Does singing promote well-being?: An empirical study of professional and amateur singers during a singing lesson

This study explored the possible beneficial effects of singing on well-being during a singing lesson. Eight amateur (2m, 6f, age 28–53 yrs) and eight professional (4m, 4f, age 26–49 yrs) singers who had been attending singing lessons for at least six months were included. Continuous ECG was recorded and computerized spectral analysis was performed. Serum concentrations of TNF-alpha, prolactin, cortisol, and oxytocin were measured before and 30 min after the lesson. Five visual analogue scales (VAS, sad-joyful, anxious-calm, worried-elated, listless-energetic, and tense-relaxed) were scored before and after the lesson. In addition, a semi-structured interview was performed. Heart rate variability analyses showed significant changes over time in the two groups for total power, and low and high frequency power. Power increased during singing in professionals, whereas there were no changes in amateurs. This indicates an ability to retain more “heart-brain connection,” i.e., more cardio-physiological fitness for singing in professional singers, compared to amateur singers. Serum concentration of TNF-alpha increased in professionals after the singing lesson, whereas the concentration in amateurs decreased. Serum concentrations of prolactin and cortisol increased after the lesson in the group of men and vice versa for women. Oxytocin concentrations increased significantly in both groups after the singing lesson. Amateurs reported increasing joy and elatedness (VAS), whereas professionals did not. However, both groups felt more energetic and relaxed after the singing lesson. The interviews showed that the professionals were clearly achievement-oriented, with focus on singing technique, vocal apparatus and body during the lesson. The amateurs used the singing lessons as a means of self-actualization and self-expression as a way to release emotional tensions. In summary, in this study, singing during a singing lesson seemed to promote more well-being and less arousal for amateurs compared to professional singers, who seemed to experience less well-being and more arousal.     

Latent Semantic Analysis Discriminates Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) from Children with Typical Language Development

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research - Computer based analyses offer a possibility for objective methods to assess semantic-linguistic quality of narratives at the text level. The aim of the...     

The short-EMBU in East-Germany and Sweden: a cross-national factorial validity extension

The factorial stability and reliability of the 23-item s(hort)-EMBU previously demonstrated to be satisfactory in samples of students from Greece, Guatemala, Hungary and Italy, were extended with 791 students from East-Germany and Sweden. Previous findings on factorial validity, internal reliability and correlations among scales were replicated. The 23-item form thus continues to be recommended as a reliable functional equivalent to the early 81-item EMBU, when the clinical and/or research context does not adequately permit application of time-consuming test batteries.     

The development of a systemic school-based intervention: Marte Meo and coordination meetings

Antisocial behavior is often persistent, and in addition to causing suffering to children and their families, it also poses considerable costs for society. Children who display externalizing behavior in their early years run a high risk of having severe problems later in life. There is a need for treatment methods that may be used in various settings because these children constitute a group that is hard to reach with conventional treatment methods. In addition, the dropout rate from ordinary treatment is often high. In the present study, a systemic school-based model for early detection and intervention among 4-12-year-old children who displayed externalizing behavior problems was developed and examined in a nonrandomized study in the county of Skaraborg in Sweden. The intervention was collaborative and included a combination of the Marte Meo model and coordination meetings based on systemic theory and practice. Treatment effects in the group who had received the intervention were compared with a group who had received treatment as usual in their ordinary school setting. Assessments were carried out before, and 2 years after, the intervention. For the intervention group (N = 33), there was a significant decrease in the children's reported symptoms in school and in the home. No decrease in externalizing behavior was found in the comparison group (N = 16). There were no dropouts in the intervention group after the intervention had begun. The results are promising; the study demonstrates that it is possible to work effectively with many children who display externalizing behavior problems in a nonclinical setting.     

Hierarchical modeling of sequential behavioral data: an empirical Bayesian approach

The authors review the common methods for measuring strength of contingency between 2 behaviors in a behavioral sequence, the binomial z score and the adjusted cell residual, and point out a number of limitations of these approaches. They present a new approach using log odds ratios and empirical Bayes estimation in the context of hierarchical modeling, an approach not constrained by these limitations. A series of hierarchical models is presented to test the stationarity of behavioral sequences, the homogeneity of sequences across a sample of episodes, and whether covariates can account for variation in sequences across the sample. These models are applied to observational data taken from a study of the behavioral interactions of 254 couples to illustrate their use.     

Statistical and substantive checking in growth mixture modeling: comment on Bauer and Curran (2003)

This commentary discusses the D. J. Bauer and P. J. Curran (2003) investigation of growth mixture modeling. Single-class modeling of nonnormal outcomes is compared with modeling with multiple latent trajectory classes. New statistical tests of multiple-class models are discussed. Principles for substantive investigation of growth mixture model results are presented and illustrated by an example of high school dropout predicted by low mathematics achievement development in Grades 7-10.     

A new semantical approach to the logic of preference

A possible world semantics for preference is developed. The remainder operator () is used to give precision to the notion that two states of the world are as similar as possible, given a specified difference between them. A general structure is introduced for preference relations between states of affairs, and three types of such preference relations are defined. It is argued that one of them, actual preference, corresponds closely to the concept of preference in informal discourse. Its logical properties are studied and shown to be plausible.     

Experiments: Why and How?

An experiment, in the standard scientific sense of the term, is a procedure in which some object of study is subjected to interventions (manipulations) that aim at obtaining a predictable outcome or at least predictable aspects of the outcome. The distinction between an experiment and a non-experimental observation is important since they are tailored to different epistemic needs. Experimentation has its origin in pre-scientific technological experiments that were undertaken in order to find the best technological means to achieve chosen ends. Important parts of the methodological arsenal of modern experimental science can be traced back to this pre-scientific, technological tradition. It is claimed that experimentation involves a unique combination of acting and observing, a combination whose unique epistemological properties have not yet been fully clarified.     

The revenger's paradox

Conclusion Unlike the more commonly discussed paradoxes of deontic logic, the revenger's paradox is present not only in strong logics such as SDL, but also in much weaker logics that have been constructed to avoid the paradoxes of SDL. The paradox shows that any deontic logic with intersubstitutivity makes counter-intuitive truth assignments to some deontic expressions.However, the revenger's paradox does not pose as serious a problem as does Ross's paradox to the logics in which it occurs. A deontic logic in which Ross's paradox does not arise is preferable to one in which it does arise, even if the latter is subject to the revenger's paradox.