Rhythm and Tempo in Mania

Abstract

The rhythmicity and subjective tempos of psychotic inmates diagnosed as manic were investigated and compared with those of other psychotic and nonpsychotic adult male prisoners (N = 36). Rhythmicity and tempo performance were determined by 3 musical-rhythmic tasks that involved maintaining steady beats, reproducing rhythm patterns, and creating rhythm patterns. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) revealed that manic inmates were superior to the nonmanic psychotic inmates and no different from the control inmates in rhythmicity and tempo reproduction; they were not different from the other groups in tempo synchrony. Manic inmates scored higher on rhythmicity than on tempo, and their performance did not vary with the speed of item presentation. Findings suggest that the musical-rhythmic tasks could assist in verifying diagnostic distinctions between manic and other psychotic patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)