Detection of linear temporal drift in sound sequences: empirical data and modelling principles.

Three experiments determined the perceptual threshold (JND) for detecting tempo change; i.e. linear continuous increase or decrease in inter onset interval (IOI) in sequences with 2-9 brief sounds. JND decreased as a power function of the number of intervals presented (Expt. 1). JND increased with IOI and exhibited breakpoints in this respect close to 1 and 1.4 s (Expt. 3), in agreement with previous results for serial interval production. No interaction was apparent between IOI and number of intervals (Expt. 2). None of the experiments showed any effect of direction (increasing or decreasing intervals). The results are inconsistent with several conceivable principles for perceiving tempo change, except for one in which the external intervals are compared with the intervals generated by an internal, periodic process. The plausibility of this principle is discussed in the light of recent research on sensorimotor synchronisation.

[1]  L. Allan.  The time-order error in judgments of duration. , 1977 .

[2]  J. Michon,et al.  STUDIES ON SUBJECTIVE DURATION. I. DIFFERENTIAL SENSITIVITY IN THE PERCEPTION OF REPEATED TEMPORAL INTERVALS. , 1964, Acta psychologica.

[3]  Guy Madison,et al.  Fractal modeling of human isochronous serial interval production , 2003, Biological Cybernetics.

[4]  L. H. Shaffer,et al.  Metre and rhythm in piano playing , 1985, Cognition.

[5]  H. W. M. LUNNEY,et al.  Time as heard in speech and music , 1974, Nature.

[6]  D L Gilden,et al.  1/f noise in human cognition. , 1995, Science.

[7]  G. Madison,et al.  Variability in isochronous tapping: higher order dependencies as a function of intertap interval. , 2001, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[8]  Françoise Macar,et al.  Time, Action and Cognition , 1992 .

[9]  D. Deutsch,et al.  The Psychology of Music , 1983 .

[10]  Richard A. Block,et al.  Contextual Coding in Memory: Studies of Remembered Duration , 1985 .

[11]  Benoit B. Mandelbrot,et al.  Fractal Geometry of Nature , 1984 .

[12]  S. Hibi,et al.  Rhythm perception in repetitive sound sequence , 1983 .

[13]  C Kaernbach.  On the consistency of tapping to repeated noise. , 1992, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[14]  J. Mates,et al.  Temporal Integration in Sensorimotor Synchronization , 1994, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[15]  P. Fraisse.  Perception and estimation of time. , 1984, Annual review of psychology.

[16]  H. Woodrow,et al.  The effect of rate of sequence upon the accuracy of synchronization. , 1932 .

[17]  Y. Tohkura,et al.  Speech, Perception, Production and Linguistic Structure , 1992 .

[18]  John W. Moore,et al.  A Mechanism for Timing Conditioned Responses , 1992 .

[19]  E. Pöppel,et al.  A hierarchical model of temporal perception , 1997, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[20]  R. Ivry,et al.  Perception and production of temporal intervals across a range of durations: evidence for a common timing mechanism. , 1995, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[21]  Yanqing Chen,et al.  Long Memory Processes ( 1 / f α Type) in Human Coordination , 1997 .

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

[23]  C. K. Madsen.  Modulated Beat Discrimination Among Musicians and Nonmusicians , 1979 .

[24]  John A. Michon,et al.  Timing in temporal tracking , 1967 .

[25]  B H Repp,et al.  Expressive timing in Schumann's "Träumerei:" an analysis of performances by graduate student pianists. , 1995, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[26]  Guy Madison.  Fractal modeling of human isochronous serial interval production , 2004, Biol. Cybern..

[27]  Mari Riess Jones,et al.  Sensitivity to time change : The role of context and skill , 1997 .

[28]  P. Lachenbruch.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.) , 1989 .

[29]  Clifford K. Madsen,et al.  Applications of Research in Music Behavior , 1990 .

[30]  Karl J. Friston.  Functional integration and inference in the brain , 2002, Progress in Neurobiology.

[31]  Terry Lee Kuhn,et al.  Discrimination of Modulated Beat Tempo by Professional Musicians , 1974 .

[32]  B. Damasceno.  Time perception as a complex functional system: neuropsychological approach. , 1996, The International journal of neuroscience.

[33]  Guy Madison,et al.  On the limits of anisochrony in pulse attribution , 2002, Psychological research.

[34]  David J. Getty,et al.  Discrimination of short temporal intervals: A comparison of two models , 1975 .

[35]  John A. Michon,et al.  Time, Mind, and Behavior , 1985, Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

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

[37]  William K. Estes,et al.  Memory for Temporal Information , 1985 .

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

[39]  A B Kristofferson,et al.  A quantal step function in duration discrimination , 1980, Perception & psychophysics.

[40]  J H Wearden,et al.  Subjective Shortening in Humans' Memory for Stimulus Duration , 1993, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. B, Comparative and physiological psychology.

[41]  Rita S. Salzberg,et al.  Discrimination of Modulated Music Tempo by String Students , 1984 .

[42]  H H Schulze,et al.  The perception of temporal deviations in isochronic patterns , 1989, Perception & psychophysics.

[43]  R. G. Crowder,et al.  The role of succession in temporal cognition: Is the time-order error a recency effect of memory? , 1988, Perception & psychophysics.

[44]  G. Gescheider.  Psychophysics: The Fundamentals , 1997 .

[45]  Johan Sundberg,et al.  TIME DISCRIMINATION IN A MONOTONIC, ISOCHRONOUS SEQUENCE , 1995 .

[46]  L. K. Miller,et al.  The Contributions of Development versus Music Training to Simple Tempo Discrimination , 1990 .

[47]  J. Wearden,et al.  “Beyond the fields we know...”: exploring and developing scalar timing theory , 1999, Behavioural Processes.

[48]  John M. Geringer,et al.  Pitch and Tempo Discrimination in Recorded Orchestral Music among Musicians and Nonmusicians , 1984 .

[49]  P. Fraisse.  6 – Rhythm and Tempo , 1982 .

[50]  C J Darwin,et al.  Duration discrimination in a series of rhythmic events , 1982, Perception & psychophysics.

[51]  A. Kristofferson,et al.  Response delays and the timing of discrete motor responses , 1973 .

[52]  C. Drake,et al.  Tempo sensitivity in auditory sequences: Evidence for a multiple-look model , 1993, Perception & psychophysics.

[53]  Piet G. Vos,et al.  Perceived tempo change is dependent on base tempo and direction of change: Evidence for a generalized version of Schulze's (1978) internal beat model , 1997 .

[54]  J. Devin McAuley,et al.  Effect of deviations from temporal expectations on tempo discrimination of isochronous tone sequences. , 1998, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

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

[56]  E. Large,et al.  The dynamics of attending: How people track time-varying events. , 1999 .

[57]  Mark C. Ellis.  Research Note. Thresholds for Detecting Tempo Change , 1991 .

[58]  C. Wang.  Discrimination of Modulated Music Tempo by Music Majors , 1983 .

[59]  Jacob Cohen.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences , 1969, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.