Acoustic Rhythm Perception: Subjective Steadiness.

Two trains of sound-impulses (train A and train B of pure tones and white noise, respectively) with one and the same period T were superimposed and presented diotically to between three and six subjects. The subjects were required to delay train B with respect to train A in such a way that the rhythm established by the combined train (A and B together) was subjectively equable. In case of identical pulses of A and B the resulting delay time was T/2, as expected. With some approximation, the same result was obtained when the pulses differed in SPL. When the B-pulses had a longer duration than the A-pulses, the resulting delay time (between the onsets of the pulses) was systematically less than T/2, The difference was maximally 60 ms, depending upon the temporal envelope of the pulses. No influence of the period T was observable.