Auditory feedback in music performance: Evidence for a dissociation of sequencing and timing.

Four experiments examined temporal relationships between actions and auditory feedback in music performance. Experiment 1 incorporated phase shifts of feedback, which disrupted produced timing but not overall accuracy. Experiment 2 incorporated period shifts of pitch contents for synchronized feedback that primarily disrupted accuracy more than timing. Experiment 3 incorporated combined phase and period shifts, which caused moderate disruption to timing and accuracy and revealed interactive effects of period and phase shifts on production. A 4th experiment included all feedback conditions in the same session to confirm differences across Experiments 1-3. These results are consistent with the view that actions and their perceptual consequences are coordinated in a way that distinguishes timing (phase shifts) from sequencing (period shifts). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of an imputed pitch velocity model of the auditory kappa effect.

Three experiments evaluated an imputed pitch velocity model of the auditory kappa effect. Listeners heard 3-tone sequences and judged the timing of the middle (target) tone relative to the timing of the 1st and 3rd (bounding) tones. Experiment 1 held pitch constant but varied the time (T) interval between bounding tones (T = 728, 1,000, or 1,600 ms) in order to establish baseline performance levels for the 3 values of T. Experiments 2 and 3 combined the values of T tested in Experiment 1 with a pitch manipulation in order to create fast (8 semitones/728 ms), medium (8 semitones/1,000 ms), and slow (8 semitones/1,600 ms) velocity conditions. Consistent with an auditory motion hypothesis, distortions in perceived timing were larger for fast than for slow velocity conditions for both ascending sequences (Experiment 2) and descending sequences (Experiment 3). Overall, results supported the proposed imputed pitch velocity model of the auditory kappa effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Auditory feedback in music performance: The role of transition-based similarity.

Past research has suggested that the disruptive effect of altered auditory feedback depends on how structurally similar the sequence of feedback events is to the planned sequence of actions. Three experiments pursued one basis for similarity in musical keyboard performance: matches between sequential transitions in spatial targets for movements and the melodic contour of auditory feedback. Trained pianists and musically untrained persons produced simple tonal melodies on a keyboard while hearing feedback sequences that either matched the planned melody or were contour-preserving variations of that melody. Sequence production was disrupted among pianists when feedback events were serially shifted by one event, similarly for shifts of planned melodies and tonal variations but less so for shifts of atonal variations. Nonpianists were less likely to be disrupted by serial shifts of variations but showed similar disruption to pianists for shifts of the planned melody. Thus, transitional properties and tonal schemata may jointly determine perception-action similarity during musical sequence production, and the tendency to generalize from a planned sequence to variations of it may develop with the acquisition of skill. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Within- and between-dimensional processing in the auditory modality.

Participants made speeded target-nontarget responses to singly presented auditory stimuli in 2 tasks. In within-dimension conditions, participants listened for either of 2 target features taken from the same dimension; in between-dimensions conditions, the target features were taken from different dimensions. Judgments were based on the presence or absence of either target feature. Speech sounds, defined relative to sound identity and locale, were used in Experiment 1, whereas tones, comprising pitch and locale components, were used in Experiments 2 and 3. In all cases, participants performed better when the target features were taken from the same dimension than when they were taken from different dimensions. Data suggest that the auditory and visual systems exhibit the same higher level processing constraints. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Auditory Feedback in Music Performance: The Role of Melodic Structure and Musical Skill.

Five experiments explored whether fluency in musical sequence production relies on matches between the contents of auditory feedback and the planned outcomes of actions. Participants performed short melodies from memory on a keyboard while musical pitches that sounded in synchrony with each keypress (feedback contents) were altered. Results indicated that altering pitch contents can disrupt production, but only when altered pitches form a sequence that is structurally similar to the planned sequence. These experiments also addressed the role of musical skill: Experiments 1 and 3 included trained pianists; other experiments included participants with little or no musical training. Results were similar across both groups with respect to the disruptive effects of auditory feedback manipulations. These results support the idea that a common hierarchical representation guides sequences of actions and the perception of event sequences and that this coordination is not acquired from learned associations formed by musical skill acquisition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Auditory imagery shapes movement timing and kinematics: Evidence from a musical task.

The role of anticipatory auditory imagery in music-like sequential action was investigated by examining timing accuracy and kinematics using a motion capture system. Musicians responded to metronomic pacing signals by producing three unpaced taps on three vertically aligned keys at the given tempo. Taps triggered tones in two out of three blocked feedback conditions, where key-to-tone mappings were compatible or incompatible in terms of spatial and pitch height. Results indicate that, while timing was most accurate without tones, movements were smaller in amplitude and less forceful (i.e., acceleration prior to impact was lowest) when tones were present. Moreover, timing was more accurate and movements were less forceful with compatible than with incompatible auditory feedback. Observing these effects at the first tap (before tone onset) suggests that anticipatory auditory imagery modulates the temporal kinematics of regularly timed auditory action sequences, like those found in music. Such cross-modal ideomotor processes may function to facilitate planning efficiency and biomechanical economy in voluntary action. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Delayed auditory feedback and movement.

It is well known that timing of rhythm production is disrupted by delayed auditory feedback (DAF), and that disruption varies with delay length. We tested the hypothesis that disruption depends on the state of the movement trajectory at the onset of DAF. Participants tapped isochronous rhythms at a rate specified by a metronome while hearing DAF (for piano tones) of differing lengths. Motion capture was used to analyze movement trajectories. Mean Inter-Response Intervals (IRIs) varied as an approximately sinusoidal function of feedback condition, with DAF causing slowed production for shorter delays and speeded production for faster delays. Motion capture analyses revealed that finger velocity at the time of DAF predicted the effect of DAF on mean IRI whereas finger position predicted the variability of IRIs. A second experiment in which participants were instructed to vary the timing of peak finger height confirmed that the effect of DAF on timing variability is directly influenced by the finger trajectory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repetition priming in music.

The authors explore priming effects of pitch repetition in music in 3 experiments. Musically untrained participants heard a short melody and sang the last pitch of the melody as quickly as possible. Each experiment manipulated (a) whether or not the tone to be sung (target) was heard earlier in the melody (primed) and (b) the prime-target distance (measured in events). Experiment 1 used variable-length melodies, whereas Experiments 2 and 3 used fixed-length melodies. Experiment 3 changed the timbre of the target tone. In all experiments, fast-responding participants produced repeated tones faster than nonrepeated tones, and this repetition benefit decreased as prime-target distances increased. All participants produced expected tonic endings faster than less expected nontonic endings. Repetition and tonal priming effects are compared with harmonic priming effects in music and with repetition priming effects in language. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Effects of Spatial Stimulus-Response Compatibility on Choice Time Production Accuracy and Variability.

Five experiments examined the relations between timing and attention using a choice time production task in which the latency of a spatial choice response is matched to a target interval (3 or 5 s). Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that spatial stimulus-response incompatibility increased nonscalar timing variability without affecting timing accuracy and that choice reaction time practice reduced choice time production variability. These data support a "temporal discounting" model in which response choice and timing occur in series, but the interval timed is shortened to account for nontemporal processing. In Experiment 3, feedback and anticipation task demands improved choice time production accuracy. In Experiments 4 and 5, the delay between the start-timing and choice-decision signals interacted with choice difficulty to affect choice time production accuracy and variability when timing a 3- but not a 5-s interval, suggesting that attention mediates timing before and after an interruption in timing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pitch perception in young infants.

Tested the theory that organisms with little auditory experience might be unable to extract pitch from overtone complexes. 45 4-mo-old infants were habituated to a 3-note melody. For some Ss, the spectral composition of the individual notes varied from trial to trial while leaving the melody unchanged, whereas for others, the spectral composition was invariant. On the test trial, the melody was changed. Ss dishabituated to the change on the test trial only when the spectral composition of the tones was invariant. The presence of the fundamental frequency did not aid in recognition of the change in sequence. Findings suggest that the normal perception of pitch develops with experience. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-Modal Dynamic Capture: Congruency Effects in the Perception of Motion Across Sensory Modalities.

This study investigated multisensory interactions in the perception of auditory and visual motion. When auditory and visual apparent motion streams are presented concurrently in opposite directions, participants often fail to discriminate the direction of motion of the auditory stream, whereas perception of the visual stream is unaffected by the direction of auditory motion (Experiment 1). This asymmetry persists even when the perceived quality of apparent motion is equated for the 2 modalities (Experiment 2). Subsequently, it was found that this visual modulation of auditory motion is caused by an illusory reversal in the perceived direction of sounds (Experiment 3). This "dynamic capture" effect occurs over and above ventriloquism among static events (Experiments 4 and 5), and it generalizes to continuous motion displays (Experiment 6). These data are discussed in light of related multisensory phenomena and their support for a "modality appropriateness" interpretation of multisensory integration in motion perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Independent temporal and pitch structures in determination of musical phrases.

In two experiments we addressed the roles of temporal and pitch structures in judgments of melodic phrases. Musical excerpts were rated on how good or complete a phrase they made. In Experiment 1, trials in the temporal condition retained the original temporal pattern but were equitonal; trials in the pitch condition retained the original pitch pattern but were equitemporal; and trials in the melody condition contained both temporal and pitch patterns. In Experiment 2, one pattern (pitch or temporal) was shifted in phase and recombined with the other pattern to create the pitch and temporal conditions. In the melody condition, both patterns were shifted together. In both experiments, ratings in the temporal and pitch conditions were uncorrelated, and the melody condition ratings were accurately predicted by a linear combination of the pitch and temporal condition ratings. These results were consistent across musicians with varying levels of experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Knowledge of a second language influences auditory word recognition in the native language.

Many studies in bilingual visual word recognition have demonstrated that lexical access is not language selective. However, research on bilingual word recognition in the auditory modality has been scarce, and it has yielded mixed results with regard to the degree of this language nonselectivity. In the present study, we investigated whether listening to a second language (L2) is influenced by knowledge of the native language (L1) and, more important, whether listening to the L1 is also influenced by knowledge of an L2. Additionally, we investigated whether the listener's selectivity of lexical access is influenced by the speaker's L1 (and thus his or her accent). With this aim, Dutch–English bilinguals completed an English (Experiment 1) and a Dutch (Experiment 3) auditory lexical decision task. As a control, the English auditory lexical decision task was also completed by English monolinguals (Experiment 2). Targets were pronounced by a native Dutch speaker with English as the L2 (Experiments 1A, 2A, and 3A) or by a native English speaker with Dutch as the L2 (Experiments 1B, 2B, and 3B). In all experiments, Dutch–English bilinguals recognized interlingual homophones (e.g., lief [sweet]–leaf /li:f/) significantly slower than matched control words, whereas the English monolinguals showed no effect. These results indicate that (a) lexical access in bilingual auditory word recognition is not language selective in L2, nor in L1, and (b) language-specific subphonological cues do not annul cross-lingual interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sound enhances visual perception: Cross-modal effects of auditory organization on vision.

Six experiments demonstrated cross-modal influences from the auditory modality on the visual modality at an early level of perceptual organization. Participants had to detect a visual target in a rapidly changing sequence of visual distractors. A high tone embedded in a sequence of low tones improved detection of a synchronously presented visual target (Experiment 1), but the effect disappeared when the high tone was presented before the target (Experiment 2). Rhythmically based or order-based anticipation was unlikely to account for the effect because the improvement was unaffected by whether there was jitter (Experiment 3) or a random number of distractors between successive targets (Experiment 4). The facilitatory effect was greatly reduced when the tone was less abrupt and part of a melody (Experiments 5 and 6). These results show that perceptual organization in the auditory modality can have an effect on perceptibility in the visual modality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Auditory stream segregation and the perception of across-frequency synchrony.

This study explored the extent to which sequential auditory grouping affects the perception of temporal synchrony. In Experiment 1, listeners discriminated between 2 pairs of asynchronous “target” tones at different frequencies, A and B, in which the B tone either led or lagged. Thresholds were markedly higher when the target tones were temporally surrounded by “captor tones” at the A frequency than when the captor tones were absent or at a remote frequency. Experiment 2 extended these findings to asynchrony detection, revealing that the perception of synchrony, one of the most potent cues for simultaneous auditory grouping, is not immune to competing effects of sequential grouping. Experiment 3 examined the influence of ear separation on the interactions between sequential and simultaneous grouping cues. The results showed that, although ear separation could facilitate perceptual segregation and impair asynchrony detection, it did not prevent the perceptual integration of simultaneous sounds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relative importance of visual and auditory feedback in speed typewriting.

16 skilled typists took speed typing tests under 4 different conditions: (a) normal speed typing conditions; (b) normal, but no sight of the printed line; (c) normal, but the sound of the typewriter was masked by noise fed through earphones worn by the typists; and (d) a combination of Conditions b and c (neither visual nor auditory feedback). The effects of these conditions were measured in terms of speed and accuracy of typing. Some differences among the conditions may be considered statistically significant (p≤.05 on a per comparison basis), but the small magnitudes of the differences suggest: in speed typing situations the presence or absence of visual and/or auditory feedback has a relatively unimportant effect on speed and accuracy of typing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transfer of noncorresponding spatial associations to the auditory Simon task.

Four experiments examined transfer of noncorresponding spatial stimulus-response associations to an auditory Simon task for which stimulus location was irrelevant. Experiment 1 established that, for a horizontal auditory Simon task, transfer of spatial associations occurs after 300 trials of practice with an incompatible mapping of auditory stimuli to keypress responses. Experiments 2-4 examined transfer effects within the auditory modality when the stimuli and responses were varied along vertical and horizontal dimensions. Transfer occurred when the stimuli and responses were arrayed along the same dimension in practice and transfer but not when they were arrayed along orthogonal dimensions. These findings indicate that prior task-defined associations have less influence on the auditory Simon effect than on the visual Simon effect, possibly because of the stronger tendency for an auditory stimulus to activate its corresponding response. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectancy in melody: Tests of children and adults.

Melodic expectancies among children and adults were examined. In Experiment 1, adults, 11-year-olds, and 8-year-olds rated how well individual test tones continued fragments of melodies. In Experiment 2, 1l-, 8-, and 5-year-olds sang continuations to 2-tone stimuli. Response patterns were analyzed using 2 models of melodic expectancy. Despite having fewer predictor variables, the 2-factor model (E. G. Schellenberg, 1997) equaled or surpassed the implication-realization model (E. Narmour, 1990) in predictive accuracy. Listeners of all ages expected the next tone in a melody to be proximate in pitch to the tone heard most recently. Older listeners also expected reversals of pitch direction, specifically for tones that changed direction after a disruption of proximity and for tones that formed symmetric patterns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stop-reaction time and the internal clock

In a stop-reaction-time (stop-RT) task, a subject is presented with a regular, isochronous sequence of brief signals separated by a constant time interval, or stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA). His/her task is to press a response key as fast as possible when the sequence stops. As the sequence unfolds, an internal representation of the SOA duration builds up. Stop-RT is assumed to be triggered when an internal clock, operating as an "alarm clock," reaches a time criterion. Criterion setting is contingent upon variability in the SOA's internal representation. In Experiment 1A, stop-RT was measured for isochronous sequences of brief tones, light flashes, and also sequences of tones and flashes presented in regular alternation (tone-light-tone ...). Stop-RT was a linear function of SOA duration (ranging from 250 to 1,000 msec), regardless of modality, supporting a "central-clock" hypothesis. On the other and, taken together, the results of Experiments 1A, 1B, 2, and 3 suggest that no internal representation of the bimodal (tone-light) SOA of alternating sequences builds up. Indeed, an alternating sequence is physically equivalent to two interlaced isochronous subsequences, one auditory and one visual. So, two internal representations, one for the auditory (tone-tone) and one for the visual (light-light) SOA, could build up, and two time criteria running "in parallel" could thus support stop-RT. To provide a critical test of parallel timing, stop-RT was measured for bimodal 5:3 polyrhythms formed by the superposition of auditory and visual isochronous sequences that had different SOA durations (Experiment 4). Parallel timing accounted for a large proportion of variance in polyrhythmic stop-RT data. Overall findings can be accounted for by assuming a functional architecture of an internal clock in which pulses emitted by a central pacemaker are available in parallel with two modality-specific switch-accumulator "timing modules."     

A negative order-repetition priming effect: Inhibition of order in unattended auditory sequences?

A novel negative priming (NP) effect is reported in which serial recall for a sequence of visually presented digits was poorer if the same sequence was presented as an irrelevant auditory sequence on the previous trial (Experiments 1 and 2). The effect was enhanced when attention was divided between the to-be-repeated auditory sequence and the concurrent to-be-remembered (TBR) sequence (Experiment 3). When the TBR sequences were also presented auditorily, NP arose only when the repeated TBR sequence was in the same voice as the previous irrelevant sequence; a voice mismatch produced positive priming (Experiment 4). The results suggest that the order of auditory events is registered preattentively and that inhibition may be applied to the acoustic transitions between irrelevant events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)