Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / A musical task involving pitch discrimination was developed and taught to children and adults. The task was a single tone matching procedure employing three organ tones and keys in the "do, re, mi" configuration, in which individually presented ("heard") tones, served as stimuli controlling selection of keys for tone-matching responses. The design of the study included an exploratory phase, in which sequences of material were manipulated and behavioral (performance) characteristics investigated, and a control experiment, in which reinforcing stimuli (feedback contingencies) were manipulated. Data describing errors as a function of trials and other relationships between stimuli and response events were collected. These were plotted in the form of individual cumulative records and stimuli-response tracking charts, respectively. Pre-adult subjects ranging in age from four to eleven years were recruited from an academic and professional population attending a private school. Adult subjects (ranging in age from 24 to 78 years) were selected on the basis of their claims to (a) not being "musical, " (b) not being able to read music, (c) not having any recent or prolonged music study. All subjects worked at the keyboard of a specially adapted organ by which tones were presented, responses recorded, and feedback provided. The study was primarily concerned with the following questions: 1. Would this key-tone matching task be "easy" or "difficult"? 2. Could performance be improved by employing the objective procedures described? 3. What behavioral characteristics could be revealed by the use of such procedures? Data from the exploratory phase (conducted with youth subjects) indicated that matching "do, re, mi" keys to their associated tones in single tone matching trials was not as "easy" a task as one might have expected. Analyses of stimuli-response tracking charts indicated that the major "pre-solution" behavior patterns were affected by the programmed sequences of material, and by the one, two, three, order inherent in the stimuli themselves. These data also provided evidence of the systematic nature of such performance, and that the relationships between sequence of material and patterns of responding can be subjected to experimental control. In the control experiment (conducted with youth and adult subjects) three different reinforcement procedures (feedback contingencies) were tested on a sequence of material developed in the exploratory phase. Procedure l provided production of the trial tone plus a red light signal for a correct response, and silence (no consequence) for an incorrect response. Procedure 2 was the same as procedure l, with exception that the red light signal was withheld. In procedure 3, correct and incorrect responses produced the associated tones of the keys pressed. Control experiment data (cumulative error graphs) revealed improvement in 13 out of 14 youth subjects, and in 10 out of 15 adult subjects. The procedures in which subjects heard the correct tones and not the incorrect tones in training (l and 2) produced more learning than the procedure (3) in which subjects heard the correct as well as the incorrect tones. Also, more learning was achieved under procedure l, which provided the red light consequence in addition to the tone for correct responding, than under procedure 2, which provided the tone only (no light). A behavioral model of key-tone matching was suggested as the framework for further research. The implications of the study were seen to extend beyond musical learning theory, to auditory learning theory in general. The relevance of the findings to education in general and to adult education in particular was indicated. / 2031-01-01

A review of the literature on the inaccurate singer provided strong evidence that improvement in pitch matching skill was possible. Visual feedback was found to be an effective aid in earlier studies, but none of the previous studies provided both a comparison group which had identical practice without the visual cues and a control group which received no form of practice. Such a design was used in the present study.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the Yamaha Junior Music Programme in developing pitch discrimination and rhythm performance skills in five- and six-year old children over a six month period. Specifically, it aimed to measure improvements in the ability to distinguish between high and low-pitched tones, the ability to identify the pitch of tones, the ability to imitate rhythms, and the ability to beat in time to music in four groups of ten subjects. Two groups (Y1 and Y2) had been involved in the Yamaha music programme, which aimed to improve the skills mentioned above. The other two groups (K1 and K2) had attended Kindergarten but had not been involved in any formal music programmes. Two of these groups (Y1 and K1) participated in pre-tests and post-tests. The other two groups (Y2 and K2) had participated in the post-tests only. The two groups which were taught via the Yamaha method consisted of ten students (male and female). The two other groups consisted of ten students in each group. These groups comprised students randomly selected from two Kindergarten classes at Fraser Primary school in the A.C.T. All students were presented with three tests: one pitch test, and two rhythm performance tests. Each test contained ten items. The three tests were trialled in a pilot study, with only minimum changes to procedure being required. The Yamaha groups were also given a pitch identification test at the conclusion of the six-month period. Each student's performance in the ten trials of the three tests was recorded on audio tape. Three judges used these recorded responses to grade each student's performance. The trials were also recorded digitally on an Apple II Computer using a sequencing software package. Detailed statistical analysis was carried out on both subjective and digital scores. The experimental design used in this research was the "Solomon's Four" design, which was ideal in controlling for internal sources of invalidity. A series of comparisons were drawn between the various groups involved, and it was concluded that the six-month Yamaha aural training programme led to the following outcomes: * improvements in the ability of Yamaha students to determine pitch height. * a higher incidence of improvement for the experimental group in the pitch pairs test (to determine pitch height) than for the control group. * improvements in the ability of Yamaha students to identify the pitch of notes. * no statistically significant improvements for Yamaha students at the end of six months for rhythm test A (rhythm imitation). * no statistically significant improvements in the performance of Yamaha students at the end of six months for rhythm test B (beating in time to music). * no statistically significant improvements in the performance of the Kindergarten groups at the end of six months for rhythm test A. * no statistically significant improvements in the performance of the Kindergarten groups at the end of six months for rhythm test B. A number of explanations were offered for the absence of improvement in the two rhythm tests and recommendations were made for future research.

The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship among process, structure, and property of the UTSI pitch-based carbon fibers and optimize carbon fiber’s mechanical properties through the stabilization process. Various analysis techniques were employed throughout these investigations which include the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), optical microscope, Dia-stron system, MTS, and ImageJ. Several fiber process techniques including fiber spinning, stabilization, and carbonization were explored to determine the effect of the thermal process on the fiber yield, fiber diameter, the sheath-core structure of stabilized fibers, the pac-man and hollow core structures of carbonized fibers, and the resulting mechanical properties of the carbon fibers. It was found that stabilization time and the temperature stepping had a great deal on influence on the resulting carbon fibers. Larger diameter fiber is easy to form sheath-core structure in the stabilization process. Pac-man structure was developed at 600°C during the carbonization. Both stabilization duration and the carbonization temperature control the resulting carbon fiber diameter and fiber structure defects such as the pac-man and hollow core defects. Multi-step stabilization can reduce the total stabilization duration and improve the mechanical properties of the resulting carbon fibers. Fiber structure non-uniformities including fiber diameter distributions for a bundle fiber or along a single fiber, and pac-man angles were determined. Statistical analysis revealed the distribution of the carbon fiber cross-sectional areas and the result is compared against commercial available carbon fibers. Carbon fiber sandwiched composites (CFSCs) were fabricated with UTSI carbon fiber and commercial PAN-based carbon fibers. Several configurations of sandwich structured composites were explored to test the flexural properties with varying sandwich thickness.

Nine experiments were conducted to explore pitch-time integration in music. In Experiments 1-6, listeners heard a musical context followed by probe events that varied in pitch class and temporal position. When evaluating the goodness-of-fit of the probe (Experiment 1), listeners’ ratings showed more influence of pitch class than of temporal position. The tonal and metric hierarchies contributed additively to ratings. Listeners again rated goodness-of-fit in Experiment 2, but with instructions to ignore pitch. Temporal position dominated ratings, but an effect of pitch consistent with the tonal hierarchy remained. Again, these two factors contributed additively. A speeded classification task in Experiments 3 and 4 revealed asymmetric interference. When making a temporal judgment (Experiment 3), listeners exhibited a response bias consistent with the tonal hierarchy, but the metric hierarchy did not affect their pitch judgments (Experiment 4). Experiments 5 and 6 ruled out alternative explanations based on the presence of pitch classes and temporal positions in the context, unequal numbers of pitch classes and temporal positions in the probe events, and differential difficulty of pitch versus temporal classification. Experiments 7-9 examined the factors that modulate the effect of temporal variation on pitch judgments. In Experiment 7, a standard tone was followed by a tonal context and then a comparison tone. Participants judged whether the comparison tone was in the key of the context or whether it was higher or lower than the standard tone. For both tasks, the comparison tone occurred early, on time, or late with respect to temporal expectancies established by the context. Temporal variation did not affect accuracy in either task. Experiment 8 used the pitch height comparison task, and had either a tonal or an atonal context. Temporal variation affected accuracy only for atonal contexts. Experiment 9 replicated these results and controlled for potential confounds. The findings imply that the tonal contexts found in typical Western music bias attention toward pitch, increasing the salience of this dimension at the expense of time. Pitch salience likely arises from long-term exposure to the statistical properties of Western music and is not linked to the relative discriminability of pitch and time.

Nine experiments were conducted to explore pitch-time integration in music. In Experiments 1-6, listeners heard a musical context followed by probe events that varied in pitch class and temporal position. When evaluating the goodness-of-fit of the probe (Experiment 1), listeners’ ratings showed more influence of pitch class than of temporal position. The tonal and metric hierarchies contributed additively to ratings. Listeners again rated goodness-of-fit in Experiment 2, but with instructions to ignore pitch. Temporal position dominated ratings, but an effect of pitch consistent with the tonal hierarchy remained. Again, these two factors contributed additively. A speeded classification task in Experiments 3 and 4 revealed asymmetric interference. When making a temporal judgment (Experiment 3), listeners exhibited a response bias consistent with the tonal hierarchy, but the metric hierarchy did not affect their pitch judgments (Experiment 4). Experiments 5 and 6 ruled out alternative explanations based on the presence of pitch classes and temporal positions in the context, unequal numbers of pitch classes and temporal positions in the probe events, and differential difficulty of pitch versus temporal classification. Experiments 7-9 examined the factors that modulate the effect of temporal variation on pitch judgments. In Experiment 7, a standard tone was followed by a tonal context and then a comparison tone. Participants judged whether the comparison tone was in the key of the context or whether it was higher or lower than the standard tone. For both tasks, the comparison tone occurred early, on time, or late with respect to temporal expectancies established by the context. Temporal variation did not affect accuracy in either task. Experiment 8 used the pitch height comparison task, and had either a tonal or an atonal context. Temporal variation affected accuracy only for atonal contexts. Experiment 9 replicated these results and controlled for potential confounds. The findings imply that the tonal contexts found in typical Western music bias attention toward pitch, increasing the salience of this dimension at the expense of time. Pitch salience likely arises from long-term exposure to the statistical properties of Western music and is not linked to the relative discriminability of pitch and time.

Thesis (M.M.)--Ball State University, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Mar. 08, 2010). Creative project (M.M.), 3 hrs. Includes bibliographical references (p. [23]-25).

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Oregon, 2007. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-160). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (M. Mus.)--University of Adelaide, 1982. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 162).

Thesis (M.M.)--University of Michigan, 1964.