Abstract
Recent studies have shown that people engaging in joint rhythmic activity unintentionally increase their tempo. The same tempo increase does not occur when the same rhythmic activity is performed alone. This phenomenon is known as joint rushing. In two experiments, we investigated whether joint rushing is caused by correction mechanisms that facilitate sensorimotor synchronization. Because such correction mechanisms require perceptual input, joint rushing should discontinue when auditory feedback in a joint rhythmic activity is interrupted. This prediction was clearly supported in two experiments, one with musicians and one with non-musicians. Surprisingly, there was no indication that the amount of joint rushing differed between musicians and non-musicians. Furthermore, neither musicians nor non-musicians were able to return to the initially instructed tempo after feedback had been interrupted. This result indicates that joint rushing has a lasting effect on an internal timekeeper. An important question for future research is whether joint rushing is only a dysfunctional side effect of the way sensorimotor synchronization works or whether it has a function in enabling precise temporal coordination between different individuals.
Highlights
Recent studies have shown that people engaging in joint rhythmic activity unintentionally increase their tempo
Tempo changes were often treated as a “methodological inconvenience”7 in research on temporal coordination, recent research has started to address the question of whether joint action partners can successfully keep a particular tempo or whether joint action leads to systematic tempo changes
Recent studies8–10 have provided converging evidence that performing rhythmic joint actions leads to a systematic tempo increase—joint rushing—which is absent in individual performance
Summary
Recent studies have shown that people engaging in joint rhythmic activity unintentionally increase their tempo. We investigated whether joint rushing is caused by correction mechanisms that facilitate sensorimotor synchronization Because such correction mechanisms require perceptual input, joint rushing should discontinue when auditory feedback in a joint rhythmic activity is interrupted. This prediction was clearly supported in two experiments, one with musicians and one with non-musicians. Neither musicians nor non-musicians were able to return to the initially instructed tempo after feedback had been interrupted This result indicates that joint rushing has a lasting effect on an internal timekeeper. Adhering to the same tempo can facilitate coordination because tempo can establish a common timing reference for partners performing rhythmic joint actions This will only work if all partners involved are able to keep a certain tempo. When period correction is based on a comparison between target intervals and internally set intervals adjustments can already occur in the current interval
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