Sub- and Supra-Second Timing in Auditory Perception: Evidence for Cross-Domain Relationships

Previous studies indicate that there are at least two levels of temporal processing: the sub- and supra-second domains. The relationship between these domains remains unclear. The aim of this study was to test whether performance on the sub-second level is related to that on the supra-second one, or whether these two domains operate independently. Participants were 118 healthy adults (mean age = 23 years). The sub-second level was studied with a temporal-order judgment task and indexed by the Temporal Order Threshold (TOT), on which lower values corresponded to better performance. On the basis of TOT results, the initial sample was classified into two groups characterized by either higher temporal efficiency (HTE) or lower temporal efficiency (LTE). Next, the efficiency of performance on the supra-second level was studied in these two groups using the subjective accentuation task, in which participants listened to monotonous sequences of beats and were asked to mentally accentuate every n-th beat to create individual rhythmic patterns. The extent of temporal integration was assessed on the basis of the number of beats being united and better performance corresponded to longer units. The novel results are differences between groups in this temporal integration. The HTE group integrated beats in significantly longer units than did the LTE group. Moreover, for tasks with higher mental load, the HTE group relied more on a constant time strategy, whereas the LTE group relied more on mental counting, probably because of less efficient temporal integration. These findings provide insight into associations between sub- and supra-second levels of processing and point to a common time keeping system, which is active independently of temporal domain.