ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7391-5795
Date of Award
Fall 2025
Language
English
Embargo Period
11-20-2025
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
College/School/Department
Department of Psychology
Program
Psychology (Master's)
First Advisor
Ronald S. Friedman, Ph.D.
Committee Members
Ronald S. Friedman, Gregory Cox
Keywords
consonance/dissonance, pitch register, processing fluency, music preference
Subject Categories
Cognition and Perception | Musicology | Social Psychology
Abstract
Seror and Neill (2015) found that consonant dyads are processed more fluently than dissonant dyads. Their finding suggested that this advantage in fluency accounts for the generalized preference for these chords. Recently, Eerola and Lahdelma (2021) found that the pitch register of the chord also affects consonance judgements of musical chords. This may suggest that chords in higher registers are processed less fluently than chords in the middle register. The present study combines these two studies by investigating processing fluency for musical dyads that vary in harmonic quality and pitch register. Participants were tasked with identifying whether an initially presented probe note was part of a musical dyad that followed. Accuracy in correctly identifying the presence of the probe note and RT for correct responses were used to measure the fluency of processing these stimuli. Additionally, this study used the standard diffusion model to further understand how well sensory evidence is accumulated between experimental conditions. In two studies, we replicated Seror and Neill’s (2015) harmonic quality effects on fluency; however, contrary to what was predicted, we found that high register dyads were processed more fluently. We conclude that this processing advantage may be due to the increased perceived loudness of frequencies in the high register. However, this suggests a more complex association between fluency and preferences for aesthetic stimuli than originally predicted.
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Smith, Edward E., "Pitch Identification in Musical Dyads That Vary in Harmonic Quality and Pitch Register" (2025). Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present). 318.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/etd/318