Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Kim, Hyun‐Woong
• Lee, Kyung Myun
• Lee, Yune Sang

Titel

Sensorimotor and working memory systems jointly support development of perceptual rhythm processing

Ist Teil von

• Developmental science, 2023-01, Vol.26 (1), p.e13261-n/a

Ort / Verlag

England: Wiley

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Quelle

Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• We studied the role of sensorimotor and working memory systems in supporting development of perceptual rhythm processing with 119 participants aged 7–12 years. Children were assessed for their abilities in sensorimotor synchronization (SMS; beat tapping), auditory working memory (AWM; digit span), and rhythm discrimination (RD; same/different judgment on a pair of musical rhythm sequences). Multiple regression analysis revealed that children's RD performance was independently predicted by higher beat tapping consistency and greater digit span score, with all other demographic variables (age, sex, socioeconomic status, music training) controlled. The association between RD and SMS was more robust in the slower tempos (60 and 100 beats‐per‐minute (BPM)) than faster ones (120 and 180 BPM). Critically, the relation of SMS to RD was moderated by age in that RD performance was predicted by beat tapping consistency in younger children (age: 7–9 years), but not in older children (age: 10–12 years). AWM was the only predictor of RD in older children. Together, the current findings demonstrate that the sensorimotor and working memory systems jointly support RD processing during middle‐to‐late childhood and that the degree of association between the two systems and perceptual rhythm processing is shifted before entering into early adolescence. The current study examined how sensorimotor synchronization (beat tapping) and auditory working memory (digit span) relate to rhythm discrimination processing in children aged 7 to 12 years. Our results show that both beat tapping consistency and digit span predict rhythm discrimination accuracy. Importantly, we found a developmental shift from sensorimotor to working memory in the degree of association with rhythm processing across middle‐to‐late childhood.