Acomparison of the musical scales of the ancient Chinese bronze bell ensemble and the modern bamboo flute

We compare over a two-octave range the tonal, interval, and scale relationships of an ancient Chinese bell ensemble of the Zhou Dynasty and a modern bamboo flute. By using subjective pitches, a tonal system with simple harmonic partials (the flute) could be compared with a tonal system with complex inharmonic partials (the bell). We argue that the underlying musical scales of the bell ensemble and the flute are closely related and lie between an unequal-interval pure-system scale and the just-intonation scale. There is some evidence that a least interval of 60 or 66 cents figures in the flute scale, that both flute and bell scales include a 90-cent interval and a true (1,200-cent) octave, and that neither scale includes a 100-cent interval. Since there is a true octave, the scales cannot be cycles of fifths, and since there is no equal-temperament half-tone (100 cents), the scales cannot be equal in temperament. We conclude that the flute and Zhou bell scales are very similar if not the same. Apparently, strong cultural traditions and human perceptual constancies united to sustain a common flexible musical scale during 2,400 years.     

Learning and motivation: Computer simulations of the Rescorla-Wagner,Solomon-Corbit,and Schull models

A suite of programs is described for simulating the Rescorla-Wagner (1972) model of associative learning, the Solomon and Corbit (1974) opponent-process theory, and Schull’s (1979) extension of the latter. The programs are written for the Commodore 64 computer.     

Biofeedback, cognitive training and relaxation techniques as multimodal adjunct therapy for hospitalized adolescents: a pilot study

Modifications and adjuncts to traditional therapy techniques appear to be necessary for successfully treating hospitalized adolescents with impaired social and verbal skills, and a history of acting-out behavior. Modified therapy groups were combined with a structured biofeedback and cognitive training program to help these adolescents control anger and modify their behavior. Used in conjunction with training and practice in relaxation techniques, this multimodal treatment approach appeared to be helpful in both reducing incidents of acting out on residential units, and in reaching individualized therapeutic goals. The present paper describes use of this multimodal approach within selected residential settings, and outlines the structured materials developed by the authors.     

Programming maintenance after correspondence training interventions with children

Interventions were employed to program maintenance following correspondence training. The use of reinforcement of verbalization and a mixed sequence of procedures designed to establish indiscriminable contingencies was evaluated in multiple-baseline designs across subjects and behaviors. The results indicated that target behaviors were maintained under less intrusive interventions and in the absence of programmed contingencies during extended follow-up conditions. The results are discussed in terms of changes in reinforcement schedules established in maintenance interventions.     

Reactions to Patients' Self-or Chance-Blaming Attributions for Illnesses Having Varying Life-style Involvement

The effects of the perceived accuracy of attributions of self blame and chance blame were examined in the context of health care. Health practitioners ( N = 147) rated interviews in which patients made self-or chance-blaming attributions for diseases with high (heart attack, stroke), or low (cancer, arthritis) life-style involvement, or acidental injuries. Three discriminant analyses yielded p < .001. Self-blaming heart and stroke patients were rated as coping better and acting more appropriately and typically than chance blamers. Other self blamers were rated as more depressed, poorly adjusted, coping poorly, not accepting disability, needing counselling and information. Additionally, self-blaming accident victims were judged as more dependent, less likeable, and having poorer prognoses than chance blamers. Realistic self blame for life-style diseases did not lead to victimization, but other self-blaming patients were stigmatized and the adaptiveness of self blame as a coping strategy was unrecognized.     

TESTICULAR SELF-EXAMINATION: VALIDATION OF A TRAINING STRATEGY FOR EARLY CANCER DETECTION

Testicular self-examination (TSE) can lead to early diagnosis and treatment of testicular cancer, the third leading cause of death in young men. We evaluated the effectiveness of a brief and specific checklist for teaching TSE skills. Ten men were videotaped while performing testicular self-examinations before and after training. The TSE training resulted in large and significant increases in the number of TSE steps completed and duration of the TSE. Two urological validation measures supported the improvements observed in the mens' self-examinations. Subjects reported continued performance of TSE during a follow-up telephone interview. This pilot study indicates that a brief and specific checklist is an effective strategy for teaching early cancer detection skills.     

PRIMARY ENCOPRESIS: EVALUATION AND TREATMENT

Cathartic and behavioral treatment procedures for eliminating diurnal and nocturnal primary encopresis were investigated using a multiple-baseline design across four children. The dependent and independent variables measured were appropriate bowel movements, soiling accidents, independent toiletings, and cathartic use. Over 177 reliability observations (home visits) were conducted. For two of the children, treatment with cathartics and child-time remedied their soiling accidents and increased their independent toiletings in 8 to 11 weeks. While the cathartics and child-time increased the rate of appropriate bowel movements, they did not eliminate the soiling accidents with the other two children. Independent toiletings for these two children were achieved after 32 to 39 weeks of treatment when punishment procedures (positive practice, time-out, and hourly toilet sits) were incorporated and the suppositories were faded systematically.     

Exemplification: The self-presentation of moral character

How do people come to terms with moral self-presentations and disconfirming behaviors? Subjects were exposed to the self-presentation of either an exemplifier (presenting himself as morally virtuous) or a pragmatist (presenting himself as morally adaptable) and then learned whether the self-presenter had or had not cheated for self-serving reasons in an earlier experiment Subjects clearly distinguished between exploitativeness and hypocrisy in their attributions, and considered a cheating exemplifier more hypocritical and self-deluding, but less exploitative and devious than a cheating pragmatist A second experiment manipulated subjects' involvement with the cheating of an exemplifier and a pragmatist by making half of the subjects its victims As in Experiment 1, uninvolved subjects considered the cheating exemplifier more hypocritical and less exploitative than a cheating pragmatist, however, involved subjects (victims) considered a cheating exemplifier more hypocritical but no less exploitative than a cheating pragmatist The results are discussed in terms of strategic self-presentation and the attribution of moral character     

Sex typing and division of labor as determinants of marital change across the transition to parenthood

This investigation examines the proposition that wives who describe their personality in ways that deviate from sex stereotypes will become less positive and more negative about their marriage from before to after they become mothers, particularly when the transition to parenthood is accompanied by an increase in the traditionalism of marital roles. Sixty-one couples were studied longitudinally from the last trimester of pregnancy through the third postpartum month. The wives completed the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence & Helmreich, 1978), which measures the extent to which they ascribe personality attributes stereotyped as "masculine" (i.e., instrumental, agentic) and "feminine" (expressive, affectional) to themselves, and several questionnaires assessing the marital relationship at both times of measurement. Results revealed that the more division of labor changed toward traditionalism, the greater the decline in wives' evaluations of the positive aspects of marriage and that changes in wives' evaluations of both positive and negative aspects of marriage can be significantly predicted by the interaction of the wives' expressivity and changes toward increased traditionalism in division of labor. Additional analyses showed that wives who do not ascribe female sex-typed attributes to themselves (relative to those who see themselves in sex-stereotyped ways) are more apt to evaluate their marriage less favorably from before to after parenthood when roles shift toward greater traditionalism.     

Electromyographic activity over facial muscle regions can differentiate the valence and intensity of affective reactions

Physiological measures have traditionally been viewed in social psychology as useful only in assessing general arousal and therefore as incapable of distinguishing between positive and negative affective states. This view is challenged in the present report. Sixteen subjects in a pilot study were exposed briefly to slides and tones that were mildly to moderately evocative of positive and negative affect. Facial electromyographic (EMG) activity differentiated both the valence and intensity of the affective reaction. Moreover, independent judges were unable to determine from viewing videotapes of the subjects' facial displays whether a positive or negative stimulus had been presented or whether a mildly or moderately intense stimulus had been presented. In the full experiment, 28 subjects briefly viewed slides of scenes that were mildly to moderately evocative of positive and negative affect. Again, EMG activity over the brow (corrugator supercilia), eye (orbicularis oculi), and cheek (zygomatic major) muscle regions differentiated the pleasantness and intensity of individuals' affective reactions to the visual stimuli even though visual inspection of the videotapes again indicated that expressions of emotion were not apparent. These results suggest that gradients of EMG activity over the muscles of facial expression can provide objective and continuous probes of affective processes that are too subtle or fleeting to evoke expressions observable under normal conditions of social interaction.