One issue of theoretical debate that often arises within the field of music
cognition concerns the relationship between a melody's pitch and temporal
information. Some argue these are encoded as independent dimensions within
the cognitive system while others claim they are encoded in a unified fashi
on. This issue is assessed here by reviewing the results of three studies t
hat systematically manipulated subjects' selective attending to the tempora
l and/or pitch properties of melodies and then examined the subsequent reme
mbering of these structural dimensions. In general, the results indicate th
at pitch and temporal information can be encoded either in an independent o
r unified fashion but depends on the inherent structure of a melody as well
as an individual's degree of learning experience. This in turn has implica
tions for both the perception and remembering of melodies as well as durati
on judgments of a melody's total time span.