ArticleAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences2025
Hidden assumptions of integer ratio analyses in bioacoustics and music.
Article in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Humans, but not zebra finches, produce spontaneously isochronous song through the lifespan.iScience · 2026Article
- The Ontogeny of Vocal Rhythms in a Non-Human Primate.Developmental science · 2026Article
- Extreme Rhythm Keeping in Long-Range Slow Click Communication of Sperm Whales.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2026Article
- The Emergence of a Universal Rhythmic Feature: Simple Models Can Produce Categorical Rhythms.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2026Article
- Dual Sound Sources in Siamangs Generate Individually Rhythmic and Temporally Coordinated Vocal Emissions.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2026Article
- Novel Approach to Inter-Onset-Interval Ratio Uncovers Music-Like Rhythmic Patterns in Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) Warble Song.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2026Article
- Hidden assumptions of integer ratio analyses in bioacoustics and music.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2025Article
- An evolutionary model of rhythmic accelerando in animal vocal signalling.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Rhythm is ubiquitous in human culture and in nature, but hard to capture in all its complexity. A key dimension of rhythm, integer ratio categories occur when the relationship between temporal intervals can be expressed as small-integer ratios. Recent work has found integer ratio categories in most human musical cultures and some animal species' vocalizations or behavioral displays. But biological systems are noisy, and empirically measured intervals rarely form an exact small-integer ratio. Here, we mathematically assess whether a leading integer ratio analysis method makes valid statistical and biological assumptions. In particular, we (1) make the temporal properties of empirical ratios explicit, both in general and for the typical use in the literature; (2) show how the choice of ratio formula affects the probability distribution of rhythm ratios and ensuing statistical results; (3) guide the reader to carefully consider the assumptions and null hypotheses of the statistical analysis; and (4) present a comprehensive methodology to statistically test integer ratios for any null hypothesis of choice. Our observations have implications for both past and future research in music cognition and animal behavior: They suggest how to interpret past findings and provide tools to choose the correct null hypotheses in future empirical work.
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