Temporal tracking and synchronization strategies.

Timing measures were obtained from subjects instructed to tap a Morse key in synchrony with a metronome which marked a timing pattern consisting of alternating blocks of intervals of imperceptibly different duration. "Synchronization strategies", which consisted of computer-simulated sets of rules, or algorithms, hypothesized to be the basis of synchronization behavior, were used to simulate tapping sequences in response to the same metronome sequences. The human and computer-simulated synchronization data were analyzed identically and compared to determine which of the postulated strategies could explain the observed human tapping behavior. The strategies generating timing data statistically indistinguishable from the human data involve a pattern of human-metronome interaction, and a corresponding transfer of information, more complex and subtle than previous investigations had implied.