Naive listeners rated the style of singing in mothers' and fathers' sung performances for infants and their simulations of those performances (Experiment 1). Performances in an infant's presence were judged as more expressive -either more playful or more soothing -than were simulations. Parents' style of singing, as reflected in these ratings, differed as a function of the sex of singer and listener. Both parents sang more playfully for same-sex infants than for opposite-sex infants. Independent listeners rated the manner in which parents enunciated the lyrics of their songs (Experiment 2). Parents rendered the lyrics of songs more expressively in infant-present than in infantabsent contexts. Moreover, this expressiveness was greater for same-sex infants than for opposite-sex infants. These findings are consistent with parents' greater attachment to same-sex infants. Discrepancies between parents' choice of songs and their manner of singing lend credence to functional rather than nominal classifications of songs for infants.
Adults (N = 96) with little or no training in music heard one of four possible MIDI versions of each of four musical excerpts. The four versions of each excerpt included one with unvarying tempo and dynamics, one with variations in tempo only, one with variations in dynamics only, and one with variations in tempo and dynamics. Participants rated each excerpt on a 7-point scale for likeability and emotional expressiveness. Variations in dynamics resulted in higher ratings on both measures but variations in tempo had no such effect. In general, women rated the musical excerpts as more emotionally expressive and more likeable than did men. Finally, musical preferences were highly correlated with ratings of emotional expressiveness.
t l e r , S.M. S i l b e r , and P . L . Olson 9. P * r h i n g O r # a i r~i o n , N . l m ord Addross Transportation Research I n s t i t u t e (Formerly Highway S a f e t y Res. I n s t i t u t e ) U n i v e r s i t y o f Michigan A r h n r . M i 4 8 1 0 9 U.S.A. 12. +suing Reput and Pwiod C o r o r d 14. Sponroring Agency Cod* T h i s r e s e a r c h was conducted f o r t h e u n i v e r s i t y o f .~i c h i g a n ~e h a b i l i t a t i o n E n g i n e e r i n g C e n t e r 11. Abstract T h i s s t u d y i n v e s t i g a t e d' 18. Dishibutim S t d r r r t
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