Poster #100 - Associations Between Beat Perception and Production in 5- to 8-year-old Children and Adults

• In Event: Poster Session 09

Abstract

Music production and music perception become more precise and differentiated with increasing age (Gooding & Standley, 2011). For a typical music production task like reproducing a rhythmic pattern, children need 7 years to reach the level of a musically untrained adult (Drake, 1993). However, it still remains unclear whether production and perception develop simultaneously or in succession. Therefore, we tested beat perception and production skills in children and adults.

We tested 129 5-year-old (N = 36, M = 5.43 years, SD = 3.71 months), 6-year-old (N = 31, M = 6.46 years, SD = 3.31 months), 7-year-old (N = 38, M = 7.38 years, SD = 3.66 months), 8-year-old children (N = 24, M = 8.36 years, SD = 3.28 months) and 35 adults (M = 20.19 years, SD = 18.33 months). Beat production abilities were assessed by continuing a meter (clapping & walking). To measure beat perception, short rhythmic phrases with different meters (60 bpm - 120 bpm) were compared.

Beat production ability differed significantly in age group comparisons, F (4,159) = 17.62, p < .001, ƞ2 = .31. Post hoc analysis revealed less accurate beat production in 5-year-olds (M = 2.33, SD = 1.47) than in 6-year-olds (M = 3.71, SD = 1.75, p = .016), 7 (M = 4.97, SD = 1.65, p < .001) and 8-year-olds (M = 4.79, SD = 1.84, p < .001). Adults (M = 5.40, SD = 2.20), moreover, outperformed 5-year-olds (M = 2.33, SD = 1.47, p < .001) and 6-year-olds (M = 3.71, SD = 1.75, p = .001).

Not only beat production but also beat perception differed between the age groups, F (4,159) = 49.02, p < .001, ƞ2 = .55. Post hoc analysis showed significantly higher discrimination between different tempi in 8-year-old (M = 5.33, SD = 1.79) than in 5-year-old (M = 3.66, SD = 1.77, p = .002) and 6-year-old children (M = 3.94, SD = 1.61, p = .024) In addition, adult beat perception (M = 8.51, SD = 1.17) exceeded that of 5-year-old (M = 3.66, SD = 1.77, p < .001), 6-year-old (M = 3.94, SD = 1.61, p < .001) ,7-year-old (M = 4.31, SD = 1.94, p < .001), and 8-year-old children (M = 5.33, SD = 1.79, p < .001). Only in the sample of 7-year-old children beat production was significantly positively correlated with meter perception (r = .503, p = .001, n = 38).

Results indicate slower development of beat perception than of production. While production ability was no longer different from adults from age 7, beat perception did not reach adult levels by age 8. Interestingly, only in one age group a significant association between beat perception and production could be revealed. The contra intuitive earlier development of beat production skills might be interpreted as an earlier more unconscious development of production skills followed by a more abstract cognitive reasoning ability about beat perception. In further analyses we will consider potential contributions from motoric skills and task differences.

Authors

• Johanna Will, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Asthetics

• Franziska Degé, University of Giessen
  Presenting Author