Tapping to pitched auditory feedback tones: Effects of pitch contour and interval size on intertap-interval and tap force

Researchers conducted a study to replicate the effect of pitch contour on tempo perception in a finger-tapping task. The researchers predicted that participants in the study responded to task-irrelevant pitch changes by shortening intertap-intervals (ITI) initiated by contour-preserving feedback tones relative to ITIs initiated by contour-violating tones. Tap force was analyzed along with ITI to test a strong version of the imputed velocity hypothesis. The imputed velocity hypothesis stated that velocity implied by pitch contour influenced the velocity of the participants' taps. The magnitude of frequency separation between successive tones was varied between trials. Participants heard feedback through headphones and tapped the highest key on a MIDI keyboard with their index finger. They were instructed to maintain contact between their fingertip and the key to give an equal weight to all taps.