Short Term Memory for Tempo in a Motor Timing Experiment

Author

Sari Hooper, University of Rhode Island

Date of Award

1998

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Psychology

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Charles Collyer

Abstract

This study investigated the role of short term memory in the motor reproduction of tempo. Seven undergraduate students participated in a finger-tapping experiment, in which retention intervals were incorporated into the classic continuation tapping paradigm. A two-way within-subjects design was employed, where subjects listen to and then attempt to reproduce a set tempo at 25 sub-second levels after retention intervals of 5 or 25 seconds. Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) software (Collyer, Boatright-Horowitz, & Hooper, 1997) was used to present stimulus tempos and record subjects tapping. Analyses of the inter-response intervals (IRls) indicated an effect of retention interval on the form of the oscillator signature (Collyer, Broadbent, & Church, 1992; 1994), the nonlinear component of temporal reproduction in continuation tapping. Of three current approaches to interval timing that were reviewed, a 'natural' time period account appeared most promising as an explanation for the retention interval effect. This account would attribute the effect to a relaxation of IRI toward a natural period of 550 - 575 ms (corresponding to a frequency just below 2 H).

Recommended Citation

Hooper, Sari, "Short Term Memory for Tempo in a Motor Timing Experiment" (1998). Open Access Master's Theses. Paper 1599.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/theses/1599