higher frequencies. It is argued that this implication may apply only to a purely sensory concept of pitch distance and cannot be extended to the perception of musical intervals, a phenomenon governed by musical cognitive principles. The results also show that pitch functions obtained for listeners with relative and absolute pitch have a similar shape, which means that quantitative pitch relations determined for both groups of listeners do not differ appreciably along the frequency scale.