Fostering the Aesthetic Pleasure: The Effect of Verbal Description on Aesthetic Appreciation of Ambiguous and Unambiguous Artworks

Background: Aesthetic experience begins through an intentional shift from automatic visual perceptual processing to an aesthetic state of mind that is evidently directed towards sensory experience. In the present study, we investigated whether portrait descriptions affect the aesthetic pleasure of both ambiguous (i.e., Arcimboldo’s portraits) and unambiguous portraits (i.e., Renaissance portraits). Method: A total sample of 86 participants were recruited and completed both a baseline and a retest session. In the retest session, we implemented a sample audio description for each portrait. The portraits were described by three types of treatment, namely global, local, and historical descriptions. Results: During the retest session, aesthetic pleasure was higher than the baseline. Both the local and the historical treatments improved the aesthetic appreciation of ambiguous portraits; instead, the global and the historical treatment improved aesthetic appreciation of Renaissance portraits during the retest session. Additionally, we found that the response times were slower in the retest session. Conclusion: taken together, these findings suggest that aesthetic preference was affected by the description of an artwork, likely due to a better knowledge of the painting, which prompts a more accurate (and slower) reading of the artwork.

Determination and comparison of time under tension required to perform 8, 10 and 12-RM loads in the bench press exercise

SummaryStudy aim: To determine and compare the time under tension (TUT) required to perform 8, 10 and 12 repetition maximum (RM) loads in the bench press exercise. Material and methods: Twenty men (24.17 ± 4.69 years) were selected intentionally and properly. We included in the study physically active individuals, with a weekly frequency of physical activity of at least two days for six months, and excluded individuals with injury or pain that could interfere with the correct execution of the exercise and individuals with positive PAR-Q. The 10-RM test consisted in performing ten consecutive repetitions with maximum overload and the highest speed in bench press exercise on the Smith machine. After 48 h, 10-RM sets were performed with the load obtained in the 10-RM load testing. The TUT in 10-RM was verified through kinematics using the timing technique of the Kinovea software. Results: The RM loads and TUT obtained during the retest session showed normal distribution between subjects. However, no significant differences were found between the loads 8, 10 and 12-RM within and between subjects (p < 0.05). The verified TUT showed a difference from 8 to 10-RM and from 8 to 12-RM, but no significant difference was found between TUT protocols for 10 and 12-RM (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The study results enable evaluation of TUT in bench press exercise on the Smith machine for the study sample, allowing, for this group, the prediction and control of training intensity through the TUT.

Validity and Reliability of Bekesy Audiometry with Preschool Age Children

This study investigated the validity and reliability of Bekesy audiometry with preschool-age children. Sixty preschool children, ages 3, 4, and 5, were chosen such that 20 children were in each of the three age groups. There were an equal number of male and female subjects in each group, and all had intelligence quotients of 90 or higher. Each subject was given a conventional pure-tone hearing evaluation, followed by a hearing test administered with a Bekesy audiometer. A retest session was conducted one week later. The results indicate that five-year-old children, when properly conditioned, can be tested with Bekesy audiometry and produce valid, reliable auditory threshold tracings. Some four-year-old children will trace a Bekesy audiometric threshold that is valid, whereas, other four-year-old children trace thresholds that are not a true representation of their actual auditory threshold. Typically, three-year-old children, as presently conditioned, are not candidates for Bekesy audiometry.

Effects of Method of Measurement on Most Comfortable Loudness Level for Speech

Eighteen college men and 18 college women, all with normal hearing, were tested for the effects of three variables upon most comfortable loudness (MCL) level for speech. These variables were: (1) three measurement methods, (2) sex of listener, and (3) repeated testing. MCL levels for speech were measured in an initial test session and a retest session by the method of adjustment, the method of limits, and the Bekesy audiometer. Results showed that: (1) all three measurement methods produced similar mean MCL levels in both test and retest, (2) mean MCL levels did not change significantly from test to retest for any single measurement method, (3) sex of listener did not significantly affect mean MCL level, (4) MCL levels as measured by the three methods were significantly correlated, (5) test-retest correlations for each measurement method were significant, and (6) Bekesy audiometer tracings of MCL level remained stable over the four and one-half minute test periods in both initial test sessions and in retest sessions.