Auditory-motor synchronization and listening effort in isochronous sound sequence

Abstract

This research examines auditory motor synchronization (AMS) in relation to tone frequency (perceptual property of auditory stimuli) and interval timing present in an isochronous sound sequence. Analyses of tapping behavior, synchronization errors, and listening effort (LE) are emphasized. The study was conducted in a controlled laboratory environment having acoustic treated facility. The role of frequency of tone and interval timing are investigated in affecting the AMS in its entirety, which includes tapping performance, listening effort, motor behavior, and variability. This study employs a synchronized tapping paradigm. This dissertation is comprised of four parts in terms of understanding — anticipatory tapping and reactive tapping under two different inter-stimulus intervals (ISI), motor response to the tone and listening effort involved in performing a continuous tapping task, tone frequency (perceptual property of auditory stimuli) on inter-tap interval (an index of motor process) under the peri-second and supra-second range, and tone frequency on motor variability (MV) studied through the coefficient of the variation of ITI (CV) under the peri-second and supra-second range.