Date of Award

Summer 1980

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

Program/Concentration

Psychology

Committee Director

Glynn D. Coates

Committee Member

Peter J. Mikulka

Committee Member

Raymond H. Kirby

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.P65 C654

Abstract

The "stream" hypothesis states that the order of repeating tone sequences in which the tones are closely spaced in frequency is easier for subjects to report, than is the order of sequences in which the tones are widely spaced. To permit a partial replication of prior tests of this hypothesis in the present experiment, a uniformly-spaced-narrow condition (sinusoidal waves spaced at intervals of 1/4 octave), and a uniformly spaced-wide condition (intervals of 1 1/8 octave), were used. Two additional conditions were created to test the hypothesis that a large frequency separation, or "gap," between the highest or lowest tone in a series results in an acoustical "edge," facilitating identification of the order of tone sequences. These were a low-frequency-separated condition and a high-frequency-separated condition. Sixteen subjects served in the four stimulus conditions and reported sequence orders by the card-ordering method. Repeating tone sequences consisted of each of the possible combinations of four different frequency tone elements, each presented for a duration of 3OO-milliseconds. No significant differences were found between the stimulus conditions on the basis of percentage of correct responses, response time, or rate of information transmission. No evidence for streaming or the acoustical edge was found when subjects of varied musical experience were tested. It was noted that the equivocal.

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DOI

10.25777/cjr1-j028

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