Discrimination of Number of Simultaneously Sounding Tones

Abstract

The aim of tim present experiments was to investigate the accuracy with which the number of simultaneously sounding tones can be perceived. Various one-, two-, and three-tone stimuli were presented to subjects, who had to judge how many tones were present. Results showed that discrimination of number of different tones sounding was far from perfect (even though Ohm's acoustic law would lead us to expect high accuracy). The discrimination of the average person was not improved even when frequency components were widely spaced. Accuracy of perception was poorer for two- and three-tone combinations than for one-tone stimuli. Number of allowable response categories also affected percent correct responses. Individual differences in performance were found to be large.