Internal representation of simple temporal patterns.

In this study the imitation of several periodically repeating simple temporal patterns consisting of two or more intervals varying in their duration ratios has been investigated. The errors that subjects typically made in their imitations and the systematic changes that occurred during repeated imitations indicate that both musically trained and untrained subjects map temporal sequences onto an interval structure the nature of which is revealed by studying which patterns are correctly and which incorrectly reproduced. A "beat-based" model for the perception of temporal sequences is proposed. This model states that the first step in the processing of a temporal sequence consists of a segmentation of the sequence into equal intervals bordered by events. This interval is called the beat interval. How listeners select this beat interval is only partly understood. In a second step, intervals smaller than the beat interval are expressed as a subdivision of the beat interval in which they occur. The number of within-beat structures that can be represented in the model is, however, limited. Specifically, only beat intervals that are subdivided into either equal intervals or intervals in a 1:2 ratio fit within the model. The partially hierarchical model proposed, though in need of further elaborations, shows why the number of temporal patterns that can be correctly conceptualized is limited. The relation of the model to other models is discussed.

[1]  E. Leeuwenberg.  A perceptual coding language for visual and auditory patterns. , 1971, The American journal of psychology.

[2]  Herbert A. Simon,et al.  Processes for sequence production , 1974 .

[3]  J G Martin,et al.  Rhythmic (hierarchical) versus serial structure in speech and other behavior. , 1972, Psychological review.

[4]  Frank Restle,et al.  Theory of Serial Pattern Learning: Structural Trees. , 1970 .

[5]  Paul Fraisse,et al.  Les structures rythmiques , 1960 .

[6]  C. Wagner,et al.  The Influence of the Tempo of Playing on the Rhythmic Structure Studied at Pianist’s Playing Scales1 , 1971 .

[7]  N. R. Bartlett,et al.  Synchronization of a motor response with an anticipated sensory event. , 1959, Psychological review.

[8]  Paul C. Vitz,et al.  A coded element model of the perceptual processing of sequential stimuli. , 1969 .

[9]  Dirk-Jan Povel,et al.  Temporal structure of performed music: Some preliminary observations☆ , 1977 .

[10]  Grosvenor W. Cooper,et al.  The Rhythmic Structure of Music , 1971 .

[11]  Jeanne Bamberger.  The Development of Musical Intelligence I: Strategies for Representing Simple Rhythms , 1975 .

[12]  A. Kristofferson,et al.  The timing of interresponse intervals , 1973 .

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

[14]  M. Treisman.  Temporal discrimination and the indifference interval. Implications for a model of the "internal clock". , 1963, Psychological monographs.

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

[16]  J A Michon,et al.  Programs and "programs" for sequential patterns in motor behavior. , 1974, Brain research.