Pianists (N = 9) memorized and performed polyrhythms over a range of speeds from 1 to 16 notes/s. Using several fingers of each hand to press the keys on a piano keyboard, they performed the 5:3 polyrhythm by playing "3s" with one hand simultaneously with "5s" in the other. All the participants were able to maintain overall tempos and rhythms to within 10% of target speeds despite increasing difficulty. Increasing speed led to a transfer of control at about 6 notes/s, with a modular system operating above that speed. The participants were also able to engage in timing coupling at all speeds, even when the hands belonged to different people.
The motor system might well use deictic strategies when
subjects learn a new task. However, its not clear that Ballard et al.
show this. Multiple eye-fixations may have little to do with deixis
and more to do with the unfamiliarity of the task. In any case, deixis
does not entail embodiment, since a disembodied Cartesian brain could
use deictic strategies.
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