Analogies from Speech to Music: Processing Costs of Switching Between Timbres in Musicians Without Absolute Pitch

Prior research has shown analogies between speech and music, and musicians who possess absolute pitch have been studied extensively. To generalize these findings, active musicians who did not possess absolute pitch completed a speeded pitch recognition task in which a target pitch was identified among trials blocked or mixed instrument timbres. Hit rate and reaction time were measured and compared by trial type. It was hypothesized that mixed trials would elicit lower hit rate accuracy and slower response times than blocked trials. There was no significant difference between the mean hit rates or response times for blocked trials vs. mixed trials. Future research should increase the sample size of the study and include non-musicians for greater generalizability of results.