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In this study of auditory prestimulation cues, picture naming performances under phonemic and semantic conditions were compared to picture naming performance under a neutral condition. Twenty aphasic subjects named 324 pictures (108 pictures x 3 conditions) each. Responses were scored using a coding system adapted by the investigator from classification systems used by Williams and Canter (1982) and Kohn and Goodglass (1985). Results indicated that naming accuracy was facilitated by phonemic and semantic cues. An examination of the distribution of errors under the three conditions revealed systematic effects of phonemic and semantic cues on the frequency of occurrence of specific error types. Increases in semantic paraphasia proportion scores and decreases in unrelated word error proportion scores were associated with the semantic condition, while increases in phonemic paraphasia proportion scores were associated with the phonemic condition. The finding that naming performance of aphasic adults varies as a function of the type of information provided by the cue is discussed in relation to cascade visual confrontation naming models.

Research on specific qualities of music used for relaxation has shown conflicting results. The use of different familiar or pre-composed pieces, with many simultaneous changes, might limit the ability to discriminate which musical element is responsible for the relaxation response. To address the latter, we examined the relaxing effects of music on three psychophysiological measures (heart rate, respiration rate, and skin conductance) with one original piece of music, and three modified versions (altering one musical element in each version). We investigated whether participants’ psychophysiological responses reflected a more “relaxed” state (lower heart rate, respiration rate, and skin conductance) with slower tempo (45 bpm), mellow timbre (bass clarinet), or smaller amplitude (-10 dB). We also investigated whether psychophysiological responses were consistent with self-report scores. Visual inspection of psychophysiological data indicated two distinct responder profiles, and a logistic regression confirmed this distinction. Using mixed ANCOVAs, we found significant differences between participants (responders and non-responders) in skin conductance level. No correlations between psychophysiological measures and self-reports were found. These findings raise interesting questions regarding the mechanisms behind the relaxing effects of music.

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