An Auditory Model of the Role of Short-Term Memory in Probe-Tone Ratings

Auditory modeling is used to investigate the role of short-term memory in probe-tone experiments. A framework for auditory modeling is first defined, based on a distinction between auditory images, processes, and stimulus-driven inferences. Experiments I and II of the probe-tone experiments described by C. Krumhansl and E. Kessler (1982) are simulated. The results show that a short-term memory model, working on echoic images of periodicity pitch, may account for the probe-tone ratings. The simulations challenge the claim that probe-tone experiments provide evidence that listeners familiar with Western music have abstracted tonal hierarchies in a long-term memory.