Chapter 29 Exercises: Absolute Pitch, Relative Pitch & Musical Memory

These exercises are organized into five sections (A–E) progressing from conceptual comprehension to original research design. Complete all five sections. Exercises marked with a dagger (†) are recommended for in-class discussion.

Part A: Conceptual and Definitional Exercises

A1. Define absolute pitch (AP) with precision, distinguishing it from (a) frequency discrimination acuity, (b) relative pitch skill, and (c) general musicality. For each distinction, explain why the two things are different and give an example that illustrates the difference.

A2. The chapter introduces the concept of "categorical perception" as the defining feature of AP. Compare categorical pitch perception in AP possessors with categorical phoneme perception in all adult speakers of any language. What are the structural similarities? What are the differences? Why does this comparison matter for understanding what AP is?

A3. Explain what is meant by the "critical period" for AP acquisition. What evidence supports the existence of this critical period? What evidence would, in principle, refute the critical period hypothesis? (Be specific about what kind of study or finding would change your assessment.)

A4. The chapter discusses three types of musical memory: declarative, procedural, and chunked working memory schemas. For each type, (a) give a concrete musical example, (b) name a brain structure associated with that memory type, and (c) describe a musical task that primarily uses that memory type.

A5. What is long-term working memory (LTWM) as applied to musical expertise? Using the concept of LTWM, explain why an expert sight-reader can perform a new piece of music faster than a novice can decode it note by note, even when both are reading the same notation.

Part B: AP Research Interpretation

B1. The Deutsch et al. (2006) study found that 60% of first-year students at the Shanghai Conservatory met AP criteria, compared to approximately 14% of first-year students at a comparable U.S. conservatory. A critic argues: "This just shows that Chinese students are better at music — it doesn't say anything about AP specifically." Evaluate this criticism. What does the study design need to control for to make the cross-cultural comparison valid? Does it do so?

B2. Read the following hypothetical study summary and answer the questions below:

Study X: Researchers tested 200 adult non-musicians with an online tone-identification task. Participants heard pure tones and typed the note name they thought the tone was. Participants who scored above 90% accuracy were classified as AP possessors. The study found 3% of participants showed AP.

(a) Identify at least three methodological problems with this study that might make the 3% figure an overestimate or an underestimate of true AP prevalence. (b) How would you redesign this study to address the most serious methodological problem? (c) What additional control conditions would you add to distinguish true AP from recently practiced note identification?

B3 †. The chapter discusses "partial AP" — the ability to identify some pitches (often concert A or middle C) more reliably than others. Why might certain pitches be better candidates for partial AP in Western musicians? Design a study that would distinguish partial AP from a general improvement in pitch labeling due to extensive ear training. What would the data look like if the partial AP hypothesis is correct?

B4. Several twin studies suggest a heritable component to AP. A genetics student argues: "If AP were purely genetic, we would expect 100% concordance in identical (MZ) twins." Explain why this prediction is wrong — why a genuinely heritable trait might still show less than 100% MZ concordance. What does less-than-100% MZ concordance tell us about the role of environment?

B5 †. The "age drift" phenomenon in AP — the tendency for the internal pitch standard to shift upward with age — has been documented anecdotally and in a few small studies. What would a rigorous longitudinal study of age drift look like? What would you measure, when would you measure it, and what controls would you need? What are the practical challenges of such a study?

Part C: Relative Pitch Training Design

C1. Design a 12-week relative pitch training curriculum for a first-year college music student who has no prior ear training. Specify: (a) Which intervals to introduce in which order, and why that order (b) What type of practice activities you would use (listening, singing, playing, dictation) (c) How you would assess progress at weeks 4, 8, and 12 (d) What the realistic expected outcomes are at the end of 12 weeks

C2. The interval mnemonic method (associating intervals with familiar songs) is widely used in ear training. Compare this method with a "pattern-based" approach that trains interval identification through systematic exposure to each interval in multiple musical contexts without mnemonics. What are the cognitive trade-offs of each approach? When might each be more effective?

C3. A student can accurately identify intervals in isolation (when the two pitches are presented sequentially) but consistently fails at identifying the same intervals in a harmonic (simultaneous) context. Propose a training protocol that would bridge this gap. What does this performance difference tell you about the multiple components of interval perception?

C4 †. Compare the ear training systems of fixed-do solfège (in which "do" always means C) and movable-do solfège (in which "do" always means the tonic of the current key). What cognitive skills does each system primarily develop? Would you expect students trained in fixed-do to show higher AP rates? Why? Would you expect students trained in movable-do to show stronger functional (relative) hearing? What evidence would you need to answer these questions empirically?

C5. You are designing an ear training app. The app will train relative pitch through gamified exercises. Describe the core game mechanic, the progression system (how difficulty increases), the feedback mechanism, and how the app would handle individual differences in learning pace. What specific features would differentiate your app from a simple "interval quiz"?

Part D: Memory Studies Analysis

D1. The chapter cites George Miller's "7 ± 2" rule for working memory capacity. A music student argues: "I can memorize a 30-note melody after a few hearings, so my working memory must be bigger than 7 items." Explain why this inference is incorrect. What is actually happening when the student memorizes a 30-note melody? How does the concept of chunking resolve the apparent contradiction with Miller's rule?

D2. A pianist has memorized 45 full concerto movements over a career of 40 years. Neuroscientist imaging suggests her hippocampus is not especially large or active during performance. Yet her memory for these pieces is essentially perfect. Which memory systems are most likely supporting this performance memory? Why might the hippocampus not be the primary storage site for long-practiced music? What would you predict would happen to her music memory if she suffered hippocampal damage?

D3 †. Oliver Sacks documented the case of a patient with severe anterograde amnesia (could not form new long-term declarative memories) who could nevertheless learn new pieces of music through repeated practice. Each day, the patient had no memory of having practiced before, yet each day's performance improved from where the previous day left off. What does this case tell us about the relationship between declarative and procedural memory in musical learning? What would a performance curve (day-by-day improvement) of such a patient be predicted to look like?

D4. Design an experiment to test whether the "eye-hand span" of skilled sight-readers is a cause or a consequence of their sight-reading expertise. (That is, does having a larger eye-hand span produce better sight-reading, or does better sight-reading produce a larger eye-hand span?) What methodological challenges make this causal question difficult to answer? What kind of longitudinal design might help?

D5. The chapter claims that earworms are most effectively terminated by "completing the song to its natural resolution." Propose an experimental test of this claim. Specifically: how would you (a) reliably induce an earworm, (b) randomly assign participants to different termination strategies, (c) measure earworm intensity reliably, and (d) assess which strategy most effectively reduced the earworm? What are the ethical considerations of inducing involuntary earworms in research participants?

Part E: Integration and Original Analysis

E1 †. The chapter presents AP as a model case for gene-environment interaction. Write a 400–500 word essay arguing either (a) that the existing evidence is sufficient to conclude a significant genetic contribution to AP, or (b) that the existing evidence is insufficient to separate genetic from environmental contributions. Be specific about which studies you find most compelling and why.

E2. Compare the case of Derek Paravicini to the neurological cases of sudden musical ability after brain injury (discussed in Case Study 2). What do these two types of cases — developmental savantism and acquired musical ability — share, and how do they differ? What does each type of case suggest about the organization of musical capacity in the human brain?

E3. The chapter describes musical memory as "remarkably resilient into old age." A music therapy practitioner asks you to explain this finding to a family member of an Alzheimer's patient. Write a 300-word explanation, in non-technical language, that accurately represents the neuroscience while also setting appropriate expectations about what music therapy can and cannot do.

E4 †. Consider the following position: "Absolute pitch is overvalued by the music community because it is rare and sounds impressive, but it actually interferes with some musical tasks — particularly those requiring transposition or playing in non-standard tunings — more than it helps." Evaluate this position using evidence from the chapter. Is the claim that AP "interferes" well-supported? What would evidence for musical interference by AP look like in a controlled study?

E5. Design a research study that directly tests the "cognitive itch" model of earworms. The study should (a) operationalize the key prediction that earworms arise from unresolved musical expectation, (b) include a control condition that tests an alternative model (e.g., mere exposure/repetition), (c) specify your dependent variables and measurement methods, and (d) describe the participant population. What would your results look like if the cognitive itch model is correct? What would they look like if the mere-exposure model is correct?