Audiovisual synchrony perception in observing human motion to music

To examine how individuals perceive synchrony between music and body motion, we investigated the characteristics of synchrony perception during observation of a Japanese Radio Calisthenics routine. We used the constant stimuli method to present video clips of an individual performing an exercise routine. We generated stimuli with a range of temporal shifts between the visual and auditory streams, and asked participants to make synchrony judgments. We then examined which movement-feature points agreed with music beats when the participants perceived synchrony. We found that extremities (e.g., hands and feet) reached the movement endpoint or moved through the lowest position at music beats associated with synchrony. Movement onsets never agreed with music beats. To investigate whether visual information about the feature points was necessary for synchrony perception, we conducted a second experiment where only limited portions of video clips were presented to the participants. Participant...