Infants' discrimination of bimodal events on the basis of rhythm and tempo

Abstract

A habituation procedure was used to examine 7‐month‐old infants' discrimination of changes in the rhythm (Expt 1) or the tempo (Expt 2) of an auditory‐visual event. Events consisted of videos of a hammer striking a surface displaying a characteristic rhythm and tempo along with the synchronized impact sounds. In Expt 1, 32 infants were habituated to one rhythm presented at a constant tempo followed by test trials of a novel rhythm presented at the familiar tempo. Across subjects, four different stimulus rhythms were presented at each of four different constant tempos. Infants demonstrated significant visual recovery to a novel rhythm at all stimulus tempos. In Expt 2, 32 infants were habituated to events displaying one rhythm and tempo followed by test trials presenting a novel tempo and the familiar rhythm. Infants showed a significant visual recovery to a novel tempo, which was apparent across four different underlying rhythm contexts. More robust discrimination was observed for more extreme tempo contrasts. These data suggest that 7‐month‐old infants are sensitive to the invariant rhythm and tempo of bimodal events.