Results

Area scores were analyzed by a 2 x 2 ANOVA, with Tonal Relatedness (Tonic / Subdominant) and Pitch Discrimination (0/17 and 0/9 cents) as within-participant factors. The interaction between Tonal Relatedness and Pitch Discrimination was significant, F(1,41) = 5.23, MSE = 12.55, p < .05 (see Figure 7). The area scores were significantly higher for tonic tones than for subdominant tones in the 0/9 cents discrimination, F(1,41) = 5.26, MSE = 28.89, p < .05, but not in the 0/17 discrimination (F < 1). The main effect of Pitch Discrimination was significant, F(1,41) = 90.70, MSE = 91.22, p < .0001, with better performance when targets were lowered in pitch by 17 cents than by 9 cents. The main effect of Tonal Relatedness was not significant (p = .14). For the 0/9 cents discrimination, Cohen’s d was calculated to measure the size of the tonal relatedness effect. The effect size was d = .35, which is categorized by Cohen (1988) as a small effect (small effects: .20 < d < .50).

Hits and false alarms were analyzed by a 2 x 3 ANOVA with Tonal Relatedness (Tonic / Subdominant) and Pitch Deviation (in-tune / 9 cents / 17 cents) as within-participant factors. Only the effect of Pitch Deviation was significant, F(2,82) = 70.12, MSE = .065, p < .001 (see Table 2). Hits and false alarms for 17-cent targets were slightly more numerous for tonics than for subdominants, while false alarms for 9-cent targets were slightly more numerous for subdominants than for tonics, but none of these differences was significant13.

Figure 7. Areas under the ROCs for Experiment 3 presented as a function of tonal relatedness (related tonic: i, less-related subdominant: iv) and pitch discrimination (0/9, 0/17 cents). Chance level is at 0.5. Error bars represent standard errors.
Figure 7. Areas under the ROCs for Experiment 3 presented as a function of tonal relatedness (related tonic: i, less-related subdominant: iv) and pitch discrimination (0/9, 0/17 cents). Chance level is at 0.5. Error bars represent standard errors.
Table 2. Hits and false alarms in Experiment 3 presented as a function of tonal relatedness and pitch deviation (standard errors in parentheses).
Table 2. Hits and false alarms in Experiment 3 presented as a function of tonal relatedness and pitch deviation (standard errors in parentheses).
Notes
13.

An analysis of median ratings revealed a similar pattern of results: a marginally significant interaction between Tonal Relatedness and Pitch Deviation was observed, F(2,82) = 3.00, MSE = .011, p = .055, with weaker ratings for tonics than for subdominants with 9-cent targets. This result suggests that 9-cent targets were perceived as more out-of-tune when they functioned as tonics than when they functioned as subdominants.