Calibration of inter-tap intervals in continuation timing

Presentation Abstract:A continuation timing task consists of an initial synchronization phase where participants attempt to generate key presses in synchrony with the beat of a metronome; then, during a subsequent continuation phase the metronome beat is extinguished, and participants attempt to continue tapping at the same rate they did during the synchronization phase. Performance during the continuation phase is thought to reflect the operation of the internal timing mechanism. The current investigation sought to determine how the amount of synchronization performance tunes or calibrates continuation performance. In particular, we examined the relation between the number of synchronized taps required during synchronization (6, 11, 21, 41, or 81 taps) and the accuracy and stability of performance during the continuation phase. In addition, in different synchronization conditions we varied the time between metronome beats [the inter-stimulus interval (ISI)] (500, 1000, 1500, or 2000 ms). Our data analyses will address three hypotheses: 1) As the number of synchronization taps increases, continuation timing performance will improve; 2) As the synchronization ISI lengthens, continuation performance quality will decline; 3) An increase in the number of synchronization taps will result in greater continuation performance improvement at longer ISIs.