The auditory tau effect and memory for pitch

Abstract

The tau effect, which designated the effect of temporal variables on spatial perception, was investigated in the auditory modality. Subjects listened to repeated presentations of a three-tone sequence. The first and third tones were fixed in frequency at 1 and 3 kHz, respectively, and the subject adjusted the frequency of the second tone until it seemed intermediate in pitch between the other two. The two temporal intervals delimited by the three tones were manipulated. As the second tone moves from being closer to the first tone to being closer to the third tone in time, subjects' average adjustment of the second tone decreases. While in accordance with previous results, the present data provide new information on subjects' behavior in pitch bisection judgments. An explanation for the auditory tau effect is offered in terms of memory for pitch in which the dynamic role of time is taken into account. © 1979 Psychonomic Society, Inc.