Summary
What is the nature of the human timing mechanism for perceptual judgements about short temporal intervals? One possibility is that initial periodic events, such as tones, establish internal beats which continue after the external events and serve as reference points for the perception of subsequent events. A second possibility is that the timer records the intervals produced by events. Later, the stored intervals can be reproduced or compared to other intervals. A study by Schulze (1978) provided evidence favoring beat-based timing. In contrast, our two experiments support an interval theory. The judgements of intervals between tones is not improved when the events are synchronized with internal beats established by the initial intervals. The conflict between the two sets of results may be resolved by the fact that an interval timer can recycle from one interval to the next, thus operating in a beat-like mode. However, a timer of this sort is just as accurate when comparing intervals that are off the beat.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Braitenberg, V. (1967). Is the cerebellar cortex a biological clock in the millisecond range? Progress in Brain Research, 25, 334–346.
Ivry, R. I., & Keele, S. W. (1989). Timing functions of the cerebellum. Cognitive Neuroscience, 1, 134–150.
Ivry, R. I., Kelle, S. W., & Diener, H. (1988). Differential contributions of the lateral and medial cerebellum to timing and to movement execution. Experimental Brain Research, 73, 167–180.
Keele, S. W. (1987). Sequencing and timing in skilled perception and action: An overview. In A. Allport, D. Mackay, W. Prinz, & E. Scheerer (Eds.), Language Perception and Production. New York: Academic Press, pp. 461–487.
Nicoletti, R., & Keele, S. W. (1988). Confronto di differenti modelli sul riconoscimento di sequenze di intervalli temporali. Giornale Italiano di Psicologia, 15, 89–100. (Available in English translation as: Comparison of different models of perception of sequences of temporal intervals. Technical Report, 1989, Cognitive Science Institute, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA.)
Schulze, H.-H. (1978). The dectectability of local and global displacements in regular rhythmic patterns. Psychological Research, 40, 173–181.
Vorberg, D., & Hambuch, R. (1978). On the temporal control of rhythmic performance. In J. Requin (Ed.), Attention and performance VII. Hillsdale, New Jersey, USA: Erlbaum, pp. 535–555.
Vorberg, D., & Hambuch, R. (1984). Timing of two-handed rhythmic performance. In J. Gibbon and L. Allan (Eds.), Timing and time perception. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 423, 390–426.
Wing, A. M. (1980). The long and short of timing in response sequences. In G. E. Stelmach & J. Requin (Eds.), Tutorials in motor behavior. Amsterdam: North-Holland, pp. 469–486.
Wing, A. M., Keele, S. W., & Margolin, D. I. (1984). Motor disorder and the timing of repetitive movements. In J. Gibbon & L. Allan (Eds.), Timing and time perception. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 423, 183–192.
Wing, A. M., & Kristofferson, A. B. (1973). Response delays and the timing of discrete motor responses. Perception & Psychophysics, 14, 5–12.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Keele, S.W., Nicoletti, R., Ivry, R.I. et al. Mechanisms of perceptual timing: Beat-based or interval-based judgements?. Psychol. Res 50, 251–256 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00309261
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00309261