Can We See a Visual Beat?
Previous research suggests that beat perception is primarily something we hear, not something we can see. The current study examined whether visual beat perception is possible.
The Stimuli

Auditory stimuli
This study used rhythms created for a previous study (Grahn & Brett, 2007). Metric simple rhythms have a clearly perceivable beat, making them easier for most people to remember. Metric complex rhythms are similar to metric simple ones, but don't give a strong sense of beat. Nonmetric rhythms have no beat at all. As a result, people tend to do worse in remembering metric complex and nonmetric rhythms.
A Metric Simple sound (has a beat)
A Metric Complex sound (difficult to feel the beat)
A Nonmetric sound (no beat at all)
Visual Stimuli
The visual stimuli in this study consisted of a line that rotated to 'show' the rhythm.
This study used rhythms created for a previous study (Grahn & Brett, 2007). Metric simple rhythms have a clearly perceivable beat, making them easier for most people to remember. Metric complex rhythms are similar to metric simple ones, but don't give a strong sense of beat. Nonmetric rhythms have no beat at all. As a result, people tend to do worse in remembering metric complex and nonmetric rhythms.
A Metric Simple sound (has a beat)
A Metric Complex sound (difficult to feel the beat)
A Nonmetric sound (no beat at all)
Visual Stimuli
The visual stimuli in this study consisted of a line that rotated to 'show' the rhythm.
A Metric Simple visual rhythm (has a beat)
A Metric Complex visual rhythm (difficult to feel the beat)
A Metric Complex visual rhythm (difficult to feel the beat)
The Task
Volunteers listened to three sequential presentations of a rhythm. Their task was to decide if the third presentation was the same as or different from the first two presentations. The first two presentations were always the same.
An example of an auditory trial using metric simple rhythms
An example of an auditory trial using metric complex rhythms
An example of a visual trial using metric simple rhythms
An example of a visual trial using metric complex rhythms
Download an Eprime version of the task.
An example of an auditory trial using metric simple rhythms
An example of an auditory trial using metric complex rhythms
An example of a visual trial using metric simple rhythms
An example of a visual trial using metric complex rhythms
Download an Eprime version of the task.
The Results

This graph shows the proportion of correct judgements made by participants as to whether the third rhythm was the same as or different from the first two.
Generally, participants fared much better on auditory tasks compared to visual ones regardless of rhythm type. Within the auditory (left side) and visual (right side) domains, however, participants were consistently better at making correct judgements when given metric simple rhythms than when given metric complex or nonmetric ones.
These results have far-reaching implications for how the brain interprets external stimuli and the evolutionary underpinnings behind the way it processes recurring or rhythmic events