Evaluation of interval-based and beat-based timing mechanisms for duration discrimination

• Published in: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2002-05, Vol.111 (5_Supplement), p.2471-2471
• Main Authors: Berens, Melody S., Pastore, Richard E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0001-4966; 1520-8524
• DOI: 10.1121/1.4778554

An important topic in music perception is how people track time or judge duration [E. W. Large and M. R. Jones, Psychol. Rev. 106(1), 119–159 (1999)]. Two typically proposed duration judgment timing mechanisms are interval-based timing (judgment of discrete events) and beat-based timing (judgments of beat regularity) [S. W. Keele, N. Nicoletti, R. I. Ivry, and R. A. Pokorny, Psychol. Res. 50, 251–256 (1989)]. Models were developed for several different versions of these hypothetical timing mechanisms. Predictions from these models were then evaluated in experiments that estimated thresholds for judging difference in judgment of interval duration. Musicianship of participants was also evaluated. Each trial began with an initial training sequence of intervals that enhanced the stored interval or established the internal rhythm or beat. The training interval was followed by a specific delay that varied across conditions. Each trial ended with a target and a comparison interval. Participants judged whether the comparison interval was equal to or longer in duration than the target interval. Results were systematic, but not consistent with simple, straightforward versions of either timing mechanism.