The rhythm span task: Comparing memory capacity for musical rhythms in musicians and non-musicians
نویسندگان
چکیده
The study introduces a rhythm memory task and compares performance of musicians and non-musicians. The rhythm span task with increasing and decreasing sequence length according to the participants’ performance measures the individual memory capacity for musical rhythms. Results show that musicians perform significantly better on the rhythm span task indicating that memory capacity for rhythms is superior after many years of formal musical training. Additionally performance correlates positively with an established pitch span task (Williamson & Stewart, 2010) as well as the five dimensions of the Gold-MSI selfreport questionnaire (Müllensiefen et al., 2014) evaluating musical sophistication. Running Head: The Rhythm Span Task
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