Understanding how speed affects performance of polyrhythms: transferring control as speed increases.
Pianists (N = 9) memorized and performed polyrhythms over a range of speeds from 1 to 16 notes/s. Using several fingers of each hand to press the keys on a piano keyboard, they performed the 5:3 polyrhythm by playing "3s" with one hand simultaneously with "5s" in the other. All the participants were able to maintain overall tempos and rhythms to within 10% of target speeds despite increasing difficulty. Increasing speed led to a transfer of control at about 6 notes/s, with a modular system operating above that speed. The participants were also able to engage in timing coupling at all speeds, even when the hands belonged to different people.
Bogacz
Sally
S
Washington, DC, USA. sally@clarifyconcepts.com
D007839:Functional Laterality; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D010507:Periodicity; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D014163:Transfer, Psychology