Pitch ranking of complex tones by normally hearing subjects and cochlear implant users

Abstract

The ability of 10 normally hearing (NH) adults and eight cochlear implant (CI) users to pitch-rank pairs of complex tones was assessed. The acoustically presented stimuli differed in fundamental frequency (F0) by either one or six semitones (F0 range: 98 to 740 Hz). The NH group obtained significantly higher mean scores for both experiments: (NH: one semitone - 81.2%, six semitones - 89.0%; CI: one semitone - 49.0%, six semitones - 60.2%; p<0.001). Prior musical experience was found to be associated with higher pitch-ranking scores for the NH subjects. Those with musical experience ratings <3 obtained significantly lower scores for both interval sizes (p<0.001) than those with higher ratings..