Visual Enhancement of Illusory Phenomenal Accents in Non-Isochronous Auditory Rhythms

Abstract

Musical rhythms encompass temporal patterns that often yield regular metrical accents (e.g., a beat). There have been mixed results regarding perception as a function of metrical saliency, namely, whether sensitivity to a deviant was greater in metrically stronger or weaker positions. Besides, effects of metrical position have not been examined in non-isochronous rhythms, or with respect to multisensory influences. This study was concerned with two main issues: (1) In non-isochronous auditory rhythms with clear metrical accents, how would sensitivity to a deviant be modulated by metrical positions? (2) Would the effects be enhanced by multisensory information? Participants listened to strongly metrical rhythms with or without watching a point-light figure dance to the rhythm in the same meter, and detected a slight loudness increment. Both conditions were presented with or without an auditory interference that served to impair auditory metrical perception. Sensitivity to a deviant was found greater in weak beat than in strong beat positions, consistent with the Predictive Coding hypothesis and the idea of metrically induced illusory phenomenal accents. The visual rhythm of dance hindered auditory detection, but more so when the latter was itself less impaired. This pattern suggested that the visual and auditory rhythms were perceptually integrated to reinforce metrical accentuation, yielding more illusory phenomenal accents and thus lower sensitivity to deviants, in a manner consistent with the principle of inverse effectiveness. Results were discussed in the predictive framework for multisensory rhythms involving observed movements and possible mediation of the motor system.

The Paradox of Isochrony in the Evolution of Human Rhythm

“…A third common human activity where isochrony is hypothesized to play a role is dance ( Fitch, 2016 ; Laland et al, 2016 ; Richter and Ostovar, 2016 ; Su, 2016a , b ). Similarly to music, a series of isochronous events, such as a drum line, may provide anchor points in time used to structure dance movements ( Fitch, 2016 ; Laland et al, 2016 ).…”

Editorial: The Evolution of Rhythm Cognition: Timing in Music and Speech

“…The field of musical rhythm is increasingly expanding to encompass the scientific study of dance (Ellamil et al, 2016 ; Fink and Shackelford, 2017 ; Fitch, 2016 ; Laland et al, 2016 ; Ravignani and Cook, 2016 ; Su, 2016 ). Only in 2016, three papers have introduced conceptual frameworks for the evolutionary study of dance (Fitch, 2016 ; Laland et al, 2016 ; Ravignani and Cook, 2016 ).…”

Metrical congruency and kinematic familiarity facilitate temporal binding between musical and dance rhythms

“…Given these connections, surprisingly little is known about how the rhythms of music and dance interact in perception when experienced simultaneously. A few recent studies have suggested that, when presented concurrently in a synchronized manner, the visual rhythm of a street-dance-like bouncing movement can facilitate auditory beat perception (Su, 2014b) and that of a swing dance repertoire can impose metrical accents on auditory rhythms (Su, 2016b). Although these findings demonstrate visual modulation of auditory rhythm perception, it remains unclear what influences cross-modal binding between musical and dance rhythms, a question the present investigation was intended to address.…”