Rt. Krampe et al., The fast and the slow of skilled bimanual rhythm production: Parallel versus integrated timing, J EXP PSY P, 26(1), 2000, pp. 206-233
Citations number
50
Categorie Soggetti
Psycology
Journal title
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY-HUMAN PERCEPTION AND PERFORMANCE
Professional pianists performed 2 bimanual rhythms at a wide range of diffe
rent tempos. The polyrhythmic task required the combination of 2 isochronou
s sequences (3 against 4) between the hands; in the syncopated rhythm task
successive keystrokes formed intervals of identical (isochronous) durations
. At slower tempos, pianists relied on integrated timing control merging su
ccessive intervals between the hands into a common reference frame. A timer
-motor model is proposed based on the concepts of rate fluctuation and the
distinction between target specification and timekeeper execution processes
as a quantitative account of performance at slow tempos. At rapid rates ex
pert pianists used hand-independent, parallel timing control. In alternativ
e to a model based on a single central clock, findings support a model of f
lexible control structures with multiple timekeepers that can work in paral
lel to accommodate specific task constraints.