J. Devin McAuley
Dept. of Comput. Sci., Cognitive Science Program, Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN 47405
Gary R. Kidd
Dept. of Speech and Hear. Sci., Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN 47405
The effect of deviations from temporal expectations on tempo
discrimination was investigated using four-tone isochronous sequences. On each
trial, a standard sequence was followed by a comparison sequence that was
slightly faster or slower than the standard. Listeners judged which sequence
was faster. Temporal deviations consisted of advancing or delaying the onset of
the comparison pattern in relation to an onset predicted by an extension of the
periodicity of the standard (i.e., an ``expected'' onset, based on an
entrainment model's predictions). The interonset-interval in the standard
sequence was always 400 ms, and the onset of the comparison sequence was
manipulated in relation to an ``expected'' interval of 800 ms between the onset
of the last tone of the standard sequence and the onset of the comparison
sequence. Discrimination thresholds were determined for conditions in which the
comparison pattern onset was early, late, or at the expected temporal location.
Thresholds for ``early'' conditions were found to be significantly higher than
for the ``expected'' condition, but this was not the case for ``late''
conditions. These data will be compared with the quantitative predictions of an
entrainment model [McAuley and Kidd,