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... musicians and psychologists and physics (sometimes the
same person) have done studies to determine what the average person claims
is an octave. These tests do not involve tuning two piano strings until
beats disappear. Rather they involve playing a lower note followed by a
higher note (or vice versa) and varying the frequency of the second note
until the listener declares the two sounds are one octave apart. In these
tests, most listeners will choose a stretched octave. I'm not sure why
other than some sort of psychological preference as Leigh says.
I heard one
musician declare it was because so many times as people learn to sing in
choirs in high school, they keep having it drummed into their heads that
they must not go flat. Especially the boys are taught to "think high" or we
also hear "hit it from the top."