Abstract
Absolute pitch (AP) is assumed to involve both pitch memory and pitch labeling for musical pitches. While people with AP possess both, non-AP individuals possess only pitch memory. AP possessors are superior to non-AP possessors in pitch labeling accuracy for semitones, but whether this holds true in pitch memory precision that cannot be labeled by a musical pitch name is unclear. In this study, pitch memory for tones subdivided by less than one semitone was compared among accurate AP possessors, inaccurate AP possessors, and non-AP possessors. In experiment 1, participants were given a pitch labeling task, and both accurate and inaccurate AP possessors were superior to non-AP possessors in the precision of pitch memory. However, in experiment 2, in which pitch labeling was not required, inaccurate AP possessors were not superior to non-AP possessors. In addition, the perceptual shift toward low pitch was also observed below the age of twenty years on average.
