Effects of manipulating the tempo of popular songs on behavioral and physiological responses

Abstract

This study examined behavioral and physiological responses to manipulations of the tempo of popular music. Four familiar pop songs were manipulated at nine levels of tempo (four slower and four faster) to induce affective changes reflected in liking ratings and physiological responses. As hypothesized, there was a significant quadratic relationship between liking ratings and tempo manipulation, with liking decreasing with greater slowing or speeding up from the original tempo. A corresponding relationship between electromyography responses and tempo for the corrugator supercilii was observed and interpreted as reflecting valence differences. A quadratic relationship between cardiac inter-beat interval and tempo indicated increased attention to deviations of tempo from the norm. A positive linear relationship between skin conductance and tempo was interpreted as reflecting increased arousal with tempo. Behavioral and physiological individual difference measures were also collected. Resting-state heart rate variability (HRV) was positively correlated with variability of cardiac activity during the task, suggesting that high HRV groups may be more adaptive to their environment. Individual differences in the Affect Intensity Measure (AIM) correlated with some aspects of the behavioral ratings. This is the first study to demonstrate how changes in attitudes toward the music associated with tempo manipulations are reflected in physiological measures.