Summary
What is the nature of the human timing mechanism for perceptual judgements about short temporal intervals? One possibility is that initial periodic events, such as tones, establish internal beats which continue after the external events and serve as reference points for the perception of subsequent events. A second possibility is that the timer records the intervals produced by events. Later, the stored intervals can be reproduced or compared to other intervals. A study by Schulze (1978) provided evidence favoring beat-based timing. In contrast, our two experiments support an interval theory. The judgements of intervals between tones is not improved when the events are synchronized with internal beats established by the initial intervals. The conflict between the two sets of results may be resolved by the fact that an interval timer can recycle from one interval to the next, thus operating in a beat-like mode. However, a timer of this sort is just as accurate when comparing intervals that are off the beat.
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Keele, S.W., Nicoletti, R., Ivry, R.I. et al. Mechanisms of perceptual timing: Beat-based or interval-based judgements?. Psychol. Res 50, 251–256 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00309261
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00309261