Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy.
Department of Psychology, University of Milan Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
Atten Percept Psychophys. 2024 Jan;86(1):263-272. doi: 10.3758/s13414-023-02816-z. Epub 2023 Nov 20.
The Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect is evidence of an association between number magnitude and response position, with faster left-key responses to small numbers and faster right-key responses to large numbers. Similarly, recent studies revealed a SNARC-like effect for tempo, defined as the speed of an auditory sequence, with faster left-key responses to slow tempo and faster right-key responses to fast tempo. In order to address some methodological issues of previous studies, in the present study we designed an experiment to investigate the occurrence of a SNARC-like effect for tempo, employing a novel procedure in which only two auditory beats in sequence with a very short interstimulus interval were used. In the "temporal speed" condition, participants were required to judge the temporal speed (slow or fast) of the sequence. In the "interval duration" condition, participants were required to judge the duration of the interval between the two beats (short or long). The results revealed a consistent SNARC-like effect in both conditions, with faster left-hand responses to slow tempo and faster right-hand responses to fast tempo. Interestingly, the consistency of the results across the two conditions indicates that the direction of the SNARC-like effect was influenced by temporal speed even when participants were explicitly required to focus on interval duration. Overall, the current study extends previous findings by employing a new paradigm that addresses potential confounding factors and strengthens evidence for the SNARC-like effect for tempo.
空间-数字反应编码关联（SNARC）效应是数量大小与反应位置之间关联的证据，即对小数字的左按键反应更快，对大数字的右按键反应更快。同样，最近的研究也揭示了一种类似于 SNARC 的效应，用于定义听觉序列的速度，即慢节奏的左按键反应更快，快节奏的右按键反应更快。为了解决之前研究中的一些方法学问题，在本研究中，我们设计了一项实验来研究时间速度（slow or fast）的 SNARC 效应的发生，采用了一种新的程序，该程序仅使用两个具有极短刺激间间隔的连续听觉节拍。在“时间速度”条件下，参与者被要求判断序列的时间速度（慢或快）。在“间隔时长”条件下，参与者被要求判断两个节拍之间的间隔时长（短或长）。结果在两种条件下均揭示了一致的类似于 SNARC 的效应，即对慢节奏的左按键反应更快，对快节奏的右按键反应更快。有趣的是，两种条件下结果的一致性表明，即使参与者被明确要求关注间隔时长，SNARC 效应的方向也受到时间速度的影响。总体而言，本研究通过采用一种新的范式，解决了潜在的混杂因素，并为时间速度的类似于 SNARC 的效应提供了更强有力的证据，扩展了之前的研究发现。
