Every second, the human brain is processing an endless stream of information from the world around us. Previous research on processing has furiously debated two questions: Why do we process the way we do? What part of processing is innate? It is interesting however that though processing itself seems so complex and debatable, the unprocessed systems themselves are quite simple. This has led to the formulation of an idea called Spectral Processing that tries to unravel the complexities of perception through the comparison of simple and derived models of stimuli. If the world around us contains information (color, smell, sound, etc.) that can be organized so simply into spectra or arrays, perception should also be intrinsically simple. Humans …show more content…
This idea of Spectral Processing fits fairly well into color, smell and other processing systems, however the debate surrounding relative and absolute pitch seems a bit more difficult to explain. This paper will try to reexamine the relative and absolute pitch debate by better developing a better model for relative and absolute pitch under this idea of Spectral Processing.
Most of the spectra we find in the world can be better understood using this idea of Spectral Processing. Due to the fact that pitch processing is already more complex than other processing systems, it is important that a good understanding of basic Spectral Processing is understood before it is expanded to pitch processing. There are four important parts to this model- the spectra itself, the mental representation, factors which influence perception, and the derived/perceived representation itself. The following is an example …show more content…
Because research up until now has not yet established a clear line between relative and absolute pitch, here are the definitions of each for the purpose of this paper: relative pitch as awareness of the frequency relationships between pitches, and absolute pitch as being aware of the exact frequency of pitch. There are three main theories for the acquisition of relative and absolute pitch that seem to encompass the majority of debated issues. The first is the learning theory that states any acquisition of relative or absolute pitch result of environmental factors. The second, unlearning theory, states that there exists an innateness to absolute pitch, but our encoding/learning of relative pitch prevents us from keeping our ability for perceiving absolute pitch. The last theory, imprinting theory, again states that there is an innateness for absolute pitch, but that there also exists a critical period for developing it (Hargreaves, p. 88). With these definitions and debated theories in mind, the goals of this paper are to discuss two main questions within the topic of relative and absolute pitch- understanding why pitch is processed the way it is, and developing a better understanding of the innateness of pitch processing. Specifically, the first part of analysis will establish a clear spectral model of