Friday, March 30, 2012

CHOICE




“Each day I am closer and closer to an understanding.

Because every exit is an open door. Every going out
then moving in is for some brief moment
a single event. Step now, and suffer. A street
branches out to a street. What does it mean
to have a CHOICE?”

~ “Epiphany,” by Raymond de Borja

Common sense tells us that all the steps we’ve made so far in this life is but a function of our intentions. That the object of our intentions and our intentions themselves are bound to be one and the same. Could an alternate frame of thinking actually exist where our intentions are independent of our actions and choices?
Life is a one way street, they say. That the only way of moving on and making sense of life is forward destined. That intentions must precede actions. That choices are defined before making the choice itself. Paradoxical as it may sound, a new phenomenon in experimental psychology is clamoring for the possibility of intentions being defined after the choice was made. Johansson and colleagues (2005) called it CHOICE BLINDNESS.

Choice blindness stemmed from an interest to call for research targeted towards the evaluation of the importance of intention, action and introspection in perception. Its umbrella phenomenon, change blindness, was exhaustively researched for years but surprisingly lacked any relevant information related to tasks of practical and subjective importance to us.

Researchers of change blindness (Rensink, 2002; Triesch et al., 2003 in Johansson, Hall & Sikstrom, 2008) have proven that we are more likely to detect change when the parts or elements that were changed are relevant to the scene, of central interest to us, or  something where we have prior knowledge. Since choice blindness also involves changing stimuli, it would be logical to assume that it follows the same trend. It would be easier to detect changes in more familiar objects than novel or unfamiliar ones.
To better understand how change blindness works, our group (De Guzman, Molina, Orbe, & Rivera, 2012) made a small experimental attempt situating choice manipulation detection as a dependent variable of two independent variables: 1) IMAGE TYPE & 2) BACKGROUND COLOR. The former to differentiate detection rates between a familiar stimuli (faces) and a novel one (abstract images) and the latter to know the extent of the influence of peripheral stimuli (i.e. colors).
The experiment goes like this: Individuals were asked to choose one from every photo pair (5 pairs of faces and 5 pairs of abstract images) which they find more attractive or appealing. After which, they were shown once again their choice and were requested to explain the reason for the decision. At some trials, however, their original choice was manipulated; that is, they were presented the unchosen photograph instead.

About 56% of the participants failed to detect that their choice was altered. This decreased to 37% when the participants were explicitly asked whether or not something changed during the experiment. In particular, only about 17% of them were able to detect change when face photographs were used, and this increased to 50% when abstract photographs were presented. The huge discrepancy could be accounted for by the top-down processing of face photos, and the bottom-up processing of abstract photos. Since facial perception involves a holistic discernment of component parts, lesser attention may have been paid to its details. On the contrary, non-face images are susceptible to part decomposition, thus eliciting greater attention to perceive unfamiliar patterns.

Color was also found to influence the rate of change detection, but its effects are limited to the face photographs. Again, since analysis of faces is global, effects of background elements are more pronounced. Conversely, isolation or localization of elements in abstract images because of the lack of configural processing might have moderated the influence of colors in the rate of detection.

Having made to believe they made a choice they actually did not lead to the participants’ failure to recall their original choice. The time they spent looking at their manipulated choice while reasoning out increased their attention to its details, thereby enhancing the encoding process (Goldstein, 2010; Chun & Turk-Browne, 2007). Thus, the increase of the recall probability of images they actually did not choose but reasoned out for.

The perceived attractiveness or aesthetic appeal between the original choice and manipulated choice, nonetheless, were insignificantly different. This was argued to be because of the high similarity between every pair of photographs used.

Although not without its shortcomings, our experiment’s main point goes to show that prior knowledge or relevance does not necessarily lead to easier detection of change, at least in setups where active choice is involved. In fact, familiarity might have triggered top-down holistic approaches of viewing that even lessened the chances of detecting the manipulation. Furthermore, introspection evidenced through verbal explanation of preference still challenges the idea of the precedence of intention attributions before actions or choices are done.

***

“Every exit is an open door...”
Maybe change is not too bad. Maybe an ending does not mean stopping. Maybe, just maybe, standing by a choice matters more than the mere act of choosing.
Whether decisions lead to blind spots because you have done them in familiar circumstances as the results of the experiment suggests, or it leads you to be more attentive because of its relative novelty, it all boils down to the person you are and the person you want to become. In this world where the value of mistakes are underrated and the drive for external success is hyped, we can always take refuge in the fact that these “branching streets” are not meant to be walked alone. Of all the choices our goal-directed behaviors will lead to, perhaps the most important will be the choice of keeping a good set of peers by our side. 


"Friendship is unnecessary... It has no survival value; rather it gives value to survival." ~C.S. Lewis

References
Chun, M. M. & Turk-Browne, N. B. (2007). Interactions between attention and memory. Current Opinion in Neurobiology,17, 177-184.
De Guzman, K., Molina, T., Orbe, D., & Rivera, L. (2012). Effects of the type of image and the type of color background on choice blindness. Unpublished manuscript.
Goldstein, E. B. (2010). Sensation and Perception (8th ed.). CA: Wadsworth.
Johansson, P., Hall, L. & Sikstrom, S. (2008). From change blindness to choice blindness. Psychologia, 51, 142-155.
Johannson, P., Hall, L., Sikstrom, S. & Olsson, A. (2005). Failure to detect mismatches between intention and outcome in a simple decision task. Science, 310, 116-119.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Eyow po. Ano shabi mo? :)

Hindi man halata sa akin, mahilig ako sa bata. :) Laging sinasabi ng mga tiyahin ko na ako yung tipong nasa tabi lang kapag kailangang bantayan ang mga bulilit na pinsan. Wala daw akong pakialam. Gusto ko nang sabihin na, "Tita, mahal ko din naman po yung pinsan ko. Gusto ko din s'yang alagaan." Ang ayoko lang kasi, yung madami kaming nag-aagawan sa bata. Baka naman lalong ma-windang yung bata na palipat-lipat s'ya ng brasong nagbubuhat sa kanya. Kung ako yung batang iyon, siguro umiyak na ako nang umiyak. Hindi naman siguro kasi yun komportable para sa kanya. Kawawa naman 'di ba?

Ilan sa mga pinakagusto ko sa pakikipagsalamuha sa mga maliliit na bata ay ang paglalaro ng "Eat Bulaga!", "Close, Open", at "Sawsaw Suka". Natutuwa din sa ako sa tuwing nakikipag-usap sa kanila. Nakakatuwa kasi   kung makatingin ang bata o sanggol sa iyo na parang naiintindihan n'ya lahat ng sinasabi mo, parang ito...


At sa tuwing humaharap at kumakausap ako ng sanggol, sadyang tumataas ang boses ko at nagbubulol ang mga salitang sinasabi ko. Baby talk ang tawag dito at naniniwala akong hindi ako nag-iisang umaakyat ang boses kapag may kaharap na baby. :)

Matagal nang pinag-uusapan kung kailangan ba talagang gumamit ng Baby talk ng isang tagapag-alaga sa isang sanggol at kung ano ang nagiging epekto nito sa kanyang paglaki.

Ang laging nakukuha kong rason sa mga nagbabantay ng bata na kaya sila gumagamit ng Baby talk ay nakakatawag daw ito ng atensyon ng mga sanggol. Subalit ang haka-hakang ito nang naobserbahan nila Singh at mga kasama (2009) na ang atensyon ng mga bata ay naibibigay sa mas may positive affect, kahit ang pamamaraan ng pagsasalita ay pangkaraniwan o baby talk.

Napag-aralan din nila Dehaene-Lambertz at mga kasama (2002) ang mga bahagi ng utak na aktibo sa speech perception sa ganitong yugto ng buhay. Mula sa ilang fMRI na ginawa sa mga sanggol na tatlong buwan pa lamang at malayong-malayo pa sa pagsasalita, nakita na aktibo na ang mga bahagi na kasangkot sa speech ng mga adult tulad ng superior temporal at angular gyri at ng pro-frontal cortex para sa gising na mga sanggol.

Ang galing 'di ba? Ganun kaaga na na-activate ang mga bahaging iyon para sa speech perception natin. Kaya siguro unti-unting naiintindihan ng mga sanggol ang mga pinagsasabi natin at natututo din silang magsalita habang sila ay lumalaki. :) Nakakatuwang malaman ang mga ganitong bagay, kung paano tayo natututo habang lumilipas ang panahon. :)

At dahil ang ku-kyut ng mga sanggol, hayaan nyong tapusin ko ito sa pamamagitan ng kambal na ito na kung mag-usap at magtalunan ay parang alam na ang lahat. :)



Sanggunian:
Singh, L, Morgan, J, & Best, C. Infants' Listening Preferences: Baby Talk or Happy Talk? Infancy. 3(3). 2002. Retreived from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/S15327078IN0303_5. 05 March 2012.

Dehaene-Lambertz, G, Dehaene, S, & Hertz-Pannier, L. Functional Neuroimaging of Speech Perception in Infants. Science 6. 298(5600). 2013-2015. December 2002. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/298/5600/2013.short. 05 March 2012.

Ang larawan ay mula sa Baby, at ang video ay mula sa Twins.

Monday, March 5, 2012

From Face to Hands


We read facial expressions, and we understand them. Matsumoto & Hwang (2011) have distinguished seven basic emotions and their corresponding facial expressions, and argued that these have biological and genetic support. Such emotions include joy, surprise, contempt, sadness, anger, disgust, and fear.

How 'bout we express these through touch?*
Aside from being able to read them, we express them ourselves. Indeed, it is not too difficult to comprehend facial expressions as a language. After all, we use this language everyday even without us being much aware of it.


Yet there’s another language we use; a language we communicate to a more limited number of recipients; a language that sometimes tells the message directly, but more often indirectly; a language that, to some extent, is harder to express and interpret: the language of touch.

It seems quite obvious that the meaning attributed to touching depends on who touches whom. A person whose hands were held by someone special would cause butterflies in his or her stomach. But it would be a different thing if his or her hands were held by a stranger.

Conversely, even when we mean the same thing, the manner by which we express it depends on whom we would touch. We may give a brief tap at the shoulder of an acquaintance in distress. We may hug a friend who’s feeling the same.

Expression and interpretation of touch depends on who we are. They depend on our disposition at the moment we are being touched. They depend on our age. They depend on our personality.

The language of touch is so interesting in that it could not be simply confined into rules for ease of expression and interpretation. Also in spite of it, we still learn to use the language accurately in most of our dealings.
***


Some of the basic emotions with universal facial expressions could be expressed accurately through touch. Such included fear, disgust, and anger. In addition to this are the prosocial emotions: love, gratitude, sympathy, surprise, happiness, and sadness. However, self-focused emotions- embarrassment, envy, pride- were said to be more difficult to express through touch (Hertenstein, Keltner, App, Bulleit, and Jaskolka, 2006; in Thomson & Hampton, 2011).

Thomson & Hampton (2011) extended the study done by Hertenstein and colleagues, and found that the longetivity of a relationship was not a good predictor of the accuracy of expression and interpretation of an emotion through touch, although romantic partners performed better at decoding different types of emotions than strangers do.

It is interesting to note also that both relationship types- partner and stranger- more often agree on the means of expressing particular emotions. For instance, anger was generally expressed by hitting the other person; disgust by pushing; fear by squeezing; happiness by lifting the hand; sadness by stroking; and surprise by also lifting. Gratitude was expressed by a handshake; love by a gentle stroke; sympathy also by a stroke; and embarrassment and envy by a squeeze.

The manner of expression of different emotions may be the same. And so it is necessary to emphasize the importance of other cues in fully and accurately understanding the meaning of every action.
***

It is amazing to realize how we speak in a lot of ways. It is even more amazing to think we are able to understand all these complex things. Really, the face, the hands, and the brain (of course)  are amazing!


*Matsumoto, D. & Hwang, H. S. (2011). Reading facial expressions of emotion: Basic research leads to training programs that improve people’s ability to detect emotions. Retrieved from Psychological Science Agenda,  American Psychological Association. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2011/05/facial-expressions.aspx

Thompson, E. H. & Hampton, J. A. (2011). The effect of relationship status on communicating emotions through touch. Cognition and Emotion, 25 (2), 295- 306.

Touching-Touching



Nasubukan mo na bang mahawakan ng isang taong di mo kakilala? Eh ng taong mahal mo? Alin ang mas gusto mo? Aminin. Halata naman eh. Nakakatakot kaya kung hahawakan ka ng isang taong di mo naman kilala.

Sa pag-ibig may iba’t ibang paraan tayong ginagawa upang maipakita ang pagmamahal. Nariyan na ang pagsambit ng I love you o Mahal kita; pagkakaroon ng term of endearment tulad ng babe, mahal, “mhine” at “bheybie qowh” sa mga jejemon, tart, cupcake, honey at kung anu-ano pang pagkaing matatamis (Pwede siguro ang bibingka o biko para naman Pinoy na Pinoy sa pandinig!); pagbibigay ng regalo at paghahanda ng surpresa.


*
Siyempre, hindi mawawala ang mga ekspresyong nagpapakita ng physical intimacy tulad ng paghalik (bahala na kayong mag-imagine kung sa cheeks o lips), pagyakap, paghawak, paghaplos, pagpisil-pisil (bahala na rin kayong mag-isip kung ano ang pinipisil) at pagkiliti na masarap gawin kapag tulog ang kinikiliti. =D

Ngunit ang mga gawaing pisikal na nabanggit ay hindi lamang natin ginagawa sa romantic relationships. Ginagamit natin ang mga ito sa pag-convey ng mga emosyon sa iba pang tao, kaibigan, kapamilya, kapuso, kabarkada o estranghero man--maliban na lamang siguro sa paghalik lalo na sa lips.

*
Ilang pag-aaral na ang isinagawa tungkol sa pagko-communicate ng iba’t ibang emosyon gamit ang touch tulad ng pag-aaral nina Hertenstein, Keltner, App, Bulleit, & Jaskolka (2006) at Hertenstein, Holmes, McCullough, & Keltner (2009) na parehong strangers ang ginawang kalahok. Ang mga sumusunod ang natukoy na type of touch sa pag-aaral na ito: finger interlocking, handshake, hitting, lifting, massaging, patting, picking, pinching, poking, pressing, pulling, pushing, rubbing, scratching, shaking, slapping, squeezing, stroking, swinging, tapping, tickling, tossing, trembling.

Ang mga ito rin ang ginamit sa pag-aaral nina Thompson & Hampton (2011) ngunit sa pagkakataong ito ay magsing-irog :)) ang mga kalahok. Inalam nila kung gaano ka-accurate ang paghula sa emosyon na isasagawa sa kapareha o sa hindi kakilala sa pamamagitan ng touch. Ang magsasagawa ng emosyon sa pamamagitan ng touch ay tinawag na encoder samantalang decoder naman ang mag-i-interpret sa kung anong emosyon ang isinagawa sa kanyang braso at sasagot sa pamamagitan ng pagbilog sa salita (emosyon) sa isang listahan. Sa isang testing session magkatapat ang encoder at decoder kung saan mayroong kurtina sa pagitan nila. Sinasabi ng experimenter kung ang mga kalahok ay magkapareha (couple) o hindi magkakilala. Saka isasagawa ang mga emosyon sa mga . Sa kabuuan ay 12 emosyon ang ginamit sa pag-aaral at lahat ito’y isinagawa ng bawat isa sa mga kalahok na encoder. Anim dito ay ang tinatawag na universal emotions: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness at surprise;   tatlong prosocial emotions: love, gratitude at sympathy; at tatlong self-focused emotions: embarrassment, envy, at pride.

Sa resulta ng pag-aaral, parehong nagawa ng hindi magkakilala at ng magsing-irog (magkapareha) na i-express ang mga universal at prosocial emotions sa pamamagitan lamang ng touch. Subalit tanging mga magsing-irog lamang ang nagawang ma-i-communicate ang self-focused emotions na envy at pride.  Ayon pa kina Thompson & Hampton (2011) ang mga emosyong karaniwang kinalilituhan natin ay iyong mga hindi nagkakalayo (hal., sa valence) at ‘yong magkakatulad ang type of touch na ginagamit at

Bukod dito ay ikinumpara rin sa pag-aaral ang ginamit na paraan ng pag-touch (na nabanggit na sa itaas) kapag ang kapareha at kapag hindi kakilala ang ita-touch. Ito ay isinagawa sa pamamagitan ng pagpapanood ng 10 sa mga video ng naganap na experiment sa “judges”. Ang mga nagsilbing “judges”ay umayon (97% of the time) sa mga coding (type of touch) ng lahat ng “touching-touching” na naganap.  Lumalabas na magkatulad lamang ang uri ng touch na ginagamit ng kapag magkapareha o hindi magkakilala.

Malalaman mo kaya kung ang taong humahawak sa’yo ay kakilala mo o hindi? Oo raw. Oo naman lalo na kung ang iniirog mo ang hahawak sa’yo! Nasa paraan ‘yan ng pag-touching-touching ninyo sa isa eh. Lalo na kung parang may kuryente. 

At dahil diyan, may knock-knock joke ako.

*
Ako: Knock! Knock!
Ikaw: Who’s there?
Ako: Touching-touching.
Ikaw: Touching-touching who?
Ako: It's not about the money, money, money
We don't need your money, money, money
We just wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the price tag
Ain't about the (uh) Touching-touching!
NGEE!






Thompson, E. H., & Hampton, J. A. (2011). The effect of relationship status on communicating emotions through touch. Cognition and emotion , 25 (2), 295-306.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Two-in-One



I love music. It doesn’t love me the same way. But it’s okay, unrequited love still has its benefits. Okay, this is a half-meant joke. Seriously. :P

My grandmother used to teach me and my ate how to play the piano when I was six. Only Ate learned it well. I know how to play Happy Birthday and Love is All That Matters, I am proud to say; it was like hearing an epic, monophonic cellphone ring tone, though.

At age 12, we were taught to play flute in class. It took me long to memorize the notes. And it took me longer to learn finger coordination. Still, it almost always sounded like a mono ring tone.

At age 13, my father taught me and my brother how to play guitar. No, not monophonic this time; but still not good enough.

Age 14, I learned to play the xylophone. This one seemed basic to me. All I has to do was strike the bars gently enough to make a “good” sound. Monophonic? Yes, again.

It is really a tough task to play music. You need to attend to the tone, the pitch, the sound in its overall; to your finger movements, to your speed in playing, and to proper timing. You integrate your auditory system with your motor and visual systems. A very exhausting task, at least for a novice like me.

And perhaps I have always remained a novice in playing instruments. I remember Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, emphasized the 10,000 hour rule to success. He said it does take that amount of time in order to gain more than just mastery at a particular field. And how many hours have I already spent in practice? Honestly, less than 36 hours all-in-all I guess.

***

10,000 hours. What does this amount of time do?

If a year has 8,766 hours, then it would take more or less a year and two months to become a pro; that is, a year and two months of continuous (take note, literally CONTINUOUS) practice. Now, that may be too much, but for someone driven by strong passion towards something, spending 10,000 hours would not be unworkable. Sadly, with all the acad stuff I need to attend to, I could hardly even spend an hour a week to play any instrument!

***

Music is indeed one field wherein the number of hours of practice is crucial in acquiring mastery. Musicians, according to several studies mentioned in D’Ausilio, Altenmuller, Olivetti Belardinelli, and Lotze (2006), provided demonstrations of the effect of intense trainings on sensory and motor primary cortex representations. Auditory-motor integrations, achieved when auditory sensations are continually associated with particular motor movements (i.e., pressing a piano bar to hear the “Do”), are strengthened with greater training time.

Associations between the auditory map and the motor map are so reinforced to the point that activity in one of these maps causes activity in the other. As an example, a study demonstrated that tapping of a violin concerto resulted in activation of the auditory cortex even in the absence of its sound.  Also, when pianists were asked to passively listen to music, primary motor cortex activation was recorded (Lotze et al., 2003; Haueisen & Knosche, 2001; both in D’Ausilio et al., 2006).

D’Ausilio and colleagues (2006) have shown that training even only for 30 minutes enhances intracortical facilitation in the brain. Even greater time spent practicing musical pieces were shown to lead to corticospinal facilitation; that is, about five days. Both physiological activities explain why musicians training on a particular piece feel as if they are being ‘driven away’ by the music. Motor excitability also was higher when musicians listened to the rehearsed piece than to non-rehearsed one.

If for at least five days of training an already strong physiological, psychological, and behavioral associations could be established, how much more could 10,000 hours of training cause?

***

I am now 19. I can play the piano, the flute, the guitar, the xylophone. But hardly had I been good at any one of them. This is a one-way-love. And now I understand, that to realize fully how much music loves me, I have to spend more time with it. 10,000 hours to be exact.


PS. Thank you for the music! :)



D’Ausilio, A., Altenmuller, E., Olivetti Belardinelli, M. & Lotze, M. (2006). Cross-modal plasticity of the motor cortex while listening to a rehearsed musical piece. European Journal of Neuroscience, 24, 955–958.        

Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The Story of Success. USA: Hachette Book Group, Inc.

Indak sa Indayog

♫ Hataw na
‘Wag kang mapagod
Hataw at galaw
Ako’t ikaw (tayong lahat)...


Napapahataw ka na ba? Habang binabasa mo ang lyrics, sigurado akong napapakanta ka na sa isip mo. O di kaya’y naiisip mo si Gary V. na kinakanta ito na malamang ay sumasayaw rin sa utak mo.


*
Parte na ng buhay natin ang musika, at least para sa akin. Sa tingin ko’y aayon kayo sa akin kung sabihin kong ang lungkot kung walang musika. Madalas ko ngang naririnig at nababasa ang mga katagang “Music is my life” mula sa mga musikero at mga taong mahilig sa musika. At isa na ako sa kanila. Ayon nga kay Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, “Without music, life would be a mistake.” Agree!


Kahit saan mapadpad, mayroon at mayroong isang tao diyan na kung hindi kumakanta ay nakikinig sa musika.


Sa mga kanto kung saan maraming tambay at nag-iinuman, di mawawala ang videoke. Madalas pa nga’y aakalain mong ibang bersyon ng kanta ang tumutugtog. Ito’y dahil wala sa tono o tyempo ang kumakanta, o di kaya naman ay dahil parang isinalin ang kanta sa ibang lenggwahe—lenggwahe ng mga lasing.


*
Sa mga sasakyang pampubliko madalas namang may mga pasaherong may suut-suot na earphones na napapatango dahil sa pagsabay sa awitin, pwede ring dahil sa antok (head banger pa nga ang tawag ko sa kanila at sa sarili ko na rin dahil nakakatulog din ako sa sasakyan). Kung matyempuhan namang hindi pelikula ang pinapanood sa bus, piniratang DVD ng konsert ng mga sikat na mang-aawit naman ang nakasaksak sa player. Sa mga dyip naman, madalas nakakatutok si mamang drayber sa FM station na para sa akin ay nakakainis dahil puro kanta ni Willie o puro remix o puro rap na walang sense ang umaalingawngaw. Nakakainis pa lalo kung nakakabingi na, na sa lakas ng tugtog ay hindi na marinig ni mamang drayber na may pumapara ng pasahero. Bago pa mauwi sa pagrereklamo ko balik tayo sa paksa ng sulating ito.


*
Sa mga paaralan, sa UP halimbawa, may mga estudyanteng may dala-dalang gitara at acoustic box. Nagkukumpol sila at pumupwesto kung saan man pwede at doon masayang nagja-jamming. Mayroon din naman sa academic oval na nagja-jog at may iPod o teleponong de-radyo na nakasukbit o nakasabit sa braso at nakasiksik na earphones sa tenga (malamang).


Mapapansin na sa pakikinig o pag-awit, hindi maiiwasang mapaindak. Tayo’y sumasabay sa indayog sa iba’t ibang paraan: sa pagtapik-tapik ng mga kamay o paggalaw sa mga ito na parang may tinatambol sa ere, sa pagtangu-tango, at pagpadyak-padyak (hindi ko alam ang tawag sa paggalaw ng unahang parte ng paa habang nakadikit sa sahig ang likurang bahagi ng talampakan—ganito kasi ang ginagawa ko kapag sinasabayan ang kanta). Ang karanasang ito sa musika na nagpapaindak sa atin ay tinatawag na groove (Madison, 2006) o sensorimotor coupling (Janata, Tomic & Haberman, 2012).


Binanggit sa pag-aaral nina Madison, Gouyon, Ullen, & Hörnström (2011) na ayon sa mga pag-aaral, may bayolohikal na eksplanasyon ang koneksyon sa pagitan ng ritmo ng musika at ng paggalaw. Kinakitaan ng aktibasyon ang mga bahagi ng utak na sangkot sa pagkilos ng tao (motor system) kapag nakikinig sa mga tunog na may ritmo. Iniuugnay rin sa pleasure ang mga karanasang may kinalaman sa rhythmic music. Makikita ito sa mga bahagi ng utak na naa-activate na may kinalaman sa reward at arousal (tulad ng amygdala).


Sa pag-aaral nina Madison et al. (2011), 19 na Swede ang naging kalahok. Nakinig sila sa 100 sample ng traditional folk music na nabibilang sa limang genre (mula sa limang rehiyon, kabilang na ang Greek, Indian, Jazz, Samba, and West African).  Nagtagal ng mula 9.06 hanggang 14.55 seconds ang bawat musika. Kinailangan nilang i-rate ang mga ito depende kung napapaindak sila (Groove). May dalawa pang panukat silang ginamit. Ito ay kung nakarinig na ba sila ng parehong musika (Familiar) at kung gusto nila ang musika at nais pang ituloy na pakinggan (Good). Ginawa nila ito isa-isa at nagtagal ng 41 hanggang 56 minutes.


Lumabas na ang West African, Samba, and Jazz ang may pinakamataas na rating pagdating sa Groove at sinundan ng Greek at Indian. Ibig sabihin, mas nag-e-evoke ng paggalaw ang mga musikang nabibilang sa West African, Samba at Jazz. May anim na audio signal properties na ikinakabit sa pagpapaliwanag sa resulta ng rating nga mga kalahok—Beat Salience, Event Density, Fast Metrical Levels, Systematic and Unsystematic Microtiming at tempo—na hindi ko na ipapaliwanag dahil kahit ako ay hirap na unawain ang mga ito. Pero sa pagkakaintindi ko, ang beat at kung gaano ito ka-salient sa isang musika ay maaaring magpaliwanag kung bakit napapaindak sa musika. Halimbawa, ang Samba ay may mataas na correlation sa hindi bababa sa apat na audio signal properties na maaaring mas nagdudulot ng pag-indak kumpara sa iba pang genre na ginamit sa pag-aaral. Pero dahil sa ang pag-aaral ay gumamit ng, ayon sa mga mananaliksik na rin, “unsystematic sample of music examples, this cannot in any way be generalized to these genres at large.”


Sa iba namang panukat, lumabas na hindi naman pamilyar ang lahat sa mga musika kahit pa may iilan na nagbanggit na may alam silang may kinalaman sa jazz, Latin at folk music. Mayroon ding nakitang correlation sa pagitan ng Groove at Good. Sa tingin ko ay may sense ito kung karanasan ko lang ang pagbabatayan dahil kadalasang napapa-groove ako sa mga kantang gusto ko.


Maganda sanang magkaroon din ng ganitong pag-aaral sa Pilipinas at gamitin ang mga musikang pinapakinggan sa dito. Baka maaring i-relate ito ibang psychological concepts tulad ng personality, emotion, at colonial mentality. :D

...

Hataw na ng ganyan
Ang lahat gumagalaw
Kaya hataw na!


Naalala ko tuloy ang UP Fair nito lamang buwan. Nagpunta kami ng mga kaibigan ko sa fair isang gabi kung kelan si Gary V. ang bida. Sumakay kami ng ilan sa mga kaibigan ko sa flying fiesta. Napatili ako hindi dahil sa pag-ikot-ikot ng ride at pagtaas ko ere pero dahil tumugtog ang kantang ‘yan. Hudyat ng pagsalang ni Gary V. sa stage. ‘Yang kantang iyan ang ginamit niyang pambulaga sa audience. Tilian at sigawan ang mga tao. Ang galing niya lang. Karapat-dapat lang siyang tawaging Mr. Pure Energy. Parang walang kapaguran sa pagkanta at pagsayaw. At kami namang manunood at tagapakinig niya’y walang kapaguran din sa pagsabay sa pagkanta at pag-indak.

...


*
Nais ko lamang ibahagi ang quote na ito na nahanap ko sa internet:

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination 

and life to everything.” ― Plato



Ladinig, O., & Schellenberg, E. G. (2011, July 18). Liking Unfamiliar Music: Effects of Felt
Emotion and Individual Differences. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts.
Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0024671

Janata, P., Tomic, S., & Haberman, J. (2012). Sensorimotor Coupling in Music and the Psychology of the Groove. Journal of Experimental Psychology , 141 (1), 54-75.

Madison, G., Gouyon, F., Ullen, F., & Hörnström, K. (2011). Modeling the tendency for music to induce movement in humans: First correlations with low-level audio descriptors across music genres. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance , 37 (5), 1578–1594.

Sa Kantang Ito, Malalaman Mo Ang Nararamdaman Ko

Sa araw na ito, wala akong ibang gagawin,
kundi ikaw at ang ngiti mo'y isipin. 
At bigla kong maisipang isang kanta'y pakinggan,
na dati mong inawit kaya ngayon ika'y kinagigiliwan. 


Karamihan sa atin ngayon ay may pagmamay-ari na iPod, MP3 player, o pinipiling malaki ang memorya ng cellphone para mapaglagyan ng mga kanta. At marami ka ring makakasalubong sa daan na suot ang earphones na pwedeng malaki o maliit at agaw-pansin o nakatago. At dahil sa mga kagamitang ito, pwede na tayong makinig ng musika kahit nasaan man tayo o kung anuman ang ginagawa natin. Nakakatuwang isipin na lagi na tayong may background music kahit naglalakad lang tayo sa daan. O 'di ba, parang sine lang? Aminin, na-imagine mo na kahit isang beses lang na parang nasa isang music video ka kapag kunwari nag-iisip ka lang nang malalim habang nakikinig ng musika. 


Siguro rin ngayon ay hindi na o minsan na lang tayo nakikinig sa radyo at hindi na umaaasa na ipatugtog ni Mr. DJ ang gusto nating kanta at tayo na rin mismo ang bahala sa mga kantang gusto nating pakinggan. Isang click, lang, pwede na nating palitan ang kantang napapakinggan natin kung ayaw natin ito. May mga panahon na gusto nating pakinggan ang mga kantang swak na swak sa nararamdaman natin sa kasalukuyan. May mga pagkakataon din na yung pinipili natin yung kanta dahil naiisip natin na baka maiba ng awiting ito ang mood natin sa panahong iyon. 


Pano nga ba naapektuhan ng musika ang mga nararamdaman natin? Anong mga bagay ang nag-iimpluwensya satin sa paggawa natin ng playlist para sa araw na iyon? 


Naibanggit sa pag-aaral nina Pereira at mga kasama (2011) na mas may emotional engagement ang isang indibidwal sa musika na pamilyar sa kanya. Naibanggit din sa pag-aaral na ito na mas aktibo ang mga broad emotion-related limbic at paralimbic regions pati na ang reward circuitry sa musika na pamilyar sa tagapakinig. Nakita din nila na mas aktibo ang mga maliliit na bahagi ng cingulate cortex at frontal lobe, kasama na ang motor cortex at Broca's area kapag naririnig ang nagugustuhang musika kaysa sa musikang hindi gusto ng tagapakinig. 


Isa ring sinasabing batayan natin sa pagpili ng musika para sa playlist natin ay ang ating mood. Ayon sa pag-aaral nina Vuoskoski at Eerola (2010) na may impluwensya ang ating mood sa kung papaano natin maiintindihan ang emosyon na dala ng musikang pinakinggan natin. Pinag-aralan din dito ang kinalaman ng personalidad ng isang indibidwal sa tipo nyang musika.


Naobserbahan ng mga mananaliksik na ang current mood ay may kinalaman sa mood-congruent biases sa pagsusuri sa emosyon na dala ng musika ngunit nakokontrol naman ng extraversion ang degree ng mood-congruence. Nalaman din nila na ang mga personality traits ay may malaking kinalaman sa gusto na musika ng isang indibidwal. 


Dahil sa iba-iba ang bawat isa sa atin at iba-iba ang tumatakbo sa ating isipan, masasabi natin na iba-iba rin ang nagiging epekto sa atin ng musika na pinapakinggan natin. Kung ang isang kanta man ay nakakapagpasaya sa iyo, baka ang kantang ito rin ang magpapatulo ng luha sa mga mata ko. Pero kahit anong emosyon man ang maidulot nito sa atin, tunay na ang musika ay deretso-tagos sa puso. 


Hayaan nyong tapusin natin ang usapang ito sa quote na ito: 


I have my own particular sorrows, loves, delights; and you have yours.  But sorrow, gladness, yearning, hope, love, belong to all of us, in all times and in all places.  Music is the only means whereby we feel these emotions in their universality.  ~H.A. Overstreet

Sanggunian:


*Pereira CS, Teixeira J, Figueiredo P, Xavier J, Castro SL, et al. (2011) Music and Emotions in the Brain: Familiarity Matters. PLoS ONE 6(11): e27241. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0027241
*Vuoskoski J, Eerola T. (2010) The Role of Mood and Personality in the Perception of Emotions Represented by Music. Cortex 47(9): 20 November 2010. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010945211001067. 27 February 2012


Sina Ate at Kuya ay mula rito at rito.



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