TESTS OF ATTENTIONAL FLEXIBILITY IN LISTENING TO POLYRHYTHMIC PATTERNS

Four experiments examined attentional flexibility in listening to poly rhythmic patterns. Musically trained and untrained listeners detected changes in timing of 1 tone (the lower tone) in a 3:2 polyrhythm in wh ich high and low tones varied in frequency separation. Experiment 1 en couraged integrative attending; all listeners performed significantly poorer in conditions with wide as opposed to narrow frequency separati ons. Experiment 2, which encouraged selective attending to low tones, reversed these results: Performance was poorer in the narrow frequency conditions. In neither experiment did skill interact with frequency s eparation. Experiments 3 and 4 extended these findings to moderate fre quency separations. Over all experiments, musically trained listeners exhibited an enhanced ability to detect timing variations, but not fle xibility of perceptual organization as it applies to detection of timi ng changes. Instead, pattern structure (e.g., frequency and time relat ion) decisively influenced perception for both levels of skill.