Finding the Beat: Effects of Different Modalities on Learning and Recall of Complex Rhythms

Abstract

Detecting rhythmic sound sequences and synchronization to rhythmic structures are functional at birth. Entrainment – the ability to synchronize movement to external rhythmic stimuli – is an innate capacity, within a range determined by certain constraints [1]. Music perception is also shaped by culture; individuals develop an implicit understanding of the timing and grouping principles specific to musical traditions they are exposed to throughout their lives [2]. For example, non-isochronous rhythms are rare in Western cultures; for this reason, they offer natural experimental conditions for studying rhythm perception.

Recent research increasingly recognizes that music perception is embodied [3]. Bodily movement enhances rhythm perception and facilitates entrainment and neuroimaging shows that motor-related regions in the brain are activated even during passive listening to rhythmic stimuli. This embodied engagement suggests that rhythm perception recruits internal motor simulations.

Observing an action leads to an automatic internal motor representation of that action, a mechanism that may extend beyond action understanding to understanding rhythmic structures. Observing rhythmic movement, such as clapping and dancing, could facilitate the perception, internalization, and memory of complex rhythms. The observed movement may not merely provide an additional modality with which one can perceive rhythm, but it also engages the perceiver’s sensorimotor systems, offering a more powerful way of learning rhythm than auditory and simple visual cues.

Informed by the background outlined above, this tapping study aims to compare the effects of the observation of synchronized simple visual cues (e.g. flashing light) versus gestural cues on the perception and recall of unfamiliar non-isochronous rhythms in an experimental setting. Participants will be exposed to non-isochronous rhythmic patterns presented under three conditions: auditory only (control group), auditory + simple visual cues, and auditory + gestural cues. Participants will undergo a training phase, followed by an experimental phase. Measures of tapping accuracy and synchronization errors will be recorded to assess entrainment ability as well as reproduction accuracy and recognition accuracy. By comparing performance across conditions, the study aims to determine whether visual or gestural cues provide a significant advantage in perceiving and remembering complex non-isochronous rhythms.

This study draws and expands on findings from music cognition, embodied cognition, psychology, and neuroscience, providing insight into how multimodal perception enhances rhythmic entrainment and recall. If gestural cues are found to significantly enhance rhythm perception and recall, this would support embodied cognition theories, suggesting that motor engagement as a result of observed gestural cues facilitates rhythmic processing. If simple visual cues prove equally effective, it would indicate that entrainment benefit arises from cross-modal reinforcement rather than movement-specific representations.

References

[1] J. London, Hearing in Time: Psychological Aspects of Musical Meter, 2^nd edition. Cary: Oxford University Press USA - OSO, 2012.

[2] E. E. Hannon and L. J. Trainor, “Music acquisition: effects of enculturation and formal training on development,” Trends in Cognitive Sciences, vol. 11, no. 11, pp. 466–472, Nov. 2007. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2007.08.008.

[3] M. Leman, M. Lesaffre, and P.-J. Maes, Eds., The Routledge companion to embodied music interaction. New York; London: Routledge, Taylor & Francics Group, 2017.