Abstract
Two studies investigated the respective roles of pattern contour (number of contour changes), rule invariance, contour shape, and rate upon the recognition of 8-tone auditory sequences. Tonal patterns contained 0, 1, 2, or 3 contour changes, which were introduced in conjunction with a randomly selected musical interval (rule-variant patterns) or with predictable (rule-governed) musical transformations (rule-invariant patterns). Patterns were either symmetrical or asymmetrical in shape. Listeners discriminated transposed standards from distractor patterns that contained an order reversal. In Experiment 1, where patterns occurred at a slow rate, performance decreased as number of contour changes increased. No effects of rule invariance or contour shape were found. In Experiment 2, where patterns occurred at a rate twice that of Experiment 1, more contour changes again had a detrimental effect. In addition, rule-invariant patterns were easier than rule-variant patterns. Results suggest that contour contributes to temporal order confusion in a systematic way.
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This research was supported by Grant BNS-8204811 from the National Science Foundation.
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Boltz, M., Marshburn, E., Jones, M.R. et al. Serial-pattern structure and temporal-order recognition. Perception & Psychophysics 37, 209–217 (1985). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207566
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207566