A new article published in Behavior Research Methods describes the latest addition to the Profile of Music Perception Skills (PROMS).
Autor: Hannah Strauß
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Mauritius Child Health Project
In cooperation with Peter Venables from the University of York, data of the Mauritus Child Health Project (cf. Raine, Liu, Venables, Mednick, & Dalais, 2010) is used to examine the influence of early childhood factors on personality development. As part of this cooperation, the prognostic significance of early childhood behaviour regarding antisocial problems in school age (Zentner, Smolkina, & Venables, 2014) was examined. Also, we analysed the stability of cognitive functions from early childhood to adolescence as well as environmental influences in early childhood on the development of executive functions in adolescence (Strauss, Venables, & Zentner, 2023). read the article Associations between early childhood poverty and cognitive functioning throughout childhood and adolescence: A 14-year prospective longitudinal analysis of the Mauritius Child Health Project (Strauss, Venables, & Zentner, 2023) We found that chronic malnutrition and parental characteristics showed similar-sized, independent associations with initial cognitive functioning at age 3 as well as at age 11 years. For age 17 years, however, associations with early childhood risk factors vanished and instead, cognitive functioning was predicted by performance on prior cognitive assessments. Sex was also found to be a powerful predictor of cognitive trajectories, with boys improving and girls worsening over time, regardless of the level of their initial exposure to risk. The current findings indicate that, to prevent cognitive impairment, interventions tackling poverty and malnutrition should focus on the infancy period and be designed in a gender-sensitive way. read the article Early Childhood Behaviour & Antisocial Problems at School Age (Zentner, Smolkina, & Venables, 2014) Using data from the Mauritius Child Health Project, we particularized the attenuating effects of single-occasion behavioural assessments on consistency estimates of impulsive–aggressive behaviour over time. Specifically, two nursery teachers provided 15 consecutive weekly ratings of the aggressive behaviour of 99 four-year-old children. The same children were reassessed for the presence of externalizing behaviour problems at the ages of 8 and 10. There were substantial increases in both reliability and predictive correlation coefficient magnitudes when the preschool scores were aggregated across several weekly ratings. A further increase resulted after the two outcome assessments were combined into a composite score of school-age externalizing symptoms. A generalized procedure, developed from the correction for attenuation formula, is introduced to describe the relation of aggregation to predictive validity in longitudinal research.
A new article published in Frontiers of Psychology describes the latest addition to the Profile of Music Perception Skills (PROMS).
A common view about mate preferences is that they are evolutionarily “hardwired” and thus largely impervious to sociocultural influences. However, our research suggests that mating preferences of women and men have responded with unsuspected speed to societal changes. A particularly relevant societal change is progress in gender equality. Cross-national comparisons show that partner preferences of women and men converge with progressing gender equality (Figure 1). This convergence can also be observed within a society over time (Figure 2). These results are plausible from a social-psychological and an evolutionary perspective. Indeed, new findings suggest that the environment of our ancestors was less stable than has been thought for a long time. Thus, adaptive advantages were conferred to those who could adapt easily. Flexibility is crucial for successful mating and reproduction, because the conditions that make a person attractive change across historical periods and cultures. Figure 1. Gender difference in mate preferences (Y-Axis) diminish with increasing gender equality (X-axis) (Zentner & Mitra, 2012) Figure 2. Convergence in women’s and men’s partner preferences between 1939 and 2008 (US) (Zentner & Eagly, 2015)
Women are assumed to be socially engaged and take care of the family. Men are assumed to be dominant, strive for management positions and are very willing to take physical risks. But what if that is not the case? Marcel Zentner examines the influence of gender-nonconforming behavior on the psyche and shows that, above all, self-esteem drops sharply.
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Liebe in Zeiten des Corona-Virus
Wie wirkt sich die COVID19-Pandemie auf Partnerschaften aus? Mit unserer Längsschnittstudie möchten wir Faktoren identifizieren, welche Paare in ungewöhnlichen und stressbeladenen Situationen (wie einer Pandemie) herausfordern oder ihnen helfen. Die Ergebnisse sollen dazu beitragen, wirksame Mittel zur Prävention und Intervention von Paaren in Krisenzeiten zu entwickeln.
„We have at least another 100 years to wait before gender parity is achieved“ Prof. Marcel Zentner Professor für Persönlichkeitspsychologie Wollen Männer nur schöne Frauen? Und Frauen nur wohlhabende Männer? Marcel Zentner erklärt im Aeon Magazin, wieso unsere Annahmen zu heterosexueller Partnerwahl überdacht werden müssen. > Lesen Sie hier den vollständigen Artikel (auf Englisch) <
„We have at least another 100 years to wait before gender parity is achieved“ Prof. Marcel Zentner Professor of Psychology Do men just go for looks? Do women just go for status? Writing for the Aeon magazine, Marcel Zentner explains why our assumptions about heterosexual dating practices need to be reconsidered, and how our mating behavior might change in the next 100 years. > Read the full article here <
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Musik & Emotion
Im Artikel Emotions evoked by the sound of music beschrieben Zentner und Kollegen erstmals ein empirisch begründetes Modell musikevozierter Emotionen (Zentner, Grandjean, & Scherer, 2008; Zentner, 2011). Nach diesem Modell lassen sich musikevozierte Emotionen in neun verschiedene Kategorien einteilen (vgl. Abb. 1.). Mittels musikspezifischer Emotionskategorien können musikevozierte Zustände präziser beschrieben werden als über unspezifische Emotionskategorien wie Traurigkeit, Ärger und Freude oder Affekt-Dimensionen wie Erregung und Valenz. Dieses Modell lieferte die Grundlage für die Geneva Emotional Music Scale (GEMS), eine Skala, die sich speziell zur Erfassung musikinduzierter Emotionen eignet. Die GEMS umfasst 45 Emotionsausdrücke, neun Emotionsskalen und drei Überfaktoren. Kürzere Skalen stehen ebenfalls zur Verfügung. Eine Übersicht finden Sie hier. Neurowissenschaftliche Untersuchungen haben gezeigt, dass mehrere der GEMS-Faktoren spezifische neurophysiologische Aktivierungsmuster aufweisen (Trost et al., 2012). In einer Kollaboration mit der Universität Durham (UK) wird die Eignung der GEMS zur Optimierung von Audio-Metadaten untersucht (sogenannte ‚Tags’). Insbesondere soll eruiert werden, wie digitale Musiksammlungen nach Emotionen geordnet und Algorithmen für Musikempfehlungen erweitert werden können. Abbildung 1: Illustration des GEMS Modells (Zentner et al., 2008) Literatur Zentner, M., Grandjean, D., & Scherer, K. (2008). Emotions evoked by the sound of music: Characterization, classification, and measurement. Emotion, 8, 494-521. Zentner, M. (2011). Homer’s Prophecy: An essay on music’s primary emotions. Music Analysis, 29, 102-125. Trost, W., Ethofer, T., Zentner, M., & Vuilleumier, P. (2012). Mapping aesthetic musical emotions in the brain. Cerebral Cortex, 22, 2769-2783. Eerola, T. (PI) & Zentner, M. (Co-PI). Tagging online music contents for emotion. A systematic approach based on contemporary emotion research” – [Link zum ESRC Forschungsprojekt]
Verbindungen zwischen musikalischen Fähigkeiten und Fähigkeiten in außermusikalischen Bereichen wie Sprache, Gedächtnis und Persönlichkeit sind für Psychologen und Neurowissenschaftler von zunehmendem Interesse. Sie konnten bisher jedoch nur begrenzt untersucht werden, da es an Verfahren zur objektiven und standardisierten Erfassung musikalischer Fähigkeiten fehlte.