Motor and Perceptual Tests of the Preferred Period Hypothesis: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract The preferred period hypothesis posits a slowing down of motor and perceptual rhythmic preferences with age, both reflecting an increase in the common internal oscillation period. This study further investigates the preferred period hypothesis by enhancing the measurement of perceptual rhythmic preferences. Two tasks were used to measure perceptual rhythmic preferences, in addition to extending the latter to the visual modality. The study was conducted with three groups of children (5–6, 8–9, and 11–12 years old), and a group of young adults (21 to 30 years old) during the same time of the day. Correlational analyses show that the relationship between motor and perceptual rhythmic preferences strengthens between childhood and adulthood. Multilevel analyses reveal a general slowing down of motor and perceptual rhythmic preferences, contingent on the task and modality, with distinct trajectories for males and females. Our study indicate that the range of preferred rhythms narrows with age, becoming less variable in young adulthood, at the expense of a single and consistent, default rhythm. In brief, the preferred period appears only in young adults, with no support for the idea of a slowing down of an internal oscillation that would be reflected by both motor and perceptual rhythmic preferences.