Individual differences in frequency discrimination ability

• Main Author: Langston, Paul William
• Published: University of Surrey 1978
• Subjects: 155
• Online Access: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.462712

This thesis is concerned with the application of basic theories about the way in which the ear perceives pitch to the understanding of individual differences in the ability to discriminate between tones differing only in frequency. Much of the evidence relating to modern theories of pitch perception is reviewed before frequency discrimination and its Measurement are considered in more detail. Experiments giving rise to the concept of the critical bandwidth, which is related to the frequency-selective properties of the ear, are considered as well as theoretical models which suggest that the critical band may be related to frequency discrimination ability. The possible relationship between individual differences in the critical band and in frequency discrimination is tested at two frequencies, 1 kHz and 5 kHz, in an experiment involving a group of ten subjects in all. At neither frequency is any evidence found of such a relationship. However there is strong evidence of a relationship between frequency discrimination at 5 kHz and the frequency resolving ability of individual ears, when the frequency resolving ability is considered to be represented by the ability to detect a narrow band of noise symmetrically masked by two tones within the critical band. The results are consistent with a great deal of other experimental work on frequency discrimination which indicates that timing information in the auditory system plays a greater role in frequency discrimination at lower frequencies.