Costly life‐saving interventions can often be described not only in terms of the number of lives that may be saved but also in terms of the proportion of lives saved out of some total number at risk. In a phenomenon that has been referred to as psychophysical numbing (PN), Fetherstonhaugh, Slovic, Johnson, and Friedrich (1997) found that participants rated an intervention saving a fixed number of lives to be less worth investing in when more total lives were at risk (i.e., when saved lives represented a smaller proportion of the total threat or problem). In two new experiments, life‐valuation correlates of PN responding, as well as manipulations of death salience, accountability, and economics focus, were explored in the context of students’ willingness to support mandatory antilock brake requirements for new cars. PN responding was pervasive, but non‐PN responders were clearly distinguished by the greater overall value they placed on saving lives. Salience and accountability manipulations did not debias judgments but did tend to rule out low‐effort processing as an explanation for these quantity confusions. An emphasis on economic considerations was consistently related to greater PN responding.

A recent qualitative review of literature in the area of music/ music therapy and dementias published since 1985 suggested that music/music therapy is an effective intervention for maintaining and improving active involvement, social, emotional and cognitive skills, and for decreasing behavioral problems of individuals with dementias (Brotons, Koger, & Pickett-Cooper, 1997). The present analysis sought to update and quantify this relationship, and investigate the extent to which methodological variables influenced treatment effectiveness. Twenty-one empirical studies, with a total of 336 subjects suffering from symptoms of dementia, were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, the effect of music/music therapy was found to be highly significant. A homogeneity analysis determined that the effect sizes were not consistent across studies; thus, a series of moderating variable analyses were conducted. We were unable to determine the source of variability between studies by analyzing type of therapeutic intervention (active or passive), music (live or taped), therapist's training (trained music therapist vs. other professional), dependent variable (behavioral, cognitive, or social), or length of treatment. Although the published literature demonstrates that music/music therapy is an effective method overall for treating symptoms of dementia, systematic variation of treatment protocols is necessary to identify the underlying mechanisms and delineate the most effective techniques.