Implicit memory for rhythmic tone sequence: A pilot study on perceptual priming for short temporal pattern

The aim of this study was to investigate the implicit memory for short rhythmic tone sequences from the viewpoint of cognitive psychology. The nature of memory representation for rhythmic tone sequences was researched by using priming and recognition tasks. At first, participants were asked to rate coherence of a rhythmic tone sequence. Then, half of the participants performed the priming task: studied and nonstudied tone sequences, both of which were of the same intensity, were presented in succession at intervals of 2 s, and participants were asked to judge which of the two tone sequences sounded louder. The rest of the participants performed a yes/no recognition test. The following results were obtained: 1) studied tone sequences were judged to be louder than non-studied ones in both pitch-changed and not changed conditions, 2) the priming effect decreased as the pitch changed, 3) the direction of pitch change did not influence the priming, 4) priming and recognition performance were independent of one another. These results lead to the conclusion that an implicit memory for musical rhythm exists, and pitch information is coded into the representation underlying perceptual priming of rhythmic tone sequences.