Perceiving the numerosity of rapidly occurring auditory events in metrical and nonmetrical contexts

Experiment 1 determined the fastest tempo at which participants could tap in synchrony with every nth tone (n = 2 to 9) in an isochronous sequence. Tapping was difficult with every 5th or 7th tone but easy with every 2nd, 4th, or 8th tone, suggesting that evenly divisible groups of n tones are automatically subdivided into equal groups of 2 or 3-a form of auditory subitizing that generates metrical hierarchies commonly found in Western music. Experiments 2 and 3 sought evidence of subitizing and subdivision in timed explicit enumeration of short, rapidly presented tone sequences (n = 2 to 10). Enumeration accuracy decreased monotonically with n. Response time increased monotonically up to n = 5 or 6, but less between 2 and 3 than between 3 and 4. Thus, a single group of 2 or 3 tones perhaps can be subitized, but subdivision of larger groups into subgroups of 2 or 3 tones seems to be specific to a repetitive, metrical context.