Role of suggestion in odor-induced mood change.

The effects of ambient odor (lavender, neroli or placebo) and suggestions related to the effects of an odor (relaxing, stimulating or none) on mood were explored. Mood of 90 undergraduate women was assessed using physiological measures (heart rate and skin conductance) and the self-report Profile of Mood States questionnaire. Analysis indicated that physiological measures were influenced by suggestion in predictable directions.

"Nonparametric" A' and other modern misconceptions about signal detection theory.

Many modern descriptions of signal detection theory (SDT) are, at best, distorted caricatures of the Gaussian equal-variance model of SDT (G-SDT). The distortions have sometimes led to important, but unwarranted, conclusions about the nature of cognitive processes. Some researchers reject using d' and beta because of concerns about the validity of explicit underlying assumptions (that are shared with most inferential statistics), instead using either the supposedly "nonparametric" measures of A' and B" or measures known to confound ability and bias.

Change detection in multi-voice music: the role of musical structure, musical training, and task demands.

This study evaluated the relationship between primitive and scheme-driven grouping (A. S. Bregman, 1990) by comparing the ability of different listeners to detect single note changes in 3-voice musical compositions.