Auditory imagery from musical notation in expert musicians

Anecdotal evidence has suggested that musical notation can trigger auditory images. Expert musicians silently read scores containing well-known themes embedded into the notation of an embellished phrase and judged if a tune heard aloud thereafter was the original theme (i.e., melodic target) or not (i.e., melodic lure). Three experiments were conducted employing four score-reading conditions: normal nondistracted reading, concurrent rhythmic distraction, phonatory interference, and obstruction by auditory stimuli. The findings demonstrate that phonatory interference impaired recognition of original themes more than did the other conditions. We propose that notational audiation is the silent reading of musical notation resulting in auditory imagery. The research suggests that it also elicits kinesthetic-like phonatory processes.     

Intramodal and crossmodal sensory transfer of visual and auditory temporal patterns

Temporal pattern perception for vision and audition was measured using pair comparisons of precisely determined rhythms as test items. Visual rhythms were more difficult to match than were comparable auditory ones. Crossmodal transfer equaled intramodal transfer in one experiment but was inferior in another. The differences between intra- and crossmodal transfer were related to the frequency of pattern elements, with crossmodal performance decreasing more when frequency rose. The nine test items showed a consistency in relative difficulty across experimental conditions. Differences in item difficulty were related to the symmetry of the first pattern in the item.     

The mental representation of music notation: notational audiation

This study investigated the mental representation of music notation. Notational audiation is the ability to internally "hear" the music one is reading before physically hearing it performed on an instrument. In earlier studies, the authors claimed that this process engages music imagery contingent on subvocal silent singing. This study refines the previously developed embedded melody task and further explores the phonatory nature of notational audiation with throat-audio and larynx-electromyography measurement. Experiment 1 corroborates previous findings and confirms that notational audiation is a process engaging kinesthetic-like covert excitation of the vocal folds linked to phonatory resources. Experiment 2 explores whether covert rehearsal with the mind's voice also involves actual motor processing systems and suggests that the mental representation of music notation cues manual motor imagery. Experiment 3 verifies findings of both Experiments 1 and 2 with a sample of professional drummers. The study points to the profound reliance on phonatory and manual motor processing--a dual-route stratagem--used during music reading. Further implications concern the integration of auditory and motor imagery in the brain and cross-modal encoding of a unisensory input.     

Qualitative Cancer Genetic Counseling Research, Part II: Findings from a Exploratory Ethnographic Study in a Cancer Clinic

This is a report of the preliminary findings of a brief exploratory ethnographic study in a cancer diagnosis and treatment clinic. The main research purpose was to explore the meaning of cancer and cancer treatment to patients themselves and to their relatives and close friends. The methods are described in detail in a paper focusing on the experiences of being a novice ethnographer (Peters et al. (2001) J Genet Counsel 10(2):133–150.). The preliminary results of this exploratory fieldwork indicate that the experience of attending a cancer treatment clinic for evaluation and/or treatment is a complex social, emotional as well as medical process for patients and families. Themes with relevance to genetic counselors that emerged from this early observation period included ideas about causes of cancer, the complex nature of families and kinship, coping and support, use of food, and healing. These initial findings have implications for genetic counseling practice and hopefully will stimulate more qualitative social and behavioral research in cancer genetic counseling.     

Authoritarianism among border police officers, career soldiers, and airport security guards at the Israeli border

Several personality theories focusing on specific personality variables involved in career choice and job satisfaction are based on the assumption that individuals choose certain career choices because they believe that they may be able to meet their emotional needs (J. L. Holland, 1977). The author of this study investigated the personality traits of border police officers, career soldiers, and airport security guards in Israel. The participants were 160 men--40 border policemen, 40 career soldiers, 40 airport security guards, and 40 control participants--who filled out a demographic questionnaire and a Hebrew version of the right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) shortened scale (B. Altemeyer, personal communication, February 2000). The present hypothesis predicted that the RWA scores of border police officers would be the highest, followed by those of career soldiers, airport security guards, and control participants, in that order. Statistically significant differences in RWA scores occurred between these groups in the predicted order, with the exception of the career soldiers' RWA scores, which did not significantly differ from those of the airport security guards.     

Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching

In 4 experiments, participants alternated between different tasks or performed the same task repeatedly. The tasks for 2 of the experiments required responding to geometric objects in terms of alternative classification rules, and the tasks for the other 2 experiments required solving arithmetic problems in terms of alternative numerical operations. Performance was measured as a function of whether the tasks were familiar or unfamiliar, the rules were simple or complex, and visual cues were present or absent about which tasks should be performed. Task alternation yielded switching-time costs that increased with rule complexity but decreased with task cuing. These factor effects were additive, supporting a model of executive control that has goal-shifting and rule-activation stages for task switching. It appears that rule activation takes more time for switching from familiar to unfamiliar tasks than for switching in the opposite direction.