Auditory Feedback in Music Performance: Effects of Sequence Structure and Skill

Touchscreens are being introduced to various mobile environments that are, at times, affected by vibrations and turbulence, such as modern car cockpits or flight decks of commercial and military aircraft. To assess and enhance the usability of touchscreens in these domains, this experiment examined the performance effects of turbulence on two flight-related tasks and the effectiveness of visual and auditory feedback for supporting error detection, fast completion times and multitasking. Nineteen pilots performed a flight plan entry and a checklist task in calm and turbulent conditions during manual flight and on autopilot. Results show that unaided performance suffers greatly in turbulence, both in terms of the number of errors and completion time. However, visual and auditory feedback both helped reduce these performance costs by improving error detection and multitasking. Participants preferred auditory feedback for text entry during manual flight and in turbulence. The findings from this study can inform the design and evaluation of touch screens for mobile environments, such as the flight deck, ambulances and surveillance operations.

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Electrical Brain Responses Reveal Sequential Constraints on Planning during Music Performance

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci9020025 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 25 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Brian Mathias ◽

William Gehring ◽

Caroline Palmer

Keyword(s):

Sensory Processing ◽

Auditory Feedback ◽

Spectral Power ◽

Music Performance ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Brain Responses ◽

Theta Frequency ◽

Planning Processes ◽

Near Future ◽

Far Future

Elements in speech and music unfold sequentially over time. To produce sentences and melodies quickly and accurately, individuals must plan upcoming sequence events, as well as monitor outcomes via auditory feedback. We investigated the neural correlates of sequential planning and monitoring processes by manipulating auditory feedback during music performance. Pianists performed isochronous melodies from memory at an initially cued rate while their electroencephalogram was recorded. Pitch feedback was occasionally altered to match either an immediately upcoming Near-Future pitch (next sequence event) or a more distant Far-Future pitch (two events ahead of the current event). Near-Future, but not Far-Future altered feedback perturbed the timing of pianists’ performances, suggesting greater interference of Near-Future sequential events with current planning processes. Near-Future feedback triggered a greater reduction in auditory sensory suppression (enhanced response) than Far-Future feedback, reflected in the P2 component elicited by the pitch event following the unexpected pitch change. Greater timing perturbations were associated with enhanced cortical sensory processing of the pitch event following the Near-Future altered feedback. Both types of feedback alterations elicited feedback-related negativity (FRN) and P3a potentials and amplified spectral power in the theta frequency range. These findings suggest similar constraints on producers’ sequential planning to those reported in speech production.

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