Note-to-note changes in brightness are able to influence the perception of interval size. Changes that are congruent with pitch tend to expand interval size, whereas changes that are incongruent tend to contract. In the case of singing, brightness of notes can vary as a function of vowel content. In the present study, we investigated whether note-to-note changes in brightness arising from vowel content influence perception of relative pitch. In Experiment 1, three-note sequences were synthesized so that they varied with regard to the brightness of vowels from note to note. As expected, brightness influenced judgments of interval size. Changes in brightness that were congruent with changes in pitch led to an expansion of perceived interval size. A follow-up experiment confirmed that the results of Experiment 1 were not due to pitch distortions. In Experiment 2, the final note of three-note sequences was removed, and participants were asked to make speeded judgments of the pitch contour. An analysis of response times revealed that brightness of vowels influenced contour judgments. Changes in brightness that were congruent with changes in pitch led to faster response times than did incongruent changes. These findings show that the brightness of vowels yields an extra-pitch influence on the perception of relative pitch in song.

中文翻译：

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元音含量会影响人声旋律中的相对音高知觉

亮度的音符变化会影响间隔大小的感知。与音高一致的变化趋向于扩大音程大小，而与音高不一致的变化趋于收缩。在唱歌的情况下，音符的亮度会随着元音含量的变化而变化。在本研究中，我们调查了由元音含量引起的亮度的音符变化是否会影响相对音高的感知。在实验1中，合成了三音符序列，使得它们在元音之间的音符亮度方面有所不同。不出所料，亮度会影响间隔大小的判断。与音高变化一致的亮度变化导致感知间隔大小的扩大。后续实验证实，实验1的结果不是由于音高失真引起的。在实验2中，删除了三音符序列的最后音符，并要求参与者对音高轮廓进行快速判断。对响应时间的分析表明，元音的亮度会影响轮廓判断。与不均​​匀变化相比，与音高变化一致的亮度变化导致更快的响应时间。这些发现表明，元音的亮度对歌曲中相对音高的感知产生了额外的音高影响。