Perception of relative pitch with different references: Some absolute-pitch listeners can’t tell musical interval names

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effect of absolute-pitch possession on relativepitch processing. Listeners attempted to identify melodic intervals ranging from a semitone to an octave with different reference tones. Listeners with absolute pitch showed declined performance when the reference was out-of-tune C, out-of-tune E, or F#, relative to when the reference was C. In contrast, listeners who had no absolute pitch maintained relatively high performance in all reference conditions. These results suggest that absolute-pitch listeners are weak in relative-pitch processing and show a tendency to rely on absolute pitch in relative-pitch tasks.     

Demonstration of Understanding Through the Deployment of Japanese Enactment

Human Studies - The present study examines the interactional phenomenon of enactment, wherein conversation participants act out themselves or others by utilizing both linguistic and non-linguistic...     

Tests for linkage of multiple cohorts in an accelerated longitudinal design

In accelerated longitudinal design, one samples multiple age cohorts and then collects longitudinal data on members of each cohort. The aim is to study age-outcome trajectories over a broad age span during a study of short duration. A threat to valid inference is the Age x Cohort interaction effect. S. W. Raudenbush and W. S. Chan (1993) developed a test for such interactions in the context of 2 cohorts by using a hierarchical model. The current article extends this approach to include any number of cohorts. Using the National Youth Survey, the authors combine data collected on 7 cohorts over 5 years to approximate change in antisocial attitudes between 11 and 21 years of age. They show how to test for cohort differences in trajectories, how to calculate the power of the test, and how to use graphical procedures to aid understanding. The approach allows unbalanced designs and the clustering of participants within families, neighborhoods, or other social units.     

Effects of stimulation by three-dimensional natural images on prefrontal cortex and autonomic nerve activity: a comparison with stimulation using two-dimensional images

Empirical evidence suggests that three-dimensional (3D) images of nature promote physiological relaxation in humans by providing more realistic effects compared with two-dimensional (2D) images. However, no studies have evaluated the physiological relaxation effects of nature-derived 3D images on prefrontal cortex and autonomic nerve activity. The present study aimed to clarify the physiological relaxation effects of visual stimulation by 3D flower images on prefrontal cortex and autonomic nerve activity. Nineteen male university students (22.2 ± 0.6 years) were presented with 3D and 2D images of the water lily for 90 s. Prefrontal cortex activity was measured using near-infrared spectroscopy, while autonomic nerve activity was measured using heart rate variability (HRV). Psychological effects were determined using a modified semantic differential method (SD). Compared with visual stimulation by 2D images, that by 3D images resulted in a significant decrease in oxyhemoglobin concentration in the right prefrontal cortex, lower sympathetic activity as calculated by the ratio of the low-frequency to high-frequency HRV component, and a significantly greater realistic feeling as evidenced by higher SD ratings. In conclusion, visual stimulation by realistic 3D floral images promotes physiological relaxation more effectively than the corresponding 2D image.     

Sex differences in the effects of disinhibition,perceived peer drinking,and delay discounting on drinking among Japanese college students

Disinhibition, perceived peer drinking, and delay discounting are considered significant predictors of drinking in young adults. This study examined whether perceived peer drinking and delay discounting mediate the association between disinhibition and drinking for young men and women. In this study, 258 Japanese college students (109 men and 149 women, mean age 19.17 (SD = 1.20) years old) completed a self-administered questionnaire that included four measures—the disinhibition subscale of the Sensation Seeking Scale for Japanese Adolescents, the proportion of friends who drink as an index of perceived peer drinking behaviors, the Monetary Choice Questionnaire, and participants’ own drinking behavior. In the multiple mediator models analyzed using structural equation modeling, for both sexes, perceived peer drinking had the largest direct effect on participants’ drinking, followed by disinhibition and delay discounting. However, the results of mediation analyses indicated that perceived peer drinking mediated the association between disinhibition and drinking for only women. The results of this study imply that it is important to consider sex differences in the association between personality traits and peer influence to develop programs aiming to reduce drinking among young adults in Japan.     

Does one's name attract visual attention?

Does one's name attract visual attention? To answer this question, we conducted four experiments. Experiment 1 adopted the method of a previous study (Bundesen, Kyllingsbæk, Houmann, & Jensen, 1997), but used Japanese names; the results of this experiment replicated the lack of evidence for attentional attraction by the observer's name. Experiments 2 and 3 tested two arguments put forward by Bundesen et al. (1997) to explain this null effect of observer's name on attentional attraction. The results showed that neither efficient target selection by colour nor the number of target characters could explain the null effect. Alternatively, we proposed that the observer's set plays a critical role in the attentional attraction of observer's name. Experiments 4 and 5 tested this idea by manipulating the observer's set; the results showed that when the observer's set matches the target defining feature, the observer's name does capture attention. These five experiments suggest that attentional attraction by an observer's name depends on the relationship between the observer's set and task.     

Recognition of notated melodies by possessors and nonpossessors of absolute pitch

Musically trained listeners compared a notated melody presented visually and a comparison melody presented auditorily, and judged whether they were exactly the same or not, with respect to relative pitch. Listeners who had absolute pitch showed the poorest performance for melodies transposed to different pitch levels from the notated melodies, whereas they exhibited the highest performance for untransposed melodies. By comparison, the performance of melody recognition by listeners who did not have absolute pitch was not influenced by the actual pitch level at which melodies were played. These results suggest that absolute-pitch listeners tend to rely on absolute pitch even in recognizing transposed melodies, for which the absolute-pitch strategy is not useful.     

Strong interactions between hydrogen in solid solution and stress-induced martensite transformation of Ni–Ti superelastic alloy

The role of the dynamic interactions between hydrogen in a solid solution and the stress-induced martensite transformation in hydrogen embrittlement has been investigated using trained Ni–Ti superelastic alloy. In a cyclic tensile test in the stress plateau region caused by stress-induced martensite and reverse transformations after hydrogen charging, a further decrease in the critical stress for the martensite transformation is observed. In addition, the number of cycles to fracture for a trained specimen is significantly larger than that for a non-trained specimen. Since most of the charged hydrogen is preferentially trapped in defects induced by training, the hydrogen embrittlement is considerably suppressed as a result of decreasing interactions between the hydrogen and the transformation. The present results indicate that hydrogen in a solid solution more strongly interacts with the stress-induced martensite transformation than hydrogen trapped in defects, thereby further enhancing the hydrogen embrittlement related to phase transformations.     

Attentional capture by change in direct gaze

In three experiments, we examined whether change in direct gaze was better at capturing visuospatial attention than non-direct gaze change. Also, change in direct gaze can be categorised into two types: 'look toward', which means gaze changing to look toward observers, and 'look away', which means gaze changing to look away from observers. Thus, we also investigated which type of change in direct gaze was more effective in capturing visuospatial attention. Each experiment employed a change-detection task, and we compared detection accuracy between 'look away', 'look toward', and non-direct gaze-change conditions. In experiment 1, we found detection advantage for change in direct gaze relative to non-direct gaze change, and for 'look toward' compared with 'look away'. In experiment 2, we conducted control experiments to exclude possibilities of simple motion detection and geometrical factors of eyes, and confirm detection advantage in experiment 1 only occurred when the stimuli were processed as faces and gazes. In experiment 3, we manipulated the head deviation, but the results in experiment 1 persisted despite changes in head orientation. The findings establish that individuals are sensitive to change in direct relative to non-direct gaze change, and 'look toward' compared with 'look away'.