"Are those with absolute pitch less vulnerable to false auditory memories?" This is a proposal I wrote for a course studying the neuropsychological bases of human memory.

1. Absolute Pitch and False Auditory Memory
Running head: ABSOLUTE PITCH AND FALSE AUDITORY MEMORY
NPSY 154a, Prof. Gutchess
Are those with Absolute Pitch
Less Vulnerable to False Auditory Memories?
Ryan Mulvihill-Pretak
Brandeis University
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Recent technological advancements in neuroscience have begun to explain various
cognitive phenomena, such as the ability known as absolute pitch, occurring in one out of every
10,000 everyday people (Elmer, Rogenmmoser, Kühnis, and Jäncke, 2015). Without any
pneumonic devices or a reference pitch, these individuals can identify or produce any note, and
name the key of a song or the pitch of a noise—for example, the humming of a refrigerator or the
snap of a finger. Though this ability is certainly uncommon, it has significantly higher
prevalence in professional musicians (Elmer et al., 2015). Due to the fact that accuracy is the key
determinant of absolute pitch (AP), one could hypothesize that AP individuals might be less
susceptible to false auditory memories when faced with various tasks involving misinformation
and/or suggestibility. Further investigation could potentially answer questions extending beyond
music that concern the manner in which auditory information in general is consolidated in and
retrieved from the long-term memory. The way AP individuals process these stimuli with greater
accuracy could have implications for human memory overall.
Specific Aims:
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether AP individuals are equally or less
vulnerable to creating false auditory memories, when compared with individuals who do not
have this ability. They are likely to exhibit greater accuracy for auditory stimuli, because they
can connect musical notes with conceptual knowledge for the notes' identities. I predict that not
only will AP individuals have greater accuracy in tasks involving auditory stimuli, but more
specifically will exhibit less vulnerability to creation of false auditory memories.
Background Literature:
The link between auditory and frontal cortices
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One theory of absolute pitch proposed by Elmer et al. (2015) suggests that it entails early-
on processing of notes, and instantaneous association with pre-existing information in memory.
AP individuals are able to assign names of notes (A vs. B flat vs. C sharp) to their respective
pitches more rapidly and with higher accuracy than non-AP individuals. The allocation of notes
to stored semantic information for the notes' identities occurs in regions of higher mental
processing—namely, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). People with absolute pitch
show a strong functional link between their auditory cortex and DLPFC.
The roles of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
Apart from its traditionally well-known role in decision-making (which has clear
applications to absolute pitch, involving the rapid identification of notes), the DLPFC is one of
numerous cortical areas relevant to working memory and executive function. Sometimes called
the "how" system, the DLPFC is responsible for determining which response should be executed
in any particular situation and when, by using complex mechanisms to convert the external
stimuli into neural responses. When individuals encounter readily distinguishable stimuli, they
exhibit higher levels of activity in, among other areas, the DLPFC (O'Reilly, 2010). Its
involvement in working memory can be applied to those with absolute pitch, since AP
individuals often experience unplanned situations in which they instantaneously interpret and
identify a brief pitch.
Recent studies have also discovered a function of the DLPFC in special conditions of
long-term memory. Its involvement has been suggested in the creation of associations between
related concepts. In a study conducted by Murray and Ranganath (2007) participants compared
the similarities and differences of various pairs of items, which strengthened the connection
between the pairs. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) displayed greater activation in
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the DLPFC when participants retrieved memories for these conceptual relationships. This could
be similar to how AP individuals relate the sound of a pitch with its name. Both items of
information are stored in and can be retrieved from their long-term memories based off of a
given stimulus. Like the knowledge for names, procedures, and other facts, this long-term,
semantic information is permanently stored and may be accessed at any time—declaratively,
explicitly, and consciously. In other words, AP individuals can respond to an auditory stimulus
(a musical note) by labeling it, or respond to a verbal stimulus (a note's name) by singing its
tone.
Tonality and false memory creation
In a 1996 study, Schacter et al. found a region in the DLPFC showing higher activation
for false over true recognition, "Perhaps reflecting the need for evaluation or monitoring of the
strong sense of familiarity produced by false targets" (as cited in Schacter and Slotnick, 2004, p.
156). Although AP individuals show high accuracy for identifying a pitch by name, the extent to
which they are susceptible to creating false auditory memories remains unanswered. Due to the
fact that this identification comes so naturally to AP individuals, they may grow overly
accustomed to it and—under manipulation and/or absentmindedness—devote too little attention
to a note, and as a result, falsely remember it. If the DLPFC, associated with absolute pitch,
shows activation both during the accurate recall of a note, as well as the recall of misinformation
due to familiarity, further research should explore in greater depth the relationship between
absolute pitch and false auditory memories.
On a different note than familiarity, schemas are cognitive organizational systems that
assist people in interpreting and relaying well-known information. They are useful, efficient
shortcuts to this information, but the downside is that these frameworks sometimes close people
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off to new information that does not converge with their pre-existing ideas or knowledge. Vuvan,
Podolack, and Schmuckler (2014) discuss schemas, as well as expectancy, in relation to false
memories. Musicians with a trained ear from years of experience will do considerably well in
"expecting" what is to come in musical passages based on established patterns for tonality and
key. These expectations, in turn, influence the speed and accuracy of their processing. The
congruency theory, as Vuvan et al. (2014) labels it, argues that people will remember
information that fits, or that is congruent, with their schema better than information that does not.
It is important to remember that memory is not a fact-by-fact record of previous events, but
rather a reconstructive process that uses schemas constructed from past experiences to make
decisions and predictions in current or future situations. Vuvan et al. (2014) tried manipulating
these expectations to induce false memories upon participants in a study. In a sequence of tasks,
they progressively weakened effects of memory and expectation by changing the tonality of
musical stimuli from major to minor tonalities, and finally to atonal patterns that induce no
perceptual schemas or patterns. The goal was to determine if expectancies generated by tonality
would influence produced memories for single notes. Once participants developed expectancies
for melodies based on strong, perceptually stable tonalities, these schemas showed influence over
subsequent memory for the single notes. It was found that eliminating tonal schemas from
melodies removed the effects of the congruency theory. In other words, without any tonality-
based expectancies for melody, there were no effects on memory, because a lack of tonal
structures or schemas prevented participants from using their typical memory strategies. This
experiment can be applied to the special case of AP individuals to compare their performance vs.
non-AP individuals'. A similar design will be used later on for the purposes of this study.
Relevant tests to identify absolute pitch and explore false memories
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LePort et al. (2012) used two methods originally designed to test individuals with highly
superior autobiographical memory (HSAM): the Public Events Quiz (PEQ) and the 10 Dates
Quiz (10DQ). The PEQ contained 15 questions asking for the exact date of a given well-known
event, and 15 questions asking for a notable event that occurred on a given date. The 10DQ
presented ten randomly generated dates of which the participants had to identify the day of the
week on which each date took place, an event that fell within a month of each date, and a
description of a personal event that occurred on each date. Although HSAM and absolute pitch
are unrelated, they are comparable in that they are unusual, outstanding abilities that extend
beyond the average realm of human memory. To ensure AP individuals' ability, these two
measures will be adapted.
Although little is known of the link between absolute pitch and false memories, many
studies have investigated false auditory memories more generally. Vernon and Nelson (2000)
presented misinformation to examine the influence on false auditory memories. They showed a
short film followed by a nine question survey. Eight of the questions were filler, but one asked
participants to recall a particular phrase that a character had said. Despite the fact that this
character had not spoken, 23 of 30 people answered what they believed he had said. This
observation demonstrated that under suggestion, people are likely to create false memories ―
even in the auditory realm. Because the question implied that he had spoken, asking for his exact
words, participants failed to recall he in fact did not speak and instead falsely reconstructed a
memory of his words. The influence of suggestibility on false memory creation will be applied to
the special case of absolute pitch for the purposes of this study.
Experimental Design:
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The proposed experiment uses behavioral measures of participants' responses to various
stimuli and corresponding questions.
Participants: For the control group, a sample of fifty adult musicians will be recruited for
this study without compensation. All with 20 or more years of experience, 25 will be part of a
full orchestra, and the other 25 will be part of a mixed choir. Every person must be able to read
sheet music. We will recruit any of those who claim to have absolute pitch (whether in or
extending beyond this sample), who will endure confirmatory evaluation. Due to the fact that the
average percentage of AP individuals is 0.01%—or 1 in every 10,000 people—it will be
impossible to match AP vs. non-AP individuals proportionally; therefore, the experimental AP
group will consist of as many individuals as possible, with an anticipated amount between eight
and ten. Data will be collected for every participant, including his or her age, gender, years of
experience, instrument(s) of choice, and whether he or she has absolute pitch (Group 1) or
relative pitch or neither (Group 2).
The preliminary part of this study will ensure the authenticity of the AP individuals by
adapting the PEQ and 10DQ (LePort et al., 2012). In the first task, AP individuals will identify
15 given pitches by name, and then replicate 15 other pitches given their names. The pitches will
be ordered randomly and lack any pattern of key or sequence. In the second task, 10 randomly
generated pitch names will be given to the participants, each for which they must identify/sing
three things: the three notes of its associated major chord, the three notes of its associated minor
chord, and a well-known song in the pitch's key. For example, the participant will be given the
following stimulus: "A." He will respond with the notes of the major chord (A, C sharp, E), the
notes of the minor chord (A, C, E), and a popular song in the key of A. Participants' responses
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will be collected and scored, and strict guidelines will be used to confidently identify absolute
pitch (a 95% minimum). This will divide participants into the experimental and control groups.
Design & Procedures: This between-groups design examines AP participants'
vulnerability to false auditory memories compared to non-AP participants.
Experiment 1: Are AP individuals less vulnerable than non-AP individuals to creating false
memories?
To examine any potential differences between AP and non-AP individuals' susceptibility
to false auditory memories, the first experiment entails three levels—increasing in complexity—
of various lists of musical stimuli, including different tones and pitches. I predict a general
decline in accuracy as the complexity of the notes increases, measure-by-measure, for both AP
and non-AP individuals; however, for all three measures, AP individuals will create fewer false
memories than non-AP individuals.
In the first task, participants will be played ten lists of five random notes. After each list,
they will hear a note that was not in the list, and answer whether the target note was played in its
respective list: YES or NO. In the second task, participants will be played eight lists of four
three-note sequences. Some of the sequences will be chords with a particular order, and others
will be random. After each list, they will hear a sequence that was not in the list, and answer
whether the target sequence was played in its respective list: YES or NO. Finally, in the third
task, participants will be played six lists of three four-measure patterns. The short patterns will
vary in rhythm/melody, list-by-list. After each list, they will hear a pattern that was not in the
list, and answer whether the target pattern was played in its respective list: YES or NO.
Experiment 2: Are AP individuals less vulnerable than non-AP individuals to creating false
memories due to schematic expectancies?
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In continuation, Vuvan et al.'s 2014 study can be adapted to see if schemas for major
tonalities and high vs. low expectancies for various keys and melodies have an effect on later to-
be-recalled single notes. Participants will hear different melodies—each in 4/4 time signature
and between 14 and 16 beats total, all in G major—in order to develop strong schemas for
tonality. After each melody, they will hear a single probe tone and be asked whether or not they
heard it in its corresponding melody: YES or NO. There will be 20 total trials of melodies
followed by corresponding probe tones. We will also look at differences between high and low
expectancies for probe tones. An example of a high expectancy would be a probe tone of D,
since the key of G major includes D in the chord. Alternatively, a low expectancy would be a
probe tone of D sharp, since G major does not include that note in the chord. I predict that AP
and non-AP individuals will perform equally well for whether or not the probe was heard in its
respective melody when expectancy is low; however, when expectancy is high, I predict that
while non-AP individuals will still exhibit relatively accurate memories, AP individuals will
exhibit significantly less false memories. This is due to the fact that they have higher accuracy in
relating pitches with names, and due to this connection of information, they will be more
accurate in recalling whether or not a note was in the melody, whether expectancy is low or high.
Experiment 3: Are AP individuals less vulnerable than non-AP individuals to creating false
memories influenced by suggestibility?
The last experiment will examine the differences of suggestibility between AP and non-
AP individuals. I predict that because AP individuals show high accuracy and efficiency for
musical stimuli, they will create fewer false memories than non-AP individuals. A design used
by Vernon and Nelson (2000) will be adapted to the special case of AP individuals. Both groups
will be shown a brief film of a character studying sheet music that she says is two lines total
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(although the music itself cannot be seen) and must be learned in four minutes. She begins to
practice aloud, singing a section of four quarter notes in a minor key. After the film, the
participants will have ten minutes to answer nine total questions—eight of which, consisting of
verbal and nonverbal information, are designed to be easily answered. The auditory target
question, however, use suggestibility to test participants' vulnerability to false memories. The
question says: "In a major key, she sings: (1) Two half notes; (2) Four quarter notes; (3) Your
own answer." Based on Vuvan et al.'s 2014 study, people's perception of minor keys is weaker
than it is for major keys, so the question purposefully implants misinformation ("In a major key")
to see whether the participant chooses the wrong notes altogether (1), answers the correct notes
but with the wrong tonality (2), or realizes the trick and mentions the correct tonality (3).
Expected Challenges and Proposed Plans:
Concerning the selection of participants, there are potential differences in training,
knowledge, and ability between musicians who play stringed or brass instruments, do percussion,
or sing. In relation to absolute pitch and false memories, we will record the specification of their
musicianship and look at differences between groups at the end, but these differences are not the
main focus of the study. If findings indicate that musicianship is an important factor, it is an area
that may be explored in future studies. Similarly, to rule out potential extraneous factors, we will
also record whether participants claim to have relative pitch, which is similar to absolute pitch,
but far more common. Whether or not someone has this ability (as many musicians do) could
potentially change, even enhance, their performance; therefore, to keep factors consistent, it
should be recorded. Likewise it is important to ensure that all of the musicians have roughly the
same amount of minimum experience. The relationship between ability and years of experience
is positive, but at a decreasing rate—that is, a difference of five to ten years is large, and a
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difference of ten to twenty years is lesser yet noticeable, but after that period, there are few
substantial marginal gains of differences in years of experience. For this study, 20 years is the
minimum so that the experimental tasks are not overtly in favor of AP individuals. The control
group is still familiar with music and can perform these tasks, so it is fair and relatively equal for
all participants. Thus, the only true and relevant difference between participants is absolute pitch.
While this study focuses solely on false auditory memories involving musicians, the
question remains for non-musicians with or without absolute pitch. Some people may not have
much experience with music, but still have absolute pitch and not know it. Similar to differences
in musicianship, if the findings of this study are significant, this perspective could be extended to
a larger population to explore the implications for the human memory in general.
Implications of Research:
This experiment may result in findings that broaden our knowledge of the brain's
functions of memory. Specifically, research on absolute pitch may explain how AP individuals
retain musical or auditory information so efficiently—especially if we find a greater immunity to
misinformation imposed by suggestibility and expectancy. This, in turn, may allow us to
discover more about auditory information in general. As has already been discussed, normal
perception of auditory information includes not only the auditory cortex and other cortical areas
associated with memory, but equally importantly, the functional connections between these
areas. Elmer et al. (2015) believes that further investigation into AP individual's memory systems
may give us insight into developing training measures and programs that can enhance the
auditory skills of growing children, aging adults, and people with hearing impairments.
Discovering more about the brain's encoding, consolidation, and retrieval of auditory information
—in AP and non-AP individuals—can potentially allow us to develop strategies to store
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knowledge more efficiently and with better retention in the future. The field of neuroscience is
constantly improving, and more mysteries about human memory will undoubtedly be discovered
that will help use our brains and memories more proficiently.
References
Elmer, S., Rogenmmoser, L., Kühnis, J., & Jäncke, L. (2015). Bridging the Gap between
Perceptual and Cognitive Perspectives on Absolute Pitch. Journal Of Neuroscience,
35(1), 366-371. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3009-14.2015
LePort, A. R., Mattfeld, A. T., Dickinson-Anson, H., Fallon J. H., Stark, C. L., Kniggel, F., &
McGaugh, J. L. (2012). Behavioral and neuroanatomical investigation of Highly Superior
Autobiographical Memory (HSAM). Neurobiology Of Learning And Memory, 98(1), 78-
92. doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2012.05.002
Murray, L. J., & Ranganath, C. (2007). The Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Contributes to
Successful Relational Memory Encoding. Journal Of Neuroscience, 27(20), 5515-5533.
doi:10.1523/JNEURODCI.0406-07.2007
O'Reilly, R. C. (2010). The What and How of prefrontal cortical organization. Trends In
Neurosciences, 33(8), 355-360. doi:10.1016/j.tins.2010.05.002
Schacter, D. L., & Slotnick, S. D. (2004). The Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory Distortion.
Neuron, 44(1), 149-160. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2004.08.017
Vernon, B., & Nelson, E. (2000). Exposure to suggestion and creation of false auditory
memories. Psychological Reports, 86(1), 344-346. doi:10.2466/PR0.86.1.344-346
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Vuvan, D. T., Podolak, O.M., & Schmuckler, M.A. (2014). Memory for musical tones: The
impact of tonality and the creation of false memories. Frontiers In Psychology, 51-61.
doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00582
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