Working memory and auditory imagery predict sensorimotor synchronisation with expressively timed music

Abstract

Sensorimotor synchronisation (SMS) is prevalent and readily studied in musical settings, as most people are able to perceive and synchronise with a beat (e.g., by finger tapping). We took an individual differences approach to understanding SMS to real music characterised by expressive timing (i.e., fluctuating beat regularity). Given the dynamic nature of SMS, we hypothesised that individual differences in working memory and auditory imagery-both fluid cognitive processeswould predict SMS at two levels: (1) mean absolute asynchrony (a measure of synchronisation error) and (2) anticipatory timing (i.e., predicting, rather than reacting to beat intervals). In Experiment 1, participants completed two working memory tasks, four auditory imagery tasks, and an SMS-tapping task. Hierarchical regression models were used to predict SMS performance, with results showing dissociations among imagery types in relation to mean absolute asynchrony, and evidence of a role for working memory in anticipatory timing. In Experiment 2, a new sample of participants completed an expressive timing perception task to examine the role of imagery in perception without action. Results suggest that imagery vividness is important for perceiving and control is important for synchronising with irregular but ecologically valid musical time series. Working memory is implicated in synchronising by anticipating events in the series.

Empathic perspective taking promotes interpersonal coordination through music

“…It should also be noted that this kind of benefit might be harder to observe in the context of simple isochronous tapping tasks (which are often employed) where there is little room for idiosyncratic timing (but mainly random variability), and therefore a critical lack of useful information about action style 80 . In music, by contrast, the challenge of producing a variable rhythm (i.e., different note durations) opens up the possibility for idiosyncratic timing patterns 105,106 that, if someone is good at taking another’s perspective, are predictable. The present study hence suggests a plausible role of empathy in nonverbal communication, which can be conveniently—and with potential universal applicability—studied in the music domain, where there is ample room for individual variation.…”

An Exploratory Study of Imagining Sounds and “Hearing” Music in Autism

“…Strengths of the BAIS questionnaire identified by Hubbard (2018) include its reliability and construct validity. Converging evidence from correlations between BAIS and both behavioral and neural measures (Colley et al 2018;Gelding et al 2015;Greenspon et al 2017;Halpern 2015;Lima et al 2015;Pfordresher and Halpern 2013) further indicates that factors associated with or contingent upon auditory imagery, which have consequences for neural processing and behavioral responses, are represented within the questionnaire. Weaknesses of the questionnaire include the particular stimuli that participants are asked to imagine and which, inevitably, reflect only a subset of the possible auditory events any individual might experience.…”

“…The BAIS control (BAIS-C) subscale predicts performance on musical imagery related tasks (Gelding et al 2015) and sensorimotor synchronization both in terms of absolute synchrony with a beat and anticipatory timing (predicting, rather than reacting to, beat intervals; Colley et al 2018). The individual is asked to imagine a particular auditory experience (which might be musical, verbal, or comprised of miscellaneous environmental sounds) and either to self-rate how vivid they find the experience (vividness subscale) or how easy they find it to control the experience, perhaps by transforming the imagined sound into a related but different sound.…”

An efficient and adaptive test of auditory mental imagery

“…With 90 trials, the task is time-consuming and experienced as tedious by many participants. Whilst some modified versions of the PIAT have been used (Colley, Keller, & Halpern, 2018;Greenspon & Pfordresher, 2019), they have also been non-adaptive to individual ability.…”