Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2010, Psychology/Experimental

Musical rhythms vary in their complexity. However, how different factors affect the perceived complexity of a rhythm is relatively poorly understood. The primary aim of this thesis was to consider the contribution of three factors to the perceived complexity of a rhythm: (1) musical training, (2) whether or not individuals were asked to tap the beat of the rhythm at a preferred rate before making a complexity rating, and (3) tempo. Of additional interest was the extent to which previously proposed measures of rhythmic complexity can account for variations in perceived rhythmic complexity. In two experiments, participants listened to a set of monotone auditory rhythms and rated their complexity using a 6-point scale: 1-‘Very Simple" to 6-‘Very Complex". In Experiment 1, musically trained and untrained participants were instructed in separate blocks of trials to tap out a regular beat along with the rhythm or to simply listen to the rhythm before making their rating; all rhythms were presented at a fixed tempo (200 ms inter-onset-interval). In Experiment 2, a new sample of musically trained and untrained participants rated the complexity of the most and least complex rhythms in Experiment 1. These rhythms were presented at a range of tempi in both tapping-the-beat and listen-only conditions. Overall, musically untrained participants tended to judge rhythms to be more complex than musically trained participants. In Experiment 1, rhythmic complexity ratings made during the tapping-the-beat condition were significantly higher than ratings made during the listen-only condition; however this was only the case for musically untrained participants. In Experiment 2, rhythmic complexity ratings increased with increasing tempo. Differences in tapping variability as a function of musical training were found, although tempo did not affect participants' tapping variability in general. Three beat-based measures of rhythmic complexity made reliable and significant predictions of par (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: J. Devin McAuley PhD (Advisor); Verner P. Bingman PhD (Committee Member); Laura C. Dilley PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Experiments; Music; Psychology