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Institute for Systematic Musicology

Time in music: Investigating effects of music and time perception

David Hammerschmidt, M.A.

Abstract:

This PhD project aims at investigating psychological effects of music listening on the perception of time and vice versa. In four empirical studies, the mutual influences of sensorimotor synchronization (SMS), musical tempo, and spontaneous motor tempo (SMT) on perceived time are investigated. Study 1 focusses on the effect of SMS to different metrical levels in music on perceived duration using a finger-tapping paradigm and verbal duration estimations. Study 2 aims at scrutinizing the effect of musical tempo on time perception by systematically manipulating the tempo (tempo-shifting) of musical excerpts and asking participants to estimate and reproduce the durations. Studies 3 and 4 investigate factors influencing SMT, as it serves as a direct representation of the internal clock and may serve as a referent period for SMS and preferred tempo in music. Study 3 focuses on general differences in SMT caused by personal and environmental factors in a large-scale online experiment using a self-developed web application. Study 4 investigates individual changes in SMT in everyday life using an Experience Sample Method and the same web application as Study 3.

Publikationen:

Hammerschmidt, D., & Wöllner, C. (2020). Sensorimotor synchronization with higher metrical levels in music shortens perceived time. Music Perception, 37(4), 263–277.

Wöllner, C., Hammerschmidt, D., & Albrecht, H. (2018). Slow motion in films and video clips: Music influences perceived duration and emotion, autonomic physiological activation and pupillary responses. PLOS ONE, 13(6): e0199161.

Hammerschmidt, D., & Wöllner, C. (2018). The impact of music and stretched time on pupillary responses and eye movements in slow-motion film scenes. Journal of Eye Movement Research, 11(2):10.

 Hammerschmidt, D., & Wöllner, C. (2017). Audio-visual quality perception in musical performance videos. Jahrbuch der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Musikpsychologie [Yearbook of Music Psychology], 27, 112–127.

Kontakt: David Hammerschmidt