Do infants perceive invariant tempo and rhythm in auditory-visual events?

Author(s): Bahrick, L. E.

Journal/Book: Infant Behav Develop. 1997; 20: 55 Old Post Rd NO.2, PO Box 5297, Greenwich, CT 06831-0504. Ablex Publ Corp. 349-357.

Abstract: Two experiments tested 7-month-old infants' ability to categorize events on the basis of invariant rhythm or tempo. Videotaped auditory-visual events (a hammer striking a surface to create characteristic rhythms and tempos) were presented to infants using an habituation procedure. In Experiment 1, following habituation to events depicting one tempo amid three rhythms, infants showed a significant recovery of visual attention to a change in tempo and rhythm, but not to a change in rhythm alone. In Experiment 2, following habituation to events displaying one rhythm amid three tempos, infants did not show a recovery of visual attention to a change in rhythm and tempo, nor to a change in tempo alone. The pattern of results suggested that 7-month-old infants categorized events on the basis of invariant tempo amid changing rhythms, but did not appear to do so for an invariant rhythm in the context of changing tempos.

Note: Article Pickens J, James Madison Univ, Dept Psychol, Harrisonburg,VA 22807 USA

Keyword(s): tempo; rhythm; categorization; SENSORY DOMINANCE; 6-MONTH-OLD; PERCEPTION; PATTERN; MOTION

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