Pianists exhibit enhanced memory for vocal melodies but not piano melodies

Nonmusicians remember vocal melodies (i.e., sung to la la) better than instrumental melodies. If greater exposure to the voice contributes to those effects, then long-term experience with instrumental timbres should elicit instrument-specific advantages. Here we evaluate this hypothesis by comparing pianists with other musicians and nonmusicians. We also evaluate the possibility that absolute pitch (AP), which involves exceptional memory for isolated pitches, influences melodic memory. Participants heard 24 melodies played in four timbres (voice, piano, banjo, marimba) and were subsequently required to distinguish the melodies heard previously from 24 novel melodies presented in the same timbres. Musicians performed better than nonmusicians, but both groups showed a comparable memory advantage for vocal melodies. Moreover, pianists performed no better on melodies played on piano than on other instruments, and AP musicians performed no differently than non-AP musicians. The findings confirm the robust nature of the voice advantage and rule out explanations based on familiarity, practice, and motor representations.     

Seeing what you hear: Visual feedback improves pitch recognition

The present study examined the effect of visual feedback on the ability to recognise and consolidate pitch information. We trained two groups of nonmusicians to play a piano piece by ear, having one group receiving uninterrupted audiovisual feedback, while allowing the other only to hear, but not see their hand on the keyboard. Results indicate that subjects for whom visual information was deprived showed significantly poorer ability to recognise pitches from the musical piece they had learned. These results are interesting since pitch recognition ability would not intuitively seem to rely on visual feedback. In addition, we show that subjects with previous experience in computer touch-typing made fewer errors during training when trained with no visual feedback, but did not show improved pitch recognition ability posttraining. Our results demonstrate how sensory redundancy increases robustness of learning, and further encourage the use of audiovisual training procedures for facilitating the learning of new skills.     

The Trinity Hymnal

ABSTRACT

The Trinity Hymnal, published in 1990, is a complete hymnal for churches of Presbyterian and Reformed convictions. The hymnal is a major revision of the original version prepared in the 1950s. Trinity is unique in that it has neither capitulated to current trends in contemporary Christian music, nor broadened its doctrines to encompass a lowest-common-denominator theology. This article is written by the editor who guided the production of the hymnal through its seven years of “gestation.” He provides personal reflections of the behind the scenes work of the committee describing how they made their decisions.     

Digit ratios and preferences for aggressive content in entertainment

Digit ratios (2D:4D) contain information concerning an individual’s propensity towards aggression. Our study adds the first clue to better understanding the relationship between 2D:4D and exposure to aggressive contents in entertainment products. Our findings suggest that individuals with low 2D:4D prefer aggressive contents such as action films, sports telecast, killing and achieving games, hip-hop music, and erotic video clips rather than do individuals with high 2D:4D. Also individuals with low 2D:4D tend to demonstrate less preference for romance films than individuals with high 2D:4D. In addition, we found that low 2D:4D was associated with a preference for sports instead of other genres of entertainment products. Therefore, 2D:4D (a putative correlate of prenatal sex steroids) helps us to better understand the rationale of individuals’ preferences for media violence.     

MP3播放器外观设计效果的眼动评估

以大学生为被试,利用眼动法和主观评定法,分析了大学生在评估不同颜色（银白色、红色）、不同外形（椭圆形、圆形、长方体形和四棱柱形）MP3播放器外观设计时的眼动特征。结果发现：对于MP3播放器的外观来说,被试最关注的区域是功能键区域,即就是关注MP3播放器的人机交流功能;对于不同外形的MP3播放器,被试对圆形MP3播放器最感兴趣。     

暴力游戏中射杀动作和血腥成分对玩家和观看者攻击倾向的影响

通过实验考察游戏中的射杀动作成分和血腥成分对玩家和观看者攻击性行为和攻击性认知的影响。被试为72名男性大学生, 选用第三人称45度角的射击类游戏, 将游戏中的射杀动作成分和血腥成分进行分离, 采用竞争反应时任务范式考察攻击性行为, 采用EAST内隐认知范式考察内隐攻击性认知, 结果表明: (1) 玩家比观看者表现出更强的攻击性, 玩家表现出的攻击性行为和攻击性认知均显著强于观看者; (2) 视频游戏中的射杀动作成分导致观看者有更高的游戏卷入, 血腥成分对被试的攻击性影响强于射杀动作成分, 并使被试倾向于将攻击性进行他人归因。     

墨翟"非乐"思想刍议

墨子的"非乐"观点,是墨子学说中重要的组成部分。"非乐"主张的宗旨是反对当时的"礼乐"制度,以求安定民生,发展经济,改革政治,实现大同。但由于过分夸大音乐的危害,既忽视了音乐中"雅乐"对于统治者及百姓修身、治国、平天下的作用,又夸大了艺术依赖于物质这一面,并加以绝对化,视艺术为无用甚至有害之物,因而暴露了其小生产者思想的狭隘和局限性。     

The Institute for Music Physiology and Musicians’ Medicine

The Institute of Music Physiology and Musicians' Medicine of the University of Music and Drama in Hannover, Germany, is a unique Institution in Europe whose scope includes teaching the basics of music physiology and musicians' medicine and research into the physiological and neurobiological principles of professional music performance and music perception. Furthermore, the institute conducts research into the causes of occupational injuries in musicians and provides means for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of such injuries.     

The impact of thin models in music videos on adolescent girls' body dissatisfaction

Music videos are a particularly influential, new form of mass media for adolescents, which include the depiction of scantily clad female models whose bodies epitomise the ultra-thin sociocultural ideal for young women. The present study is the first exposure experiment that examines the impact of thin models in music videos on the body dissatisfaction of 16–19-year-old adolescent girls (n = 87). First, participants completed measures of positive and negative affect, body image, and self-esteem. Under the guise of a memory experiment, they then either watched three music videos, listened to three songs (from the videos), or learned a list of words. Affect and body image were assessed afterwards. In contrast to the music listening and word-learning conditions, girls who watched the music videos reported significantly elevated scores on an adaptation of the Body Image States Scale after exposure, indicating increased body dissatisfaction. Self-esteem was not found to be a significant moderator of this relationship. Implications and future research are discussed.