Frequency discrimination of single-, double-, and triple-cycle sinusoidal acoustic signals.

Very short acoustic signals in the frequency range from 256-2048 Hz consisting of only one, two, or three sinusoidal cycles are examined. Although they are recognized as clicks, they can be distinguished by pitch. Frequency difference limens of these signals are in the order of 1-2 semitones. A tonal character of these short tones appears only with a longer signal, and is linked closer with the duration than with the number of periods.