Abstract
This study examined the imitation and production of interval ratios by musicians and non-musicians. In particular, we compared the accuracy of reproduction or production of temporal patterns that theoretically evoke either a metrical or a nonmetrical interpretation (Essens & Povel, 1985). For the imitation task (Experiment 1), metrically structured patterns were more accurately reproduced than nonmetrically structured patterns. Performance in the production task (Experiment 2), however, was similar for the two types of patterns. The results suggest that the internal representation of a pattern depends not only on the structural characteristics of the pattern, but also on the task a person is required to perform. An alternative hypothesis, that different strategies were employed by subjects in the performance of the two tasks, is also considered.
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This research was supported by the Australian Research Grants Scheme, Project No. A28115899. Software development for controlling stimuli and acquiring data was carried out by Rod Dickinson.
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Summers, J.J., Hawkins, S.R. & Mayers, H. Imitation and production of interval ratios. Perception & Psychophysics 39, 437–444 (1986). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207072
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207072