Music and Language

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Coleman, N. C., Palmer, C., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2024). Spontaneous production rates in song and speech. Music & Science, 7, 20592043241279056.
Ozaki, Y., Tierney, A., Pfordresher, P. Q., McBride, J., Benetos, E., Proutskouva, P., Chiba, G., Liu, F., Jacoby, N., Purdy, S. C., Opondo, P., Fitch, W. T., Rocamora, M., Thorne, R., Nweke, F., Sadaphal, D., Sadaphal, P., Hadavi, S., Fujii, S., … Savage, P. E. (2024). Globally , songs and instrumental melodies are slower, higher, and use more stable pitches than speech: A registered report. Science Advances, 10, eadm9797.
Van Hedger, S., Halpern, A. R., Vollweiler, D. J., Smith, E. E., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2024). Is Hey Jude in the Right Key? Cognitive Components of Absolute Pitch Memory. Memory & Cognition, 52, 1142-1151.
Honda, C., Pruitt, T. A., Greenspon, E. B., Liu, F., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2023). The effect of musical training and language background on vocal imitation of pitch in speech and song. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance.
Honda, C., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2023). An acoustic analysis and comparison between remotely collected and in-person laboratory collected data in vocal imitation of pitch. Auditory Perception & Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1080/25742442.2023.2210050. [online ahead of print]
Greenspon, E. G., Gentile, A. M., Pruitt, T. A., Halpern, A. R., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2023). Subvocalization during preparatory and non-preparatory auditory imagery. Auditory Perception & Cognition, 6, 108-127.
Pfordresher, P. Q. (2022). Singing accuracy across the lifespan. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
Pfordresher, P. Q. (2022). A reversal of the song advantage in vocal pitch imitation. JASA Express Letters, 2, 034401.
Pfordresher, P. Q., Mantell, J. T., & Pruitt, T. A. (2022). Effects of intention in the imitation of sung and spoken pitch. Psychological Research.
Berglin, J., Pfordresher, P. Q., & Demorest, S. M. (2022). The effect of visual and auditory feedback on adult poor-pitch remediation. Psychology of Music.
Halpern, A. R., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2022). What do less accurate singers remember? Pitch matching ability and long-term memory for music. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics.
Larrouy-Maestri, P., Poeppel, D., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2022). Pitch units in music and speech prosody. In R. Wiese & M. Scharinger (Eds). How language speaks to music: prosody from a cross-domain perspective. Berlin: de Gruyter.
Wang, L., Pfordresher, P. Q., Jiang, C., & Liu, F. (2021). Individuals with autism spectrum disorder are impaired in absolute but not relative pitch and duration matching in speech and song imitation. Autism Research, 14, 2355-2372.
Pfordresher, P. Q., & Demorest, S. M. (2021). The prevalence and correlates of accurate singing. Journal of Research in Music Education, 69, 5-23. [Click here for the supplementary figures]
Pfordresher, P. Q., & Demorest, S. M. (2020). Construction and validation of the Seattle Singing Accuracy Protocol (SSAP): An automated online measure of singing accuracy. In F. Russo, B. Ilari, & A. Cohen (Eds). Routledge Companion to Interdisciplinary Studies in Singing: Vol. 1 Development (pp. 322-333). London: Routledge.
Greenspon, E. B., Pfordresher, P. Q., & Halpern. A. R. (2020). The role of long-term memory in mental transformations of pitch. Auditory Perception & Cognition, 3, 76-93.
Greenspon, E. B., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2019). Pitch specific contributions of auditory imagery and auditory memory in vocal pitch imitation. Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 81, 2473-2481.
Pfordresher, P. Q., & Nolan, N. P. (2019). Testing convergence between singing and music perception accuracy. Auditory Perception & Cognition, 2, 67-81.
Pruitt, T. A., Halpern, A. R., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2019). Covert singing in anticipatory auditory imagery. Psychophysiology, 56, e13297.
Demorest, S. D., Nichols, B. E., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2018). The effect of focused instruction on young children’s singing accuracy. Psychology of Music, 46, 488-499.
Greenspon, E. B., Pfordresher, P. Q., & Halpern, A. R. (2017). Pitch imitation ability in mental transformations of melodies. Music Perception, 35, 585-604.
Pfordresher, P. Q. & Brown, S. (2017). Vocal mistuning reveals the origin of musical scales. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 29, 35-52.
Demorest, S. M., Kelley, J., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2016). Singing ability, musical self-concept and future music participation. Journal of Research in Music Education, 64, 405-420.
Belyk, M., Pfordresher, P. Q., Liotti, M., & Brown, S. (2016). The neural basis of vocal pitch imitation in humans. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 28, 621-635.
Pfordresher, P. Q., & Larrouy-Maestri, P. (2015). On drawing a line through the spectrogram: How do we understand deficits of vocal pitch imitation? Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, 271.
Demorest, S. M., Pfordresher, P. Q., Dalla Bella, S., Hutchins, S., Loui, P., Rutkowski, J., & Welch, G. F. (2015). Methodological perspectives on singing accuracy: In introduction to the special issue on singing accuracy (Part 2).Music Perception, 32, 266-271.
Demorest, S. M., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2015). Singing accuracy development from K-adult: A comparative study. Music Perception, 32, 293-302.
Pfordresher, P. Q., Demorest, S. M., Dalla Bella, S., Hutchins, S., Loui, P., Rutkowski, J., & Welch, G. F. (2015). Theoretical perspectives on singing accuracy: An introduction to the special issue on singing accuracy (Part 1).Music Perception, 32, 227-231.
Pfordresher, P. Q., Halpern, A. R., & Greenspon, E. B. (2015). A Mechanism for Sensorimotor Translation in Singing: The Multi-Modal Imagery Association (MMIA) Model. Music Perception, 32, 242-253.
Mercado, E., III, Mantell, J. T., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2014). Imitating sounds: A cognitive approach to understanding vocal imitation. Comparative Cognition & Behavior Reviews, 9, 1-57.
Pfordresher, P. Q., & Mantell, J. T. (2014). Singing with yourself: Evidence for an inverse modeling account of poor-pitch singing. Cognitive Psychology, 70, 31-57.
Liu, F. Jiang, C., Pfordresher, P. Q., Mantell, J. T. Xu, X., Yang, Y. & Stewart, L. (2013). Individuals with congenital amusia imitate pitches more accurately in singing than in speaking: Implications for music and language processing. Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 75, 1783-1798.
Mantell, J. T., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2013). Vocal imitation of song and speech. Cognition, 127, 177-202.
Pfordresher, P. Q. & Halpern, A. R. (2013). Auditory imagery and the poor pitch singer. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 20, 747-753.
Wisniewski, M. G., Mantell, J. T., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2013). Transfer effects in the vocal imitation of speech and song. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind and Brain, 23, 82-99.
Pfordresher, P. Q. (2011). Poor pitch singing as an inverse model deficit: Imitation and estimation. In A. Williamon, D. Edwards & L. Bartel (Eds.) Proceedings of the International Symposium on Performance Science (pp. 539-544). Association Européenne des Conservatoires : Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Mantell, J. T., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2010). Modular processing? Phonetic information facilitates speech and song imitation. In S. M. Demorest, S. J. Morrison, & P. S. Campbell (Eds.) Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition (pp. 338-339). University of Washington: Seattle, Washington.
Pfordresher, P. Q., Brown, S., Meier, K., Belyk, M., & Liotti, M. (2010). Imprecise singing is widespread. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 128, 2182-2190.
Pfordresher, P.Q., & Brown, S. (2009). Linguistic background influences the production and perception of musical intervals. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 71, 1385-1398.
Pfordresher, P.Q., & Mantell, J.T. (2009). Singing as a Form of Vocal Imitation: Mechanisms and Deficits. In J. Louhivuori, T. Eerola, S. Saarikallio, T. Himberg, & P.-S. Eerola (Eds.) Proceedings of the 7th Triennial Conference of European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (pp. 425-430). Jyväskylä, Finland .
Pfordresher, P.Q. & Brown, S. (2007). Poor-pitch singing in the absence of “tone deafness.” Music Perception, 25, 95-115.

Ozaki, Y., Tierney, A., Pfordresher, P. Q., McBride, J., Benetos, E., Proutskouva, P., Chiba, G., Liu, F., Jacoby, N., Purdy, S. C., Opondo, P., Fitch, W. T., Rocamora, M., Thorne, R., Nweke, F., Sadaphal, D., Sadaphal, P., Hadavi, S., Fujii, S., … Savage, P. E. [80 coauthors] (Accepted [“Recommended”]). Globally, songs are slower, higher, and use more stable pitches than speech [Stage 2 Registered Report]. Peer Community in Registered Reports. Preprint: https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/jr9x7
Honda, C., Pruitt, T. A., Greenspon, E. B., Liu, F., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2023). The effect of musical training and language background on vocal imitation of pitch in speech and song. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance.
Pfordresher, P. Q. (2022). A reversal of the song advantage in vocal pitch imitation. JASA Express Letters, 2, 034401.
Pfordresher, P. Q., Mantell, J. T., & Pruitt, T. A. (2022). Effects of intention in the imitation of sung and spoken pitch. Psychological Research.
Larrouy-Maestri, P., Poeppel, D., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2022). Pitch units in music and speech prosody. In R. Wiese & M. Scharinger (Eds). How language speaks to music: prosody from a cross-domain perspective. Berlin: de Gruyter.
Pfordresher, P. Q., Greenspon, E. B., Friedman, A. L., & Palmer, C. (2021). Spontaneous production rates in music and speech. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 611867.
Wang, L., Pfordresher, P. Q., Jiang, C., & Liu, F. (2021). Individuals with autism spectrum disorder are impaired in absolute but not relative pitch and duration matching in speech and song imitation. Autism Research, 14, 2355-2372.
Greenspon, E. B., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2019). Pitch specific contributions of auditory imagery and auditory memory in vocal pitch imitation. Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 81, 2473-2481.
Brown, S., Pfordresher, P. Q., & Chow, I. (2017). A musical model of speech rhythm. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain, 27, 95-112.
Pruitt, T. A., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2015). The role of auditory feedback in speech and song. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 41, 152-166.
Pfordresher, P. Q., & Mantell, J. T. (2014). Singing with yourself: Evidence for an inverse modeling account of poor-pitch singing. Cognitive Psychology, 70, 31-57.
Liu, F. Jiang, C., Pfordresher, P. Q., Mantell, J. T. Xu, X., Yang, Y. & Stewart, L. (2013). Individuals with congenital amusia imitate pitches more accurately in singing than in speaking: Implications for music and language processing. Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 75, 1783-1798.
Mantell, J. T., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2013). Vocal imitation of song and speech. Cognition, 127, 177-202.
Wisniewski, M. G., Mantell, J. T., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2013). Transfer effects in the vocal imitation of speech and song. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind and Brain, 23, 82-99.
Giuliano, R., Pfordresher, P. Q., Stanley, E., Narayana, S., & Wicha, N. (2011). Native experience with a tone language enhances pitch discrimination and the speed of neural responses to pitch change. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 146.
Mantell, J. T., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2010). Modular processing? Phonetic information facilitates speech and song imitation. In S. M. Demorest, S. J. Morrison, & P. S. Campbell (Eds.) Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition (pp. 338-339). University of Washington: Seattle, Washington.
Pfordresher, P.Q., & Brown, S. (2009). Linguistic background influences the production and perception of musical intervals. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 71, 1385-1398.

Perceptual Feedback in Sequence Production

Pfordresher, P. Q., Honda, C., Greenspon, E. B., Chow, K. (2021). Generalization of novel sensorimotor associations among pianists and non-pianists: More evidence that musical training effects are constrained. Psychological Research, 85, 1932-1942.
Pfordresher, P. Q. (2019). Sound and action in music performance. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Pfordresher, P. Q., & Chow, K. (2019). A cost of musical training? Sensorimotor flexibility in musical sequence learning. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 26, 967-973.
Pfordresher, P. Q., & Kobrina, A. (2017). Sensitivity to meter in auditory feedback during music performance. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain, 27, 54-62.
Jebb, A. T., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2016). Exploring perception-action relations in music production: The asymmetric effect of tonal class. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 42, 658-670.
Zamm, A., Palmer, C., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2015). Temporal coordination in joint music performance: Effects of endogenous rhythms and auditory feedback. Experimental Brain Research, 233, 607-615.
Pruitt, T. A., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2015). The role of auditory feedback in speech and song. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 41, 152-166.
Pfordresher, P. Q. (2014). “Deafness” effects in detecting alterations to auditory feedback during sequence production. Psychological Research, 78, 96-112.
Pfordresher, P. Q., & Beasley, R. T. E. (2014). Making and monitoring errors based on altered auditory feedback. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 914.
Pfordresher, P. Q., Mantell, J. T., Brown, S., Zivadinov, R., & Cox, J. L. (2014). Brain responses to altered auditory feedback during musical keyboard performance: An fMRI study. Brain Research, 1556, 28-37.
Kulpa, J. D., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2013). Effects of delayed auditory and visual feedback on sequence production. Experimental Brain Research, 224, 69-77.
Couchman, J. J., Beasley, R., & Pfordresher, P. Q., (2012). The experience of agency in sequence production with altered auditory feedback. Consciousness and Cognition, 21, 186-203.
Pfordresher, P. Q. (2012). Musical training and the role of auditory feedback during performance. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1252, 171-176.
Pfordresher, P. Q., & Mantell, J. T. (2012). Effects of altered auditory feedback across effector systems: Production of melodies by keyboard and singing. Acta Psychologica, 139, 166-177.
Pfordresher, P. Q., & Dalla Bella, S. (2011). Delayed auditory feedback and movement. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 37, 566-579.
Pfordresher, P. Q., Keller, P. E., Koch, I., Palmer, C.,& Yildirim, E. (2011). Activation of learned action sequences by auditory feedback. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 18, 544-549.
Pfordresher, P. Q., & Kulpa, J. (2011). The dynamics of disruption from delayed auditory feedback: Further evidence for a dissociation of sequencing and timing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 37, 949-967.
Pfordresher, P. Q., & Varco, T. (2010). Altered auditory feedback effects on keyboard and singing performance. In S. M. Demorest, S. J. Morrison, & P. S. Campbell (Eds.) Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition (pp. 474-477). University of Washington: Seattle, Washington.
Pfordresher, P.Q. (2008). Auditory feedback in music performance: The role of transition-based similarity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 34, 708-725.
Pfordresher, P.Q. & Benitez, B. (2007). Temporal coordination between actions and sound during sequence production. Human Movement Science, 26, 742-756.
Pfordresher, P.Q. (2006). Coordination of perception and action in music performance. Advances in Cognitive Psychology, 2, 183-198. [www.ac-psych.org]
Pfordresher, P.Q. & Palmer C. (2006). Effects of hearing the past, present, or future during music performance. Perception & Psychophysics, 68, 362-376.
Pfordresher, P.Q. (2005). Auditory feedback in music performance: The role of melodic structure and musical skill. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 31, 1331-1345.
Pfordresher, P.Q. (2004). Can altered auditory information affect planning? Evidence from music performance. Stammering Research, 1, 51-53.
Pfordresher, P.Q. (2003b). Auditory feedback in music performance: Evidence for a dissociation of sequencing and timing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 29, 949-964.
Pfordresher, P.Q. & Palmer, C. (2002). Effects of delayed auditory feedback on timing of music performance. Psychological Research, 66, 71-79.

Effects of Musical Experience

Honda, C., Pruitt, T. A., Greenspon, E. B., Liu, F., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2023). The effect of musical training and language background on vocal imitation of pitch in speech and song. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance.
Pfordresher, P. Q., Honda, C., Greenspon, E. B., Chow, K. (2021). Generalization of novel sensorimotor associations among pianists and non-pianists: More evidence that musical training effects are constrained. Psychological Research, 85, 1932-1942.
Scheurich, R., Pfordresher, P. Q., & Palmer, C. (2020). Musical training enhances temporal adaptation of auditory-motor synchronization. Experimental Brain Research, 238, 81-92.
Pfordresher, P. Q. (2019). Sound and action in music performance. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Pfordresher, P. Q., & Chow, K. (2019). A cost of musical training? Sensorimotor flexibility in musical sequence learning. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 26, 967-973.
Demorest, S. D., Nichols, B. E., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2018). The effect of focused instruction on young children’s singing accuracy. Psychology of Music, 46, 488-499.
Demorest, S. M., Kelley, J., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2016). Singing ability, musical self-concept and future music participation. Journal of Research in Music Education, 64, 405-420.

Modeling Retrieval in Production

Van Hedger, S., Halpern, A. R., Vollweiler, D. J., Smith, E. E., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (in press). Is Hey Jude in the Right Key? Cognitive Components of Absolute Pitch Memory. Memory & Cognition.
Mathias, B., Pfordresher, P. Q., & Palmer, C. (2015). Context and meter enhance long-range planning in music performance. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 1040.
Giuliano, R., Pfordresher, P. Q., Stanley, E., Narayana, S., & Wicha, N. (2011). Native experience with a tone language enhances pitch discrimination and the speed of neural responses to pitch change. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 146.
Mathias, B., Anderson, M. F., Palmer, C. & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2011). Effects of meter and serial position on memory retrieval during music performance. In A. Williamon, D. Edwards & L. Bartel (Eds.) Proceedings of the International Symposium on Performance Science (pp. 405-410). Association Européenne des Conservatories : Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Pfordresher, P.Q. Palmer, C., & Jungers, M. (2007). Speed, accuracy, and serial order in sequence production. Cognitive Science, 31, 63-98.
Pfordresher, P.Q. & Palmer C. (2006). Effects of hearing the past, present, or future during music performance. Perception & Psychophysics, 68, 362-376.
Palmer, C. & Pfordresher, P.Q. (2003). Incremental planning in sequence production. Psychological Review, 110, 683-712.
Palmer, C. & Pfordresher, P.Q. (2000). The faces of meter in performance and perception. in C. Woods, G. Luck, R. Brochard, F. Seddon & J. A. Sloboda (Eds.) Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition. Keele, UK : Keele University Department of Psychology.

Perception of Musical Structure

Pfordresher, P. Q., & Nolan, N. P. (2019). Testing convergence between singing and music perception accuracy. Auditory Perception & Cognition, 2, 67-81.
Larrouy-Maestri, P., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2018). Pitch perception in music: do scoops matter? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 44, 1523-1541.
Brown, S., Pfordresher, P. Q., & Chow, I. (2017). A musical model of speech rhythm. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain, 27, 95-112.
Acevedo, S., Temperley, D., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2014). Effects of metrical encoding on melody recognition. Music Perception, 31, 372-386.
Prince, J. B., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2012). The role of pitch and temporal diversity in the perception and production of musical sequences. Acta Psychologica, 141, 184-198.
Prince, J. B., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2010). Pitch/time diversity effects in perception and production. In S. M. Demorest, S. J. Morrison, & P. S. Campbell (Eds.) Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition (pp. 821-824). University of Washington: Seattle, Washington.
Pfordresher, P.Q. (2003a). The role of melodic and rhythmic accents in musical structure. Music Perception, 20, 431-464.
Jones, M.R. & Pfordresher, P.Q. (1997). Tracking melodic events using Joint Accent Structure. The Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 51, 271-291.

Books and Reviews

Honda, C., & Pfordresher, P. Q. (2023). An acoustic analysis and comparison between remotely collected and in-person laboratory collected data in vocal imitation of pitch. Auditory Perception & Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1080/25742442.2023.2210050. [online ahead of print]
Pfordresher, P. Q. (2022). Music performance. In O. Braddick (Ed.) Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.492
Pfordresher, P. Q. (2021). Music production deficits and social bonding: The case of poor-pitch singing. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 44, E86.
Pfordresher, P. Q. (2019). Sound and action in music performance. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Tan, S. L., Pfordresher, P. Q., & Harré, R. (2018). Psychology of music: From sound to significance (2^nd Edition). London: Routledge.
Tan, S.L., Pfordresher, P.Q., & Harré, R. (2010). Psychology of music: From sound to significance. London : Routledge and Psychology Press.