Major-Minor Tonality, Schenkerian Prolongation, and Emotion: A commentary on Huron and Davis (2012)

<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;" lang="EN-US">On average, melodies in minor keys have smaller intervals between successive tones than melodies in major keys - consistent with the emotional difference between major and minor (Huron, 2008). Huron and Davis (2012) additionally showed that a part of this difference is inherent in the structure of major and minor scales, in combination with typical patterns of transition between scale steps: If one takes a typical major melody and lowers scale steps 3 and 6 by a semitone, the average interval size is optimally reduced. I present an alternative theory of the origin of major and minor scales/keys and their emotional connotations. Huron’s (2006) data on scale-step transitions in typical melodies is consistent with Schenker’s (1922, 1935) idea that a piece of tonal music can be interpreted as a prolongation of its tonic triad (mediated by the Ursatz). The emotional difference between major and minor may ultimately and primarily depend on the third of the tonic triad in the psychological background. Major music may tend toward positive valence simply because emotionally positive music is more common than emotionally negative music, and major triads and keys are more common than minor. Minor music may tend toward negative valence simply because scale degrees 3 and 6 sound lower than expected, consistent with emotional cues in speech (Huron, 2008).

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EXPRESS: When Symmetric and Curved Visual Contour Meet Intentional Instructions: Hedonic Value and Preference

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1177/17470218211021593 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 174702182110215

Author(s):

Erick G. Chuquichambi Apaza ◽

Guido B. Corradi ◽

Enric Munar ◽

Jaume Rosselló-Mir

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Processing ◽

Experimental Session ◽

Hedonic Tone ◽

Stimulus Response ◽

Negative Valence ◽

Visual Contour ◽

Positive Valence ◽

Positive And Negative Valence ◽

Implicit And Explicit ◽

Explicit Measures

Symmetry and contour take part in shaping visual preference. However, less is known about their combined contribution to preference. We examined the hedonic tone and preference triggered by the interaction of symmetry and contour. Symmetric/curved, symmetric/sharp-angled, asymmetric/curved, and asymmetric/sharp-angled stimuli were presented in an implicit and explicit task. The implicit task consisted of an affective stimulus-response compatibility task where participants matched the stimuli with positive and negative valence response cues. The explicit task recorded liking ratings from the same stimuli. We used instructed mindset to induce participants to focus on symmetry or contour in different parts of the experimental session. We found an implicit compatibility of symmetry and curvature with positive hedonic tone. Explicit results showed preference for symmetry and curvature. In both tasks, symmetry and curvature showed a cumulative interaction, with a larger contribution of symmetry to the overall effect. While symmetric and asymmetric stimuli contributed to the implicit positive valence of symmetry, the effect of curvature was mainly caused by inclination toward curved contours rather than rejection of sharp-angled contours. We did not find any correlation between implicit and explicit measures, suggesting that they may involve different cognitive processing.

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Emotionality effects in ambiguous word recognition: The crucial role of the affective congruence between distinct meanings of ambiguous words

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1177/1747021821990003 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 174702182199000

Author(s):

Pilar Ferré ◽

Juan Haro ◽

Daniel Huete-Pérez ◽

Isabel Fraga

Keyword(s):

Word Processing ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Ambiguous Word ◽

Semantic Ambiguity ◽

Negative Valence ◽

Ambiguous Words ◽

Positive Valence ◽

Affective Meanings ◽

Valence Effect ◽

Affective Word

There is substantial evidence that affectively charged words (e.g., party or gun) are processed differently from neutral words (e.g., pen), although there are also inconsistent findings in the field. Some lexical or semantic variables might explain such inconsistencies, due to the possible modulation of affective word processing by these variables. The aim of the present study was to examine the extent to which affective word processing is modulated by semantic ambiguity. We conducted a large lexical decision study including semantically ambiguous words (e.g., cataract) and semantically unambiguous words (e.g., terrorism), analysing the extent to which reaction times (RTs) were influenced by their affective properties. The findings revealed a valence effect in which positive valence made RTs faster, whereas negative valence slowed them. The valence effect diminished as the semantic ambiguity of words increased. This decrease did not affect all ambiguous words, but was observed mainly in ambiguous words with incongruent affective meanings. These results highlight the need to consider the affective properties of the distinct meanings of ambiguous words in research on affective word processing.

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Roles in violent interactions in early adolescence: Relations with personality traits, friendship and gender

Psihologija ◽

10.2298/psi1502119c ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 48 (2) ◽

pp. 119-133

Author(s):

Petar Colovic ◽

Jasmina Kodzopeljic ◽

Dusanka Mitrovic ◽

Bojana Dinic ◽

Snezana Smederevac

Keyword(s):

Social Behavior ◽

Personality Traits ◽

Elementary School Students ◽

Male Gender ◽

School Students ◽

Negative Valence ◽

Bully Victims ◽

Positive Valence ◽

And Gender

The aim of this study is to examine the relations between roles in violent interactions and personality traits (congruent to dimensions of Big Seven lexical model), number of friends, and gender. The study was conducted on a sample of 1095 elementary school students from Serbia (51.4% female), aged 11-14. The results revealed that membership in the victims group corresponds to smaller number of friends, low Extraversion, high Neuroticism and Conscientiousness and male gender, while higher Aggressiveness, Negative and Positive Valence, lower Neuroticism, and male gender increase the odds of membership in the bullies group. The role of bully-victims corresponds to smaller number of friends, higher Negative Valence and Neuroticism, and male gender. The results point to differences between roles in violent interaction with regard to patterns of personality traits and social behavior.

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When Symmetric and Curved Visual Contour Meet Intentional Instructions: Hedonic Value and Preference

10.31234/osf.io/vafdy ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Erick Gustavo Chuquichambi ◽

Guido Corradi ◽

Jaume Rossello ◽

Enric Munar

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Processing ◽

Experimental Session ◽

Hedonic Tone ◽

Stimulus Response ◽

Negative Valence ◽

Visual Contour ◽

Positive Valence ◽

Positive And Negative Valence ◽

Implicit And Explicit ◽

Explicit Measures

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Between positivism and narrativism in Polish methodology of history

HISTOREIN ◽

10.12681/historein.234 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 75 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Krzysztof Brzechczyn

Keyword(s):

Theoretical Framework ◽

Font Size ◽

Theory Of Science ◽

The Third ◽

Nancy Cartwright ◽

The Status ◽

Scientific Context ◽

Scientific Laws ◽

Covering Law ◽

The 1960S

This paper has two main purposes. Its primary purpose is to present the reception of the discussion between positivism and narrativism in the Polish methodology of history. A secondary one is to paraphrase, using the notion apparatus of the idealisational theory of science, the issue of the accuracy of explanation. The article consists of six parts. In the first part, Hempel’s deductive-nomological (or covering-law) model of explanation is presented. In the second part, the main tenets and assumptions of the Poznań school of methodology are presented. The emergence of this school at the end of the 1960s delayed the popularisation of narrativism in Polish methodology of history. In the third part, the manifold reasons of this delayed reception are analysed. The popularization of narrativism was only possible in Poland after 1989, but it had a primarily imitative character. This outline of cultural and scientific context allows Chris Lorenz’s proposals (on the problem of the accuracy of explanation) to be put in a wider perspective (part four). Namely, this author describes “a theoretical historical debate” on the status of scientific laws and refers to a post-positivistic approach to science represented by Nancy Cartwright. This approach was to introduce new perspectives to the understanding of lawfulness. In the fifth part, the main assumptions and tenets (for example, modes of explanation) of another post-positivistic approach to science, namely the idealisational theory of science, are presented and compared with the Hempelian model of explanation. In the sixth part, Hempel’s explanatory sketch is paraphrased using the notion apparatus of the idealisational model of science which provides a solution in this theoretical framework, to the problem of accuracy of explanation posed by Lorenz.

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Spanish in Chicago: Writing an Online Placement Exam for Spanish Heritage Speakers

Borealis – An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics ◽

10.7557/1.2.1.2496 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 199 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Clara Burgo

Keyword(s):

Spanish Language ◽

Socioeconomic Differences ◽

Placement Tests ◽

Hispanic Population ◽

Font Size ◽

Heritage Speakers ◽

The Third ◽

Placement Exam ◽

Spanish Heritage Speakers ◽

Online Placement

United States is the third country in the world with the largest Hispanic population (over 45 million of Spanish speaking people). As Fairclough (2003) claims, the national, ethnic and socioeconomic differences of Hispanic immigrants provide a heterogeneous community whose unifying element is the Spanish language. Chicago is third largest city in the country with a significant Hispanic population. In the latest years, Spanish for Heritage speakers’ programs in higher education have developed and effective placement tests are needed.<div> </div>

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Teacher Ethnotheories & Child Temperament: Impact on Classroom Interactions

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood ◽

10.1177/183693919702200304 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 22 (3) ◽

pp. 13-18

Author(s):

June Kean

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood Teachers ◽

Classroom Interactions ◽

Careful Consideration ◽

Child Temperament ◽

Negative Valence ◽

Beliefs And Values ◽

Positive Valence ◽

The Impact ◽

Target Children ◽

Social Behaviours

The effects of eight teachers’ ethnotheories (beliefs and values) were examined in relation to interactions in the classroom (teachers, target children) with two broad groupings of child temperament (Difficult Temperament N = 16, Easy Temperament N = 16) which were established on the basis of teachers’ ratings of child temperament using The Preschool Inventory (Billman, 1981). Temperament (individual behavioural style) was conceptualised as the manifestation of affective displays and social behaviours in context, with emotions acting as signals for interactions. Interviews were conducted with the teachers to elicit their beliefs and values, their expectations for children, and to establish their tolerance levels for the more difficult child behaviours. Sixty-four hours of classroom observations were conducted. A pattern of different positive and negative interactions emerged between the more difficult temperament group (Difficult Temperament), and those with relatively easy temperaments (Easy Temperament). Difficult Temperament children consistently gave and received from teachers more negative-valence in emotional and social behaviours, than the Easy Temperament children. Easy Temperament children displayed and were responded to with more positive-valence in emotional and social behaviours. Evidence was found for the impact of teacher tolerance levels and expectations on classroom interactions. These findings suggested that early childhood teachers need to give careful consideration to their beliefs and values in developing more effective teaching techniques for children with differing temperaments.

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Intuitive judgments in depression and the role of processing fluency and positive valence: A preregistered replication study

Clinical Psychology in Europe ◽

10.32872/cpe.v2i4.2593 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Carina Remmers ◽

Johannes Zimmermann ◽

Sascha Topolinski ◽

Christoph Richter ◽

Thea Zander-Schellenberg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Preliminary Evidence ◽

Processing Fluency ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Negative Valence ◽

Depressed Patients ◽

Semantic Coherence ◽

One Step ◽

Positive Valence ◽

Using Data ◽

Coherence Detection

Background Recent preliminary evidence indicates that depression is associated with impaired intuitive information processing. The current study aimed at replicating these findings and to move one step further by exploring whether factors known as triggering intuition (positivity, processing fluency) also affect intuition in patients with depression. Method We pre-registered and tested five hypotheses using data from 35 patients with depression and 35 healthy controls who performed three versions of the Judgment of Semantic Coherence Task (JSCT, Bowers et al., 1990). This task operationalizes intuition as the inexplicable and sudden detection of semantic coherence. Results Results revealed that depressed patients and healthy controls did not differ in their general intuitive performance (Hypothesis 1). We further found that fluency did not significantly affect depressed patients’ coherence judgments (H2a) and that the assumed effect of fluency on coherence judgments was not moderated by depression (H2b). Finally, we found that triads positive in valence were more likely to be judged as coherent as compared to negative word triads in the depressed sample (H3a), but this influence of positive (vs. negative) valence on coherence judgments did not significantly differ between the two groups (H3b). Conclusion Overall the current study did not replicate findings from previous research regarding intuitive semantic coherence detection deficits in depression. However, our findings suggest that enhancing positivity in depressed patients may facilitate their ability to see meaning in their environment and to take intuitive decision.

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The structure of Albanian personality descriptive trait-adjectives: A psycho-lexically based taxonomy

International Journal of Personality Psychology ◽

10.21827/ijpp.6.37224 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Rudina Ademi Shala ◽

Boele De Raad ◽

Aliriza Arënliu

Keyword(s):

Data Structures ◽

Big Five ◽

Varimax Rotation ◽

Full List ◽

Negative Valence ◽

Standard Procedures ◽

Rating Process ◽

Components Analysis ◽

Positive Valence ◽

Selection Of

In this study, we describe the taxonomy of personality descriptive trait terms in the Albanian language according to the psycho-lexical procedure, in two parts. In the first part the selection of trait terms from a standard Albanian dictionary took place, largely according to standard procedures. This resulted in a useful set of 607 personality relevant terms. In the second part this list of trait terms was administered to 497 participants to obtain self-ratings. During the rating process, participants could indicate their familiarity with the terms, leading to another reduction to a final set of 434 trait terms with self-ratings. Principal Components Analysis followed by Varimax rotation was applied both using raw data and using ipsatized data. Structures with one up to seven factors were discussed and represented in a hierarchy of factor solutions. As an aid to the interpretation of the factors, use was made of markers of the Big Five, selected from the full list of 434 terms. The most comprehensive and clearest structure was found with seven factors, which included the Big Five and both Negative Valence and Positive Valence.

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Chronic corticosterone administration induces negative valence and impairs positive valence behaviors in mice

10.1101/593632 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew Dieterich ◽

Prachi Srivastava ◽

Aitesam Sharif ◽

Karina Stech ◽

Benjamin A. Samuels

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Mood Disorders ◽

Chronic Stress ◽

Antidepressant Treatment ◽

Reward Processing ◽

Pharmacological Stress ◽

Potential Threat ◽

Impaired Performance ◽

Negative Valence ◽

Positive Valence

AbstractBehavioral approaches utilizing rodents to study mood disorders have focused primarily on negative valence behaviors associated with potential threat (anxiety). However, for disorders such as depression, positive valence behaviors that assess reward processing may be more translationally-valid and predictive of antidepressant treatment outcome. Chronic corticosterone (CORT) administration is a well-validated pharmacological stressor that increases negative valence behaviors (David et al., 2009; Gourley et al., 2008a,b; Gourley et al., 2012; Olausson et al., 2013). However, whether chronic stress paradigms such as CORT administration also lead to deficits in positive valence behaviors remains unclear. We treated male C57BL/6J mice with chronic CORT and assessed both negative and positive valence behaviors. We found that CORT induced negative valence behaviors associated with anxiety in the open field and NSF. Interestingly, CORT also impaired instrumental acquisition, reduced sensitivity to a devalued outcome, reduced breakpoint in progressive ratio, and impaired performance in probabilistic reversal learning. Taken together, these results demonstrate that chronic CORT administration at the same dosage both induces negative valence behaviors associated with anxiety and impairs positive valence behaviors associated with reward processing. These data suggest that CORT administration is a useful experimental system for preclinical approaches to studying stress-induced mood disorders.Significance StatementChronic exposure to stress can precipitate mood disorders such as anxiety and depression. However, most studies focus on the effects of chronic stress on increasing negative affect behaviors. Elucidating how chronic stress impacts translationally-valid positive valence behaviors is less studied. Here, we show that chronic pharmacological stress induces negative affect behaviors associates with anxiety and impairs reward-related, positive valence behaviors in mice.

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