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Comparative Study Of Beat And Temporal Pattern Perception In A Songbird, Brendon Samuels

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

When humans listen to musical rhythms they sense a beat, the regular pulse that one might tap their foot to. Much about the functions, evolution and neural substrates of beat perception remains unclear. Research has considered whether other species perceive beat, yet more empirical data is needed. Songbirds produce learned rhythmic vocalizations, but can they perceive a beat? To answer this question, I developed a behavioural task that tested whether humans could discriminate rhythms that contained or lacked a beat. I applied an equivalent procedure to test European starlings. I found that humans learned the task with minimal instructions, but …