# Multiple timescales of context influence perceptual sensitivity to common pairings of musical pitch and timbre

## TL;DR

People are more accurate at identifying musical pitches when they match expected timbre patterns, and this sensitivity is influenced by context and musical training.

## Contribution

The study reveals how multiple timescales of context modulate perceptual sensitivity to natural pitch-timbre covariation.

## Key findings

- Participants showed higher accuracy for consistent pitch-timbre pairings than reversed ones.
- Musical training improved accuracy more for reversed than consistent trials.
- Contextual factors like block order and feedback influenced perceptual performance.

## Abstract

Previous studies have established that musical pitch and timbre (specifically, spectral shape) perceptually covary: lower pitches are associated with darker timbres (less higher-frequency energy) and higher pitches are associated with brighter timbres (more higher-frequency energy). In four experiments, perceptual sensitivity to this relationship was assessed in pitch labeling tasks when instrument timbre varied in ways that respected or violated this pattern (Consistent or Reversed trials). Performance was influenced by context at multiple timescales: block-level (stimulus type), experimental session-level (block order or configuration), and longer-term experience (musical training background). Across experiments, participants performed near ceiling accuracy for Consistent stimuli, but were less accurate for Reversed stimuli. This pattern was moderated by which condition was tested first in the experiment, the introduction of trial-by-trial feedback, and presentation of trials in blocked versus interleaved orders. Higher musical training scores were generally associated with higher accuracy on Consistent trials but were more reliably and more strongly associated with higher accuracy on Reversed trials. Thus, context on multiple timescales can shape perceptual sensitivity to the natural covariance between musical pitch and timbre. Results advance the efficient coding hypothesis by demonstrating how listener factors can modulate perceptual sensitivity to statistical structure in the acoustic environment.