Abstract:In two studies, we explored the frequency and phenomenology of musical imagery. Study 1 used retrospective reports of musical imagery to assess the contribution of individual differences to imagery characteristics. Study 2 used an experience sampling design to assess the phenomenology of musical imagery over the course of one week in a sample of musicians and non-musicians. Both studies found episodes of musical imagery to be common and positive: people rarely wanted such experiences to end and often heard music that was personally meaningful. Several variables predicted musical imagery, including personality, musical preferences, and positive mood. Musicians tended to hear musical imagery more often, but they reported less frequent episodes of deliberately-generated imagery. Taken together, the present research provides new insights into individual differences in musical imagery, and it supports the emerging view that such experiences are common, positive, and more voluntary than previously recognized.

The present study provided the first examination of the construct validity of the Multidimensional Schizotypy Scale (MSS) and the first assessment of its psychometric properties outside of its derivation samples. The MSS contains 77 items that assess positive, negative, and disorganized schizotypy. A large multisite sample of 1,430 participants completed the MSS and measures of schizotypal personality traits and the five-factor model of personality. The MSS subscales had good-to-excellent internal consistency reliability that showed no shrinkage relative to the MSS derivation samples. The psychometric properties and intercorrelations of the MSS subscales were closely consistent with the derivation findings. The MSS Positive Schizotypy subscale had a strong association with cognitive-perceptual schizotypal traits (large effect), positive associations with personality traits of neuroticism and openness to experience, and negative associations with agreeableness. The MSS Negative Schizotypy subscale had a strong association with interpersonal schizotypal traits (medium effect) and negative associations with personality traits of extraversion, openness, and agreeableness. The MSS Disorganized Schizotypy subscale had a strong association with disorganized schizotypal traits (medium effect), a positive association with neuroticism, and a negative association with conscientiousness. The findings were consistent with the a priori predictions and support the construct validity of the MSS. (PsycINFO Database Record

Who gets chills-a pleasurable feeling of goose bumps-in response to music, and why? The current study used experience sampling to examine within-person variability in aesthetic chills. For one week, 106 undergraduate participants responded to 10 daily surveys, delivered via their cell phones, about their momentary activities, emotions, and environment, with an emphasis on whether they were listening to music and were experiencing chills. At the within-person level, music listening context and emotional states during music listening influenced whether or not people got chills. Chills were more likely when people listened to music that they chose and that they were listening to closely. Chills were also more likely when people were listening to music while happy or while sad, but not while worried. Overall, the study illustrates how music listening context and other within-person differences contribute to aesthetic chills in people's everyday environments.

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Personal digital assistants (PDA), particularly Palm Pilots, are popular data collection devices in experience sampling research. The declining availability of such devices, however, has prompted researchers to explore alternative technologies for signaling participants and collecting responses. The present research considers interactive voice response (IVR) methods, which can deliver questions and collect data using common cell phones. Participants completed an experience sampling study using either a PDA (n ¼ 428) or a cell phone under three different conditions (IVR condition n ¼ 98; IVR Callback condition n ¼ 93; IVR Callback Comeback condition n ¼ 94). We found that response rates were higher when people used PDAs (69%) than when they used their cell phones (IVR condition ¼ 51%), but response rates increased when people could call back within a few minutes of missing a signal (IVR Callback condition ¼ 58%) and had a face-to-face meeting with a researcher midweek (IVR Callback Comeback ¼ 64%). The daily life ratings were similar across the conditions. The findings are encouraging for researchers interested in using IVR cell phone methods for ecological momentary assessment, but more work is needed to develop procedures or incentives that increase response rates.Keywords experience sampling, ecological momentary assessment, interactive voice response, personal digital assistants Experience sampling is a within-day self-report technique in which participants are prompted at repeated intervals to complete brief questionnaires (Conner, Tennen, Fleeson, & Barrett, 2009;Hektner, Schmidt, & Csikszentmihalyi, 2007). The method is probably most strongly tied to social and emotion psychology, but it has become popular in a wide range of fields and research areas (e.g.,