A SNARC-like effect for music tempo

The Spatial Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) suggests the existence of an association between number magnitude and response position, with faster left-hand responses to small numbers and faster righthand responses to large numbers (Dehaene, Bossini, & Giraux, 1993). Moreover, Rusconi, Kwan, Giordano, Umiltà, & Butterworth (2006) showed that the internal representation of pitch height is spatially organized, especially in participants with formal musical education (i.e., Spatial Musical Association of Response Codes: the SMARC effect). In the present study we investigated whether a similar association exists between music tempo (beats per minutes) and the spatial position of response execution. Participants were all musically untrained persons. To test our hypothesis they performed both an order-relevant task (i.e., time comparison task) and an order-irrelevant task (i.e., timbre judgment task). Results showed a global trend with faster left-hand responses to slower beat sequences and faster right-hand responses to faster beat sequences. From this evidences we can finally conclude that a SNARC-like effect exists for music tempo similar as for pitch height and numbers.