scholarly journals Tapping Force Encodes Metrical Aspects of Rhythm

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Benedetto ◽  
Gabriel Baud-Bovy
Keyword(s):  
Motor System ◽  
Temporal Order ◽  
Temporal Order Judgment ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Motor Systems ◽  
Perceptual Accuracy ◽  
Motor Representation ◽  
Common Representation ◽  
Temporal Stimuli ◽  
Tactile Modality

Humans possess the ability to extract highly organized perceptual structures from sequences of temporal stimuli. For instance, we can organize specific rhythmical patterns into hierarchical, or metrical, systems. Despite the evidence of a fundamental influence of the motor system in achieving this skill, few studies have attempted to investigate the organization of our motor representation of rhythm. To this aim, we studied—in musicians and non-musicians—the ability to perceive and reproduce different rhythms. In a first experiment participants performed a temporal order-judgment task, for rhythmical sequences presented via auditory or tactile modality. In a second experiment, they were asked to reproduce the same rhythmic sequences, while their tapping force and timing were recorded. We demonstrate that tapping force encodes the metrical aspect of the rhythm, and the strength of the coding correlates with the individual’s perceptual accuracy. We suggest that the similarity between perception and tapping-force organization indicates a common representation of rhythm, shared between the perceptual and motor systems.

scholarly journals Broad scope of attention results in better temporal resolution: Evidence from a temporal order judgment study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramya Mudumba ◽  
Narayanan Srinivasan
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Order ◽  
Temporal Order Judgment ◽  
Temporal Frequency ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Spatiotemporal Resolution ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Spatiotemporal Processing ◽  
Broad Scope ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Hierarchical Stimuli

The nature of spatiotemporal interactions in visual perception due to modulations of attention is still not well understood. Transient shifts of attention have been shown to induce a trade-off in spatiotemporal acuities at the cued location. Attention also can be varied in terms of scope and the evidence for the effects of scope on the spatiotemporal resolution for coupling or trade-offs have been equivocal. We predicted that scaling or changing the scope of attention would rather result in a spatiotemporal trade-off based on the complementary spatial and temporal frequency properties of the magnocellular and parvocellular channels. We manipulated the scope of attention by asking participants to perform a global or local target detection task with hierarchical stimuli. In addition, participants performed a temporal order judgment task with two discs presented alongside the hierarchical stimuli. We found higher temporal sensitivity with broad scope of attention or global processing compared to narrow scope of attention or local processing. The results provide evidence for a spatiotemporal processing trade-off when attention is scaled spatially. This result throws doubt on a general coupling or resource metaphor explanation irrespective of the spatial or temporal nature of the tasks. The results indicate the further need for carefully investigating the spatial and temporal properties of attention and its effect on spatiotemporal processing at different scales.

scholarly journals Stuck on a Plateau? A Model-Based Approach to Fundamental Issues in Visual Temporal-Order Judgments

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Tünnermann ◽  
Ingrid Scharlau
Keyword(s):  
Model Comparison ◽  
Temporal Order ◽  
Temporal Order Judgment ◽  
Visual Cognition ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Accurate Data ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Visual Events ◽  
Temporal Order Judgments ◽  
Model Based Analysis

Humans are incapable of judging the temporal order of visual events at brief temporal separations with perfect accuracy. Their performance---which is of much interest in visual cognition and attention research---can be measured with the temporal-order judgment task, which typically produces S-shaped psychometric functions. Occasionally, researchers reported plateaus within these functions, and some theories predict such deviation from the basic S shape. However, the centers of the psychometric functions result from the weakest performance at the most difficult presentations and therefore fluctuate strongly, leaving existence and exact shapes of plateaus unclear. This study set out to investigate whether plateaus disappear if the data accuracy is enhanced, or if we are ``stuck on a plateau'', or rather with it. For this purpose, highly accurate data were assessed by model-based analysis. The existence of plateaus is confidently confirmed and two plausible mechanisms derived from very different models are presented. Neither model, however, performs well in the presence of a strong attention manipulation, and model comparison remains unclear on the question which of the models describes the data best. Nevertheless, the present study includes the highest accuracy in visual TOJ data and the most explicit models of plateaus in TOJ studied so far.

scholarly journals Stuck on a Plateau? A Model-Based Approach to Fundamental Issues in Visual Temporal-Order Judgments

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Tünnermann ◽  
Ingrid Scharlau
Keyword(s):  
Model Comparison ◽  
Temporal Order ◽  
Temporal Order Judgment ◽  
Visual Cognition ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Accurate Data ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Visual Events ◽  
Temporal Order Judgments ◽  
Model Based Analysis

Humans are incapable of judging the temporal order of visual events at brief temporal separations with perfect accuracy. Their performance---which is of much interest in visual cognition and attention research---can be measured with the temporal-order judgment task, which typically produces S-shaped psychometric functions. Occasionally, researchers reported plateaus within these functions, and some theories predict such deviation from the basic S shape. However, the centers of the psychometric functions result from the weakest performance at the most difficult presentations and therefore fluctuate strongly, leaving existence and exact shapes of plateaus unclear. This study set out to investigate whether plateaus disappear if the data accuracy is enhanced, or if we are ``stuck on a plateau'', or rather with it. For this purpose, highly accurate data were assessed by model-based analysis. The existence of plateaus is confidently confirmed and two plausible mechanisms derived from very different models are presented. Neither model, however, performs well in the presence of a strong attention manipulation, and model comparison remains unclear on the question which of the models describes the data best. Nevertheless, the present study includes the highest accuracy in visual TOJ data and the most explicit models of plateaus in TOJ studied so far.

scholarly journals Multisensory correlation computations in the human brain uncovered by a time-resolved encoding model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Pesnot Lerousseau ◽  
Cesare Parise ◽  
Marc O. Ernst ◽  
Virginie van Wassenhove
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Causal Inference ◽  
Temporal Order ◽  
Temporal Order Judgment ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Temporal Correlation ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Complex Scene ◽  
Correlation Detector

ABSTRACTNeural mechanisms that arbitrate between integrating and segregating multisensory information are essential for complex scene analysis and for the resolution of the multisensory correspondence problem. However, these mechanisms and their dynamics remain largely unknown, partly because classical models of multisensory integration are static. Here, we used the Multisensory Correlation Detector, a model that provides a good explanatory power for human behavior while incorporating dynamic computations. Participants judged whether sequences of auditory and visual signals originated from the same source (causal inference) or whether one modality was leading the other (temporal order), while being recorded with magnetoencephalography. To test the match between the Multisensory Correlation Detector dynamics and the magnetoencephalographic recordings, we developed a novel dynamic encoding-model approach of electrophysiological activity, which relied on temporal response functions. First, we confirm that the Multisensory Correlation Detector explains causal inference and temporal order patterns well. Second, we found strong fits of brain activity to the two outputs of the Multisensory Correlation Detector in temporo-parietal cortices, a region with known multisensory integrative properties. Finally, we report an asymmetry in the goodness of the fits, which were more reliable during the causal inference than during the temporal order judgment task. Overall, our results suggest the plausible existence of multisensory correlation detectors in the human brain, which explain why and how causal inference is strongly driven by the temporal correlation of multisensory signals.

Response type and sex differences in a tactile temporal order judgment task with tools

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (0) ◽  
pp. 120
Author(s):  
Abigail Novick ◽  
Nicola Fiddes ◽  
Eleanor Huber ◽  
Tucker Smith ◽  
Jared Medina
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Order ◽  
Temporal Order Judgment ◽  
Body Part ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
The Other ◽  
Spatial Mapping ◽  
Response Type ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Tool Position ◽  
Tactile Temporal Order Judgment

We presented participants with a temporal order judgment (TOJ) task with vibratory stimuli presented to the ends of held tools. We manipulated whether the hands and tools were uncrossed or crossed, predicting that participants would respond more accurately if the responding body part and tool tip were in the same hemispace (see Yamamoto and Kitazawa, 2001). Participants were split into two groups (24 subjects in each group). One group responded manually with the stimulated tools, the other group responded with foot pedals. Contrasting previous findings, we found no significant effect of manipulating tool position when the hands were uncrossed, regardless of response type. Effects of response type were also observed, as participants were significantly more accurate when responding with the stimulated tools compared to responding with foot pedals. Interactions were also found between response type and sex. Compared to males, females made a substantially greater number of confusion errors when responding with feet, but not when responding with tools. Additionally, compared to males, females made substantially more confusion errors with the arms crossed, reflecting previously reported results in tactile TOJ on the hands (Cadieux et al., 2010). These results suggest potential differences in spatial mapping and tactile processing in males and females.

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