Abstract
Experiment 1 determined the fastest tempo at which participants could tap in synchrony with every nth tone (n = 2 to 9) in an isochronous sequence. Tapping was difficult with every 5th or 7th tone but easy with every 2nd, 4th, or 8th tone, suggesting that evenly divisible groups ofn tones are automatically subdivided into equal groups of 2 or 3—a form of auditory subitizing that generates metrical hierarchies commonly found in Western music. Experiments 2 and 3 sought evidence of subitizing and subdivision in timed explicit enumeration of short, rapidly presented tone sequences (n = 2 to 10). Enumeration accuracy decreased monotonically withn. Response time increased monotonically up ton = 5 or 6, but less between 2 and 3 than between 3 and 4. Thus, a single group of 2 or 3 tones perhaps can be subitized, but subdivision of larger groups into subgroups of 2 or 3 tones seems to be specific to a repetitive, metrical context.
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This research was supported by NIH Grant MH-51230. Additional support from NIH Grants HD-01994 and DC-03782 (Carol Fowler, P.I.) and DC-03663 (Elliot Saltzman, P.I.) is gratefully acknowledged. Mari Riess Jones, Peter Keller, Günther Knoblich, Justin London, and several anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.
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Repp, B.H. Perceiving the numerosity of rapidly occurring auditory events in metrical and nonmetrical contexts. Perception & Psychophysics 69, 529–543 (2007). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193910
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193910