Zoning in on music and the brain

A one-day symposium, The Musical Brain, was held at The Royal Institution, London, UK, on 12 July 2002.     

A structural examination of the Learning Experiences Questionnaire

The underlying factor structure of the Learning Experiences Questionnaire (LEQ; Schaub, 2004) was examined using data from 742 male and female college-age respondents. The LEQ items reflect a variety of learning experiences (generated based on Bandura's (1986, 1997) four sources of self-efficacy perceptions) that might occur in each of Holland's (1997) six RIASEC domains. The LEQ was expected to have a multi-dimensional factor structure, with dimensions representing both RIASEC context and learning experience type. A multi-trait multi-method framework was used to compare the relative fits of a series of models with different theoretically implied dimensionalities, estimated using confirmatory factor analysis. Results supported the proposed multi-dimensional structure. Results of follow-up tests of measurement invariance for men and women revealed that configural and partial factorial invariance held, implying that the LEQ measure functions similarly for men and women.     

Constant or variable practice: recreating the especial skill effect

An especial skill occurs when performance of a single action from within a class of actions produces an advantage in performance. This advantage in a single action over others in the class is presumed to result from large amounts of practice performing the specific action (Keetch, Schmidt, Lee, & Young, 2005). In an experiment involving the learning of a basketball set shot, practice was manipulated to identify whether an especial skill effect emerges at the free-throw line as a result of constant practice conditions in novice performers. After a pretest, which involved set shots across five distances, participants were randomly assigned to one of two intervention groups. A constant practice group (n=10) performed 300 trials of the set shot at the 15 ft free throw line only, whereas a variable practice group (n=10) performed 300 trials across five distances. Shot accuracy increased for both groups as a result of practice at the 15' distance. However, on the posttest, a significant difference was reported between actual and expected scores for the constant practice group only. This finding provided evidence that an effect similar to that seen for especial skills emerges as a result of constant practice. Although an especial skill effect could result from massive amounts of practice, we show it can emerge as a result of short term repetitive practice, indicating that the type, rather than amount, of practice is important.     

Using Force: Australian Newspaper Depictions of Contacts Between the Police and Persons Experiencing Mental Illness

The media creates and sustains knowledge about socially relevant issues such as crime, mental illness, and policing. Past research suggests that while the media portrayal of the police is undoubtedly complex, their portrayal of people experiencing mental illness remains mainly negative. The depiction of their encounters in the mass media is of considerable interest because of the influential role the media has on public opinion and debate; however, there is a lack of current research in this area. This study aimed to examine media items in the major newspapers across Australia between January 2006 and December 2007 (n = 77) to investigate their portrayal of this interface. The dominant themes encountered in the initial analysis depicted people experiencing mental illness as dangerous and a threat to the public, where the mental health system has failed to manage them adequately. Further analyses found that people experiencing mental illness were stigmatised in a third of the media items reviewed and were represented significantly more negatively in these encounters than the police. Implications of these findings and some suggestions regarding possible strategies that could improve socially responsible media reporting and public discourse on mental illness are proposed.     

Test-induced priming increases false recognition in older but not younger children

The effect of test-induced priming on false recognition was investigated in children aged 5, 7, 9, and 11 years using lists of semantic associates, category exemplars, and phonological associates. In line with effects previously observed in adults, nine- and eleven-year-olds showed increased levels of false recognition when critical lures were preceded by four studied items. This pattern was present with all three list types. In contrast, no effects of test-induced priming were observed in five- or seven-year-olds with any list type. The results also support those of previous studies in showing a developmental shift from phonological to semantic false memories. The findings are discussed in terms of current theories of children's false memories.     

Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) and human (Homo sapiens) chord discrimination

Human music perception is related both to musical experience and the physical properties of sound. Examining the processing of music by nonhuman animals has been generally neglected. We tested both black-capped chickadees and humans in a chord discrimination task that replicates and extends prior research with pigeons. We found that chickadees and humans, in common with pigeons, showed similar patterns of discrimination across manipulations of the 3rd and 5th notes of the triadic chords. For all species (chickadee and humans here, pigeons previously), chords with half-step alterations in the 5th note were easier to discriminate than half-step manipulations of the 3rd note, which is likely due to the sensory consonance of these chords. There were differences among species in terms of the fine discrimination of the chords within this larger pattern of results. Further, the ability to relearn the chords when transposed to a new root differed across species. Our results provide new comparative data suggesting some similarities in chord perception that span a wide range of species, from pigeons (nonvocal learners) to songbirds and humans (vocal learners).     

HPV High Risk and Protective Behaviors: The Effects of Religious Affiliation

The majority of Americans identify themselves as belonging to some religious group. There is a mixed body of literature on whether or not religious affiliation has an influence on engaging in risky behaviors among young adults attending college. This study examined associations between religious affiliation, risky sexual practices, substance use, and family structure among a sample of predominantly white college females attending a southeastern university. Given the high risk of acquiring genital human papillomavirus infection as a result of high risk sexual practices, gaining a better understanding of how religious affiliation can be used to promote healthy sexual behaviors is warranted.     

The better-than-my-average effect: The relative impact of peak and average performances in assessments of the self and others

We examine whether people call to mind different manifestations of various traits when considering what they are like than when considering what others are like. Specifically, do people think that peak manifestations of their traits and abilities best capture who they are themselves, but that other people are better captured by their average performances or trait expressions? In Studies 1a and 1b, participants were more likely to believe that their own most attractive photographs best represent their typical appearance than others' do. In Study 2, participants' estimates of where they stand on various trait dimensions coincided with their highest possible standing, whereas their estimates of an acquaintance's standing coincided with the midpoint between the latter's highest and lowest possible standing. In Study 3, regression analyses revealed that students' predictions of their own final exam score were based most heavily on their highest score received to that point, but their predictions of someone else's final exam score was based most heavily on that student's average score. We discuss how this tendency fits in the broader literature on self-other differences in evaluation and how it contributes to above-average effect.     

Varieties of Political-religious Experiences

In this article, I consider the intersection of and interplay between the religious and political experience and conversion. More particularly, I identify and describe five types of political-religious experiences, which are represented in the lives of five public figures.