Dowling W J
Program in Applied Cognition and Neuroscience, University of Texas, Dallas, Richardson 75083-0688.
Percept Psychophys. 1991 Oct;50(4):305-13. doi: 10.3758/bf03212222.
In a continuous-running-memory task, subjects heard novel seven-note melodies that were tested after delays of 11 sec (empty) or 39 sec (filled). Test items were transposed to new pitch levels (to moderately distant keys in the musical sense) and included exact transpositions (targets), same-contour lures with altered pitch intervals, and new-contour lures. Melodies differed in tonal strength (degree of conformity to a musical key) and were tonally strong, tonally weak, or atonal. False alarms to same-contour lures decreased over the longer delay period, but only for tonal stimuli. In agreement with previous studies, discrimination of detailed changes in pitch intervals improved with increased delay, whereas discrimination of more global contour information declined, again only for tonal stimuli. These results suggest that poor short-delay performance in rejecting same-contour lures arises from confusion that is based on the similarity of tonality between standard stimuli and lures. If a test item has the same contour and a similar tonality to a just-presented item, subjects tend to accept it. After a delay filled with melodies in other tonalities, the salience of key information recedes, and subjects base their judgments on more detailed pattern information (namely, exact pitch intervals). The fact that tonality affects judgments of melodic contour indicates that contour is not an entirely separable feature of melodies but rather that a melody with its contour constitutes an integrated perceptual whole.
在一项连续运行记忆任务中，受试者聆听新颖的七音符旋律，并在延迟11秒（空白）或39秒（填充）后进行测试。测试项目被转调到新的音高等级（在音乐意义上转调到适度较远的调），并包括精确转调（目标）、音程改变的相同轮廓诱饵以及新轮廓诱饵。旋律在调性强度（与调的符合程度）上有所不同，分为调性强、调性弱或无调性。对相同轮廓诱饵的误报在较长延迟期内减少，但仅针对调性刺激。与先前的研究一致，音程详细变化的辨别随着延迟增加而改善，而更整体的轮廓信息辨别则下降，同样仅针对调性刺激。这些结果表明，在拒绝相同轮廓诱饵时短延迟表现不佳是由于基于标准刺激和诱饵之间调性相似性的混淆。如果一个测试项目与刚呈现的项目具有相同轮廓和相似调性，受试者往往会接受它。在充满其他调性旋律的延迟之后，调信息的显著性降低，受试者基于更详细的模式信息（即精确音程）进行判断。调性影响旋律轮廓判断这一事实表明，轮廓不是旋律的一个完全可分离的特征，而是具有其轮廓的旋律构成一个综合的感知整体。
