Award Date
5-1-2012
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Psychology
First Committee Member
Joel S. Snyder
Second Committee Member
Erin Hannon
Third Committee Member
Jefferson Kinney
Fourth Committee Member
Eugenie Burkett
Number of Pages
77
Abstract
The perception of timing information plays a large role in our everyday activities, yet we still do not accurately understand the mechanisms underlying these perceptions. Both modality-general and modality specific mechanisms have been suggested to account for perceptual timing. The use of a new auditory tempo perception paradigm can be used to examine various brain responses - measured via electroencephalography (EEG) - thought to index timing perception. This study applied this paradigm to both auditory and visual rhythms, and compared event-related potentials (ERPs) to task performance. Auditory and visual contingent negative variation (CNV) components showed two distinct voltage patterns across the scalp: The auditory CNV appears to show contributions from temporal areas, while the visual CNV appears to show contributions from occipital areas. There were larger CNV amplitudes in the auditory modality than in the visual, suggesting the CNV indexes modality-specific processing. A late, memory-dependent positive-voltage component did not show these modality-related topographical or amplitude differences, and instead reflects modality-general processing. This suggests timing information is encoded intrinsically at a sensory level, and this information is then routed to a cognitive, decision-making area for further processing.
Keywords
Auditory; CNV; EEG; Electroencephalography; P300; Rhythm – Psychological aspects; Rhythms; Time perception; Visual
Disciplines
Cognition and Perception | Psychology
File Format
Degree Grantor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Language
English
Repository Citation
Pasinski, Amanda, "Modality-Specific and Modality-General Encoding of Auditory and Visual Rhythms" (2012). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 1608.
http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/4332589
Rights
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