Disrupting the isochrony underlying rhythm: An asymmetry in discrimination

Recognition memory for equitone sequences was tested as a function of whether the pattern of stimulus onsets mapped easily onto an isochronous grid (rhythmic) or did not (disrupted). In a same-different task, discrimination between a rhythmic sequence and its disrupted variant was better when the rhythmic sequence was presented first and the disrupted variant second than vice versa. Analogous effects have been obtained for melodies and chord sequences as a function of tonal structure, and for text as a function of semantic and pragmatic coherence. In each domain, discrimination between coherent sequences and anomalous variants is better when the coherent version is presented first.

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