The influence of temporal cues on the strength of periodicity pitches

Three different waveforms were generated from the same component frequencies by setting the phase of the components so they were either homophasic (all component sinusoids start at 0 degree), diphasic (sinusoids alternate between -45 degrees and + 45 degrees), or heterophasic (starting phase randomly selected). Listeners were asked to rate the saliency of all periodicity pitches they could detect in stimuli which contained 12 or more components at frequencies above the region where pitches were perceived . A major finding was that the highest ratings of fundamental frequency (f1) pitch "strength" were always obtained for homophasic waveforms, which among the test stimuli have the most abrupt envelope fluctuations. In contrast, diphasic and heterophasic waveforms, which have smoother envelopes, yielded lower pitch strength estimates at f1 and higher ratings two octaves above the fundamental. These data indicate that information concerning the stimulus waveform envelope influences the relative prominence of competing pitches evoked by periodicity pitch stimuli. However, no one-to-one correspondence between pitch and waveform periodicity is apparent.