Synchronization in repetitive smooth movement requires perceptible events.

Accurate timing performance during auditory-motor synchronization has been well documented for finger tapping tasks. It is believed that information pertaining to an event in movement production aids in detecting and correcting for errors between movement cycle completion and the metronome tone. Tasks with minimal event-related information exhibit more variable synchronization and less rapid error correction. Recent work from our laboratory has indicated that a task purportedly lacking an event structure (circle drawing) did not exhibit accurate synchronization or error correction (Studenka & Zelaznik, in press). In the present paper we report on two experiments examining synchronization in tapping and circle drawing tasks. In Experiment 1, error correction processes of an event-timed tapping timing task and an emergently timed circle drawing timing task were examined. Rapid and complete error correction was seen for the tapping, but not for the circle drawing task. In Experiment 2, a perceptual event was added to delineate a cycle in circle drawing, and the perceptual event of table contact was removed from the tapping task. The inclusion of an event produced a marked improvement in synchronization error correction for circle drawing, and the removal of tactile feedback (taking away an event) slightly reduced the error correction response of tapping. Furthermore, the task kinematics of circle drawing remained smooth providing evidence that event structure can be kinematic or perceptual in nature. Thus, synchronization and error correction, characteristic of event timing (Ivry, Spencer, Zelaznik, & Diedrichsen, 2002; Repp, 2005), depends upon the presence of a distinguishable source of sensory information at the timing goal.

[1]  G Aschersleben,et al.  Synchronizing actions with events: The role of sensory information , 1995, Perception & psychophysics.

[2]  A. M. Wing,et al.  Being discrete helps keep to the beat , 2009, Experimental Brain Research.

[3]  D Hary,et al.  On the performance and stability of human metronome-synchronization strategies. , 1987, The British journal of mathematical and statistical psychology.

[4]  Alan M. Wing,et al.  Chapter 4 Modeling variability and dependence in timing , 1996 .

[5]  Ramesh Balasubramaniam,et al.  Two different processes for sensorimotor synchronization in continuous and discontinuous rhythmic movements , 2009, Experimental Brain Research.

[6]  Richard B Ivry,et al.  Timing Variability in Circle Drawing and Tapping: Probing the Relationship Between Event and Emergent Timing , 2005, Journal of motor behavior.

[7]  M. Billon,et al.  The timing effects of accent production in synchronization and continuation tasks performed by musicians and nonmusicians , 1995, Psychological research.

[8]  Edward W. Large,et al.  Perceiving temporal regularity in music , 2002, Cogn. Sci..

[9]  J. S. Scott Kelso,et al.  Haptic information stabilizes and destabilizes coordination dynamics , 2001, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[10]  B H Repp,et al.  Phase correction, phase resetting, and phase shifts after subliminal timing perturbations in sensorimotor synchronization. , 2001, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[11]  H. Schaible,et al.  Joint receptors and kinaesthesia , 2004, Experimental Brain Research.

[12]  Michael J. Richardson,et al.  Social Connection Through Joint Action and Interpersonal Coordination , 2009, Top. Cogn. Sci..

[13]  Bruno H Repp,et al.  Multiple temporal references in sensorimotor synchronization with metrical auditory sequences , 2007, Psychological research.

[14]  Philip W. Fink,et al.  Local and global stabilization of coordination by sensory information , 2000, Experimental Brain Research.

[15]  B. Repp.  Sensorimotor synchronization: A review of the tapping literature , 2005, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[16]  Bruno H. Repp.  Automaticity and voluntary control of phase correction following event onset shifts in sensorimotor synchronization. , 2002 .

[17]  R. Balasubramaniam,et al.  Oscillating in synchrony with a metronome: serial dependence, limit cycle dynamics, and modeling. , 2010, Motor control.

[18]  Howard N Zelaznik,et al.  Weber (Slope) Analyses of Timing Variability in Tapping and Drawing Tasks , 2003, Journal of motor behavior.

[19]  B H Repp,et al.  Processes underlying adaptation to tempo changes in sensorimotor synchronization. , 2001, Human movement science.

[20]  K. Torre,et al.  Time intervals production in tapping and oscillatory motion. , 2004, Human movement science.

[21]  H Pashler,et al.  Perception and production of brief durations: beat-based versus interval-based timing. , 2001, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[22]  Richard B. Ivry,et al.  Comparison of patients with Parkinson’s disease or cerebellar lesions in the production of periodic movements involving event-based or emergent timing , 2005, Brain and Cognition.

[23]  H. Zelaznik,et al.  Correlations for timing consistency among tapping and drawing tasks: evidence against a single timing process for motor control. , 1999, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[24]  S. Gandevia,et al.  Cutaneous receptors contribute to kinesthesia at the index finger, elbow, and knee. , 2005, Journal of neurophysiology.

[25]  H H Schulze,et al.  The detectability of local and global displacements in regular rhythmic patterns , 1978, Psychological research.

[26]  D Hary,et al.  Temporal tracking and synchronization strategies. , 1985, Human neurobiology.

[27]  H. Zelaznik,et al.  Dissociation of explicit and implicit timing in repetitive tapping and drawing movements. , 2002 .

[28]  H N Zelaznik,et al.  The role of vision in repetitive circle drawing. , 1996, Acta psychologica.

[29]  H. Zelaznik,et al.  The Cerebellum and Event Timing , 2002, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[30]  H. Zelaznik,et al.  Disrupted Timing of Discontinuous But Not Continuous Movements by Cerebellar Lesions , 2003, Science.

[31]  E. Large.  On synchronizing movements to music , 2000 .

[32]  Breanna E. Studenka,et al.  The influence of dominant versus non-dominant hand on event and emergent motor timing. , 2008, Human movement science.

[33]  Stephen M. Highstein,et al.  The cerebellum : recent developments in cerebellar research , 2002 .

[34]  B H Repp,et al.  Compensation for subliminal timing perturbations in perceptual-motor synchronization , 2000, Psychological research.

[35]  Bruno H Repp,et al.  Simultaneous Event-Based and Emergent Timing: Synchronization, Continuation, and Phase Correction , 2010, Journal of motor behavior.

[36]  G. Stelmach,et al.  Parkinsonism Reduces Coordination of Fingers, Wrist, and Arm in Fine Motor Control , 1997, Experimental Neurology.

[37]  G Aschersleben,et al.  Delayed auditory feedback in synchronization. , 1997, Journal of motor behavior.

[38]  D. Hary,et al.  Synchronizing human movement with an external clock source , 1987, Biological Cybernetics.

[39]  Roberto Nicoletti,et al.  Mechanisms of perceptual timing: Beat-based or interval-based judgements? , 1989 .

[40]  Michael J. Richardson,et al.  Rocking together: dynamics of intentional and unintentional interpersonal coordination. , 2007, Human movement science.

[41]  Breanna E Studenka,et al.  Circle Drawing Does Not Exhibit Auditory–Motor Synchronization , 2011, Journal of motor behavior.

[42]  Bruno H Repp,et al.  Perfect Phase Correction in Synchronization With Slow Auditory Sequences , 2008, Journal of motor behavior.

[43]  H. Zelaznik,et al.  Temporal Precision in Tapping and Circle Drawing Movements at Preferred Rates is Not Correlated: Further Evidence Against Timing as a General-Purpose Ability , 2000, Journal of motor behavior.