Memory for pitch and music
 IntroductionTechnical NoteMemory for pitch and musicOctave illusionScale illusion |
Chromatic illusionGlissando illusionTritone paradoxMysterious melodyCambiata illusion |
Deutsch carries out work on memory for pitch and music from several perspectives. Much of her present work concerns absolute pitch – why some people possess it, and why it is so rare. In particular, based on its high prevalence among speakers of tone language, she hypothesizes that absolute pitch originally evolved to subserve speech, and that it may be readily acquired by the association of pitches with meaningful words very early in life, during the critical period in which infants acquire the main features of their native language.
In other experiments, Deutsch examines the nature of the system underlying short term memory for pitch. Her work has shown that this system is precisely and systematically organized, in several ways along the same lines as the system that processes pitch information at the incoming level.
In further work, Deutsch has proposed and tested models of how the brain represents and stores musical information at various levels of abstraction. This involves both low-level abstractions such as musical intervals and chords, and also high-level abstractions in which pitch patterns are projected onto overlearned alphabets that are organized in hierarchical fashion.
Perfect Pitch / Absolute Pitch
Deutsch, D., Henthorn, T. and Dolson, M. Absolute pitch is demonstrated in speakers of tone languages. Journal of Acoustical Society of America, 1999, 106, 2267.
Deutsch, D. The Puzzle of Absolute Pitch. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2002, 11, 200-204.
Deutsch, D., Henthorn T. and Dolson, M. Absolute pitch, speech, and tone language: Some experiments and a proposed framework. Music Perception, 2004, 21, 339-356.
Deutsch, D., Henthorn, T., Marvin, E. and Xu H-S. Tone language and absolute pitch: Prevalence among American and Chinese conservatory students. Journal of Acoustical Society of America, 2004, 116, 2580.
Deutsch, D., Henthorn, T., Marvin, E., & Xu H-S. Absolute pitch among American and Chinese conservatory students: Prevalence differences, and evidence for a speech-related critical period. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2006, 119, 719-722.
Deutsch, D. The Enigma of Absolute Pitch. Acoustics Today, 2006, 2, 11-19.
Henthorn, T. & Deutsch, D. Ethnicity versus Early Environment: Comment on 'Early childhood music education and predisposition to absolute pitch: Teasing apart genes and environment' by Peter K. Gregersen, Elena Kowalsky, Nina Kohn, and Elizabeth West Marvin (2000). American Journal of Medical Genetics, 2007, 143A, 102-103.
Deutsch, D. Dislocation of Tones in a Musical Sequence: a Memory Illusion. Nature, 1970, 226, p. 286. [PDF Document]
Deutsch, D. Tones and Numbers: Specificity of interference in short-term memory. Science, 1970, 168, 1604-1605. [PDF Document]
Deutsch, D. Octave generalization and tune recognition Perception & Psychophysics, 1972, 11, 411-412. [PDF Document]
Deutsch, D. Mapping of interactions in the pitch memory store. Science, 1972, 175, 1020-1022. [PDF Document]
Deutsch, D. Effect of repetition of standard and comparison tones on recognition memory for pitch. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1972, 93, 156-162. [PDF Document]
Deutsch, D. Octave generalization of specific interference effects in memory for tonal pitch. Perception & Psychophysics, 1973, 13, 271-175.
Deutsch, D Interference in memory between tones adjacent in the musical scale. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1973, 100, 228-231.
Deutsch, D. Generality of interference by tonal stimuli in recognition memory for pitch. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1974, 26, 229-234.
Deutsch, D., & Roll, P. L. Error patterns in delayed pitch comparison as a function of relational context. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1974, 103, 1027-1034.
Deutsch, D. The organization of short-term memory for a single acoustic attribute. In D. Deutsch & J. A. Deutsch (Eds.), Short-term memory. New York: Academic Press, 1975. l07-l51. [PDF Document]
Deutsch, D. Facilitation by repetition in recognition memory for tonal pitch. Memory & Cognition, 1975, 3, 263-266.
Deutsch, D. Auditory memory. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 1975, 29, 87-105.
Deutsch, D. & Feroe, J. Disinhibition in pitch memory. Perception and Psychophysics, 1975, 17, 320-324. [PDF Document]
Deutsch, D. Memory and attention in music. In M. Critchley & R. A. Henson (Eds.). Music and the brain, London: Heinemann, 1977. 95-130.
Deutsch, D. Interactive effects in memory for harmonic intervals. Perception & Psychophysics, 1978, 24, 7-10.
Deutsch, D. Pitch memory; An advantage for the lefthanded. Science, 1978, 199, 559-560. [PDF Document]
Deutsch, D. Interference in pitch memory as a function of ear of input. Quarterly Journal of experimental Psychology, 1978, 30, 283-287. [PDF Document]
Deutsch. D. Delayed pitch comparisons and the principle of proximity. Perception & Psychophysics, 1978, 23, 227-230. [PDF Document]
Deutsch, D. Handedness and memory for tonal pitch. In J. Herron (Ed.), Neuropsychology of Lefthandedness, Academic Press, 1980, 263-272. [PDF Document]
Deutsch, D. The influence of melodic context on pitch recognition judgment. Perception & Psychophysics, 1982, 31, 407-410.
Deutsch, D. The processing of pitch combinations. In D. Deutsch (Ed.) The Psychology of Music. 2nd. Edition. 1999, San Diego: Academic Press. [PDF Document]
Deutsch, Diana. Phantom Words and Other Curiosities. Philomel Records, 2003.
Pechmann, T. and Mohr, G. Interference in memory for tonal pitch: Implications for a working memory model. Memory and Cognition, 1992, 20, 314 - 320
Semal, C & Demany, L. Dissociation of pitch from timbre in auditory short term memory. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1991, 89, 2404-2410
Semal, C., and Demany, L. Further evidence for the autonomous processing of pitch in auditory short term memory. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1993, 94, 1315-1322
Semal, C., and Demany, L., Ueda, K., and Halle, P. Speech vs. nonspeech in pitch memory. Journal of Acoustical Society of America, 1996, 100, 1132-1140.
Starr, G. E. and Pitt, M. A. Interference effects in short term memory for timbre. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1997, 102, 486-494.
Perception and Memory for Musical Structure
Deutsch, D. Music Recognition. Psychological Review, 1969, 76, 300-307.
Deutsch, D. Octave generalization and tune recognition. Perception & Psychophysics, 1972, 11, 411-412.
Deutsch, D. The processing of structured and unstructured tonal sequences. Perception & Psychophysics, 1980, 28, 381-389.
Deutsch, D. & Feroe, J. The Internal Representation of Pitch Sequences in Tonal Music. Psychological Review, 1981, 88, 503-522.
Deutsch, D. The Generation of Two Isochronous Sequences in Parallel. Perception & Psychophysics, 1983, 34, 331-337.
Deutsch, D. Two issues concerning tonal hierarchies: Comment on Castellano, Bharucha, and Krumhansl. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 1984, 113, 413-416.
Deutsch, D. & Boulanger, R.C. Octave equivalence and the processing of tonal sequences. Music Perception, 1984, 2, 40-51.
Deutsch, D. Recognition of durations embedded in temporal patterns. Perception and Psychophysics, 1986, 39, 179-187.
Deutsch, D. Auditory pattern recognition. In K. Boff, L. Kaufman and J. Thomas (Eds.). Handbook of Perception and Human Performance, Wiley, 1986, 32, 1-44.
Deutsch, D. La perception des structures musicales. In A. Zenatti (Ed) . Psychologie de la Musique, Presses Universitaires de France, 1994, 115-144.
Deutsch, D. The perception of auditory patterns. In W. Prinz and B. Bridgeman (Eds) . Handbook of Perception and Action, Vol 1, Academic Press, 1996, 253-296.
Deutsch, D. Grouping mechanisms in music. In D. Deutsch (Ed.) . The psychology of music, 2nd Edition, Academic Press, 1999, 299-348.
Deutsch, D. Processing of pitch combinations. In D. Deutsch (Ed.). The psychology of music, 2nd Edition, Academic Press, 1999, 349-412.