We examined the interaction between music and tone language experience as related to relative pitch processing by having participants judge the direction and magnitude of pitch changes in a relative pitch task. Participants' performance on this relative pitch task was assessed using the Cochran-Weiss-Shanteau (CWS) index of expertise, based on a ratio of discrimination over consistency in participants' relative pitch judgments. Testing took place in 2 separate sessions on different days to assess the effects of practice on participants' performance. Participants also completed the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA), an existing measure comprising subtests aimed at evaluating relative pitch processing abilities. Musicians outperformed nonmusicians on both the relative pitch task, as measured by the CWS index, and the MBEA, but tonal language speakers outperformed non-tonal language speakers only on the MBEA. A closer look at the discrimination and consistency component scores of the CWS index revealed that musicians were better at discriminating different pitches and more consistent in their assessments of the direction and magnitude of relative pitch change.

中文翻译：

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音乐和音调语言体验对相对音调表现的影响。

通过让参与者判断相对音高任务中音高变化的方向和幅度，我们检查了与相对音高处理相关的音乐和音调语言体验之间的相互作用。使用Cochran-Weiss-Shanteau（CWS）专业知识指标，根据参与者相对音调判断中的歧视与一致性之比，评估参与者在此相对音调任务中的表现。测试在不同的日期分别举行了2次会议，以评估练习对参与者绩效的影响。参与者还完成了“蒙特利尔音乐评估局”（MBEA），这是一项现有的测量，包括旨在评估相对音高处理能力的子测试。在CWS指数和MBEA的相对音高任务上，音乐家的表现均优于非音乐家。但是在MBEA上，语调使用者仅胜过非语调使用者。仔细研究CWS指数的辨别力和一致性成分分数，可以发现音乐家更擅长辨别不同的音高，并且在评估相对音高变化的方向和幅度方面更加一致。