Abstract
Studies involving acts of auditory perception are usually concerned with scaling or categorization of stimuli. Cross-modal studies, consequently, involve matching estimations of stimulus magnitude or category across modalities. The present study was concerned with auditory stimulus differentiation among four acoustic parameters (frequency, waveform, amplitude, and duration) and selection of visual metaphors for each. Previous studies had indicated the following crossmodal matchings: frequency with vertical placement, waveform with pattern, amplitude with size, and duration with horizontal length. A total of 838 subjects of varying ages and cultural, environmental, and musical backgrounds were tested by means of an instrument developed from previous studies of this type. No type of visual metaphor other than those listed was significantly supported in the subjects’ responses. Consistency of choice was determined predominantly by musical training. Age was also a factor, although to a lesser extent, and cultural and environmental effects were observed in subjects with less exposure to Western life-styles.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Algom, D., &Marks, L. (1984). Individual differences in loudness processing and loudness scales.Journal of Experimental Psychology-General,113, 571–593.
Bryant, P E., Jones, P., Claxton, B., &Perkins, G. M (1972) Recognition of shapes across modalities by infants.Nature,240, 303–304.
Burns, E. M., &Ward, W D. (1974). Categorical perception of music intervals.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,55, 456
Chung, D., &Colavita, F. (1976). Periodicity pitch perception and its upper frequency limit in catsPerception & Psychophysics,20, 433–437.
Clarkson, M. G., &Clifton, R K. (1985). Infant pitch perception: Evidence for responding to pitch categories and the missing fundamental.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,77, 1521–1528.
De Boer, E. (1976). On the "residue" and auditory pitch perception. In W. D. Keidel & W D. Neff (Eds.), Handbook of sensory physiology (pp. 479-583). Springer-Verlag.
Divenyi, P. L. (1979). Is pitch a learned attribute of sound? Two points in support of Terhardf s pitch theory.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,66, 1210–1213.
Elmas, P. D., Slqueland, E. R., Jusczyk, P., &Vigorito, J (1971). Speech perception in infants.Science,171, 303–306
Hall, A. (1981). A developmental study of cognitive equivalence in the congenitally blind.Journal of Mental Imagery.5, 61–73.
Halse, S. H., Cynx, J, &Humpal, J. (1984) Absolute and relative pitch discrimination in serial pitch perception in birds.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,113. 38–54.
Harris, G., &Siegel, J. A. (1975) Categorical perception and absolute pitchJournal of the Acoustical Society of America,57, 511
Houtsma, A. J. M., &Goldstein, J. L. (1972). The central origin ol die pitch of complex tones: Evidence from musical interval recognitionJournal of the Acoustical Society of Amenca,51, 520–529.
Javel.E. (1980). Coding of AM tones m the chinchilla auditory nerve: Implications for the pitch of complex tonesJournal of the Acoustical Society of America,68, 133–146.
Lawson, K. R., Ruff, H. A., McCarton-Daum, C, Kurtzberg, D., &Vaughan, H. G. (1984). Auditory-visual responsiveness in fullterm and pre-term infants.Developmental Psychology,20, 120–127
Lewkowicz, D. J., &Turkewitz, G. (1980). Cross-modal equivalence in early infancy: Auditory-visual intensity matching.Developmental Psychology,16, 597–607.
Lewkowicz, D. J, &Turkewitz, G. (1981). Intersensory interaction in newborns: Modification of visual preferences following exposure to sound.Child Development,52, 827–832.
Mcguire, I., &Turkewitz, G. (978) Visually elicited finger movements in infants.Child Development,49, 362–370.
Mendelson, M. J., Ferland, M. B. (1982). Auditory-visual transfer in four-month old infants.Child Development,53, 1022–1027.
Olsho, L. W., Schoon, C, Sakai, R., Turpin, R., &Sperduto, V. (1982). Auditory frequency discrimination in infancyDevelopmental Psychology,18, 721–726.
Rakowsky, A. (1971). Pitch discrimination at the threshold of hearing. Proceedings of the Seventh International Symposium m Acoustics, Budapest, 3.373.
Ritsma, R. J., &Bilsen, F. A. (1970). Spectral regions dominant m the perception of repetition pitch.Acustica,23, 334–339
Roederer, J. G. (1979).Introduction to the physics and psychophysics of music. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Rose, S A., Gottfried, A. W., &Bridger, W. H. (1983). Infants’ cross-modal transfer from solid objects to their graphic representations.Child Development,54, 686–694
Ryker, B. C. (1946). The ability to judge pitchJournal of the Acoustical Society of America,36, 331–346.
Sadek, A. A. M. (1987). Visualization of musical concepts. Council for Research in Music Education, Bulletin No. 91, 149-154.
Siegel, J. A., &Siegel, W. (1977). Categorical perception of tonalintervals: Musicians can’t tell sharp from flat.Perception & Psychophysics,21, 399–407.
Terhardt, E. (1974). Pitch, consonance and harmony.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,55, 1061–1069.
Walker, A. R. (1978). Perception and music notation.Psychology of Music,6, 21–46.
Walker, A. R. (1981). The presence of internalised images of musical soundsCouncil for Research in Music Education,66–67, 107–112
Walker, A. R. (1985). Mental imagery and musical concepts: Some evidence from the congenitally blindCouncil for Research in Music Education,85, 229–238
Walker, A. R. (1987). Some differences between pitch perception by children of different cultural and musical backgrounds. Council for Research in Music Education, Bulletin No 91, 166-170
Walker-Andrews, A. S, &Lennon, E. M. (1985). Auditory-visual perception of changing distance by human infants.Child Development,56, 544–548.
Ward, L M. (1985). Mixed-modality psychophysical scaling: Interand intramodality sequential dependencies as a function of lag.Perception & Psychophysics,38, 512–522.
Wormith, S. J, Pankhurst, D., &Moffitt, A. R. (1975). Frequency discrimination by young infantsChild Development,46, 272–275
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Field travel and development of materials used in this research were funded by Grant 410-85-0214 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Walker, R. The effects of culture, environment, age, and musical training on choices of visual metaphors for sound. Perception & Psychophysics 42, 491–502 (1987). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209757
Received:
Accepted:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209757