泛论齐国五大音乐活动中心

寓于齐文化之中的齐国音乐艺术,在“因其俗,简其礼”这一治国方略的指导下,呈现出了勃勃生机。普及的群众性音乐活动,在齐都及其周边地区孕育出了五大音乐活动中心,即:宫城王府——官乐中心、郭城韶院——雅乐中心、雍门内外——民间音乐交流中心、齐右高唐——群众歌咏中心、齐左莱地——莱夷乐舞中心。     

Overall performance impairment and crash risk due to distracted driving: A comprehensive analysis using structural equation modelling

Distracted driving leads to performance changes in both longitudinal and lateral control. However, driving performance, being a multidimensional phenomenon, is very difficult to be interpreted from individual performance measures. The present study aimed to exhibit the distraction impacts on overall driving performance estimated by a single measure rather than assessing distraction effects on individual performance metrics such as speed, acceleration, lateral variation, etc. The study also focused on modelling and quantifying the impacts of overall deteriorated driving performance on crash risk. To achieve the objectives, a comparative analysis of investigating phone and music player usage was conducted using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). In total, 90 drivers’ demographic details and driving performance data in distracted and non-distracted driving environments were collected. Firstly, the latent variable “performance degradation” was derived from longitudinal and lateral performance measures. Then the structural model revealed a positive relationship between the distractions and the overall performance degradation. Finally, the crash risk was modelled against the presence of distraction and performance degradation. With a factor loading of 0.29, the impact of deteriorated driving performance (i.e., indirect impact) was found to be the highest among all the contributory factors of the crash risk. Further, the results showed that among the distractions (i.e., direct impact), texting had the highest impact (factor loading = 0.28) on crash risk followed by visual-manual tasks related to music player (factor loading = 0.21). Thus, the present study quantified the effects of deteriorated driving performance caused by distracted driving on the crash risk. Further, the study also presented quantified effects of each distracting activity on the crash risk which accounted for the factors that could not be considered through the performance degradation measure. The approach used in the present study can be adopted in designing the countermeasures using advanced driver warning systems.     

A probabilistic model of melody perception

This study presents a probabilistic model of melody perception, which infers the key of a melody and also judges the probability of the melody itself. The model uses Bayesian reasoning: For any "surface" pattern and underlying "structure," we can infer the structure maximizing P (structure|surface) based on knowledge of P (surface, structure). The probability of the surface can then be calculated as ∑ P (surface, structure), summed over all structures. In this case, the surface is a pattern of notes; the structure is a key. A generative model is proposed, based on three principles: (a) melodies tend to remain within a narrow pitch range; (b) note-to-note intervals within a melody tend to be small; and (c) notes tend to conform to a distribution (or key profile) that depends on the key. The model is tested in three ways. First, it is tested on its ability to identify the keys of a set of folksong melodies. Second, it is tested on a melodic expectation task in which it must judge the probability of different notes occurring given a prior context; these judgments are compared with perception data from a melodic expectation experiment. Finally, the model is tested on its ability to detect incorrect notes in melodies by assigning them lower probabilities than the original versions.     

Cross-cultural perspectives on pitch memory

We examined effects of age and culture on children's memory for the pitch level of familiar music. Canadian 9- and 10-year-olds distinguished the original pitch level of familiar television theme songs from foils that were pitch-shifted by one semitone, whereas 5- to 8-year-olds failed to do so (Experiment 1). In contrast, Japanese 5- and 6-year-olds distinguished the pitch-shifted foils from the originals, performing significantly better than same-age Canadian children (Experiment 2). Moreover, Japanese 6-year-olds were more accurate than their 5-year-old counterparts. These findings challenge the prevailing view of enhanced pitch memory during early life. We consider factors that may account for Japanese children's superior performance such as their use of a pitch accent language (Japanese) rather than a stress accent language (English) and their experience with musical pitch labels.     

音乐节拍速度变化的辨别优势认知研究

辨别节拍速度变化是音乐认知能力的重要组成部分。本文通过控制节拍速度的变化量(15%、10%、8%、5%、2%)、变化方向(提前与滞后)、节拍类型(2拍子和3拍子)3个变量,比较了音乐专业大学生和非音乐专业大学生对于节拍速度变化的感知能力。研究结果显示：人们对提前的变化比滞后的变化更敏感,并且这种知觉优势在3拍子条件下更为明显。同时音乐组被试对节拍速度变化的辨别能力显著高于非音乐组,并且这种优势在3拍子中更明显。     

Hearing a melody in different ways: multistability of metrical interpretation, reflected in rate limits of sensorimotor synchronization

Music commonly induces the feeling of a regular beat (i.e., a metrical structure) in listeners. However, musicians can also intentionally impose a beat (i.e., a metrical interpretation) on a metrically ambiguous passage. The present study aimed to provide objective evidence for this little-studied mental ability. Participants were prompted with musical notation to adopt different metrical interpretations of a cyclically repeated isochronous 12-note melody while tapping in synchrony with specified target tones in the melody. The target tones either coincided with the imposed beat (on-beat tapping) or did not (off-beat tapping). An adaptive staircase method was employed to determine the fastest tempo at which each synchronization task could be performed. For each metrical interpretation, a significant advantage for on-beat over off-beat tapping was obtained - except in a condition in which participants, instead of synchronizing, were in control of the target tones. By showing that a self-imposed beat can affect sensorimotor synchronization, the present results provide objective evidence for endogenous perceptual organization of metrical sequences. It is hypothesized that metrical interpretation rests upon covert rhythmic action.     

Microsaccade-rate indicates absorption by music listening

The power of music is a literary topos, which can be attributed to intense and personally significant experiences, one of them being the state of absorption. Such phenomenal states are difficult to grasp objectively. We investigated the state of musical absorption by using eye tracking. We utilized a load related definition of state absorption: multimodal resources are committed to create a unified representation of music. Resource allocation was measured indirectly by microsaccade rate, known to indicate cognitive processing load. We showed in Exp. 1 that microsaccade rate also indicates state absorption. Hence, there is cross-modal coupling between an auditory aesthetic experience and fixational eye movements. When removing the fixational stimulus in Exp. 2, saccades are no longer generated upon visual input and the cross-modal coupling disappeared. Results are interpreted in favor of the load hypothesis of microsaccade rate and against the assumption of general slowing by state absorption.     

Manual motor reaction while being absorbed into popular music

In three experiments, we investigated the behavioral consequences of being absorbed into music on performance in a concurrent task. We tested two competing hypotheses: Based on a cognitive load account, captivation of attention by the music and state absorption might slow down reactions in the decisional task. Alternatively, music could induce spontaneous motor activity, and being absorbed in music might result in a more autonomous, flow-driven behavior with quicker motor reactions. Participants performed a simple, visual, two-alternative forced-choice task while listening to popular musical excerpts. Subsequently, they rated their subjective experience using a short questionnaire. We presented music in four tempo categories (between 80 and 140 BPM) to account for a potential effect of tempo and an interaction between tempo and absorption. In Experiment 1, absorption was related to decreased reaction times (RTs) in the visual task. This effect was small, as expected in this setting, but replicable in Experiment 2. There was no effect of the music’s tempo on RTs but a tendency of mind wandering to relate to task performance. After slightly changing the study setting in Experiment 3, flow predicted decreased RTs, but absorption alone — as part of the flow construct — did not predict RTs. To sum up, we demonstrated that being absorbed in music can have the behavioral consequence of speeded manual reactions in specific task contexts, and people seem to integrate the music into an active, flow-driven and therefore enhanced performance. However, shown relations depend on task settings, and a systematic study of context is necessary to understand how induced states and their measurement contribute to the findings.     

Does recall of a past music event invoke a reminiscence bump in young adults?

Many studies of the reminiscence bump (RB) in music invoke memories from different autobiographical times by using stimulus specific prompts (SSPs). This study investigated the utility of a non-SSP paradigm to determine whether the RB would emerge when participants were asked to recall a single memorable musical event from “a time long ago”. The presence of a RB in response to music has not been obtained in such a manner for younger participants. Eighty-eight 20–22 year olds reported music episodes that peaked when their autobiographical age was 13–14 years. Self-selected stimuli included a range of musical styles, including classical and non-Western pop forms, such as J-pop and K-pop, as well as generational pop music, such as the Beatles. However, most participants reported pop/rock music that was contemporaneous with encoding age, providing support for the utility of published SSP paradigms using pop music. Implications for and limitations of SSP paradigms are discussed. Participants were also asked to relate the selected musical piece to current musical tastes. Most participants liked the music that they selected, with many continuing to like the music, but most also reported a general broadening of their taste, consistent with developmental literature on open-earedness.     

Above and below the streets: A musical geography of anti-nuclear protest in Tokyo

Affects such as anger, fear and love have compelled Tokyoites to take to the streets in protest in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster of March 2011. One of the characteristic forms these protests have taken has been the anti-nuclear “sound demonstrations” in which bands, DJs and rappers perform from the backs of trucks that lead demonstrators through the streets. Projecting their emotive music through urban space with the aid of powerful sound systems, these demonstrations disrupt the everyday noises of the neoliberal city and create a public space for the vocalisation of dissent. After the demonstrations, these same artists and demonstrators move to the underground live houses and social centres that constitute a subterranean backbone to the visible demonstrations in the street. Expressing emotions through musical protest is a powerful motor for what Stevphen Shukatitis has called affective composition, the process via which collective political subjectivities are formed through the expression of shared emotions. This paper outlines the emotional geography of anti-nuclear music in post-Fukushima Tokyo. It examines the dynamic interplay between aboveground political protest and the city's subterranean network of musical performance spaces.