EFFECTS OF MUSIC EDUCATION ON SYNCHRONIZATION TASKS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

The act of predicting rhythmic events and coordinating these predictions with motor actions is seen in many elements of human existence (e.g., walking, dancing, or speaking). Several studies have shown that the efficiency of synchronizing actions with an anticipatable repeating stimulus differs between musicians and non-musicians. This difference is particularly evident when examining two commonly measured metrics of synchronization tasks, (a) asynchrony, or the differential in temporal distance between a recurring stimulus and its associated motor reaction; and (b) variability, or the degree to which successive synchronization actions are distanced from each other relative to repeated stimuli. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which differences in asynchrony and variability might be related to the type of musical experiences received in secondary school. It was hypothesized that students who received a greater amount of musical training would exhibit reduced asy