Acceso usuarios
Daniel J. Levitin
A number of recent articles have demonstrated the existence of widely held misunderstandings about the nature of « absolute pitch » (AP). Fundamentally, AP is a cognitive ability that relies on self referencing (to an internalized pitch template), and a highly developed coding mechanism that links verbal labels with abstract representations of perceptual input. However, many researchers labor under the misconception that AP involves more highly developed perceptual mechanisms, whereas it has been shown that absolute pitch ability is an ability of long term memory and linguistic coding (Levitin, 1996). In this paper, I will review what is known about AP and present new data on the nature of AP. I will also discuss why this ability is of interest to cognitive pychologists, philosophers of mind and linguists, in terms of what the ability reveals about processing, coding and memory functions of human beings. Finally, I will conclude on a two component theory of AP, requiring both « pitch memory » and « pitch labelling ».
