Octave bias in an absolute pitch identification task

Abstract

Octave errors are common within musicians, even among absolute pitch possessors. Overall, evidence shows pitch class and octave to be perceived in a different way, even if they are highly connected. We investigated whether pitch class perception, in an absolute pitch identification task, can be influenced by the octave context, examined among two consecutive octaves. Participants, all musicians with formal musical education, showed different response patterns in the two octaves even if the octave context was explicitly told to be task irrelevant. The direction of errors revealed a consistent tendency to underestimate pitch height in the lowest octave and to overestimate pitch height in the highest octave. Thus, pitch class identification showed to be biased by the octave context. These results are discussed in terms of polarity and pitch enhancement.