bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Exploring Innovative Teaching among Marketing Educators: Perceptions of Innovative Activities and Existing Reward and Support Programs
Authors: Albers-Miller Nancy D. , Straughan Robert D. , Prenshaw Penelope J.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the perceptions of innovative teaching activities and critical support and extrinsic reward mechanisms among marketing academicians. A review of the marketing education literature and exploratory research yielded 21 specific types of educational innovation, 4 types of support for innovation, and 2 types of extrinsic rewards for innovation. Analysis of data collected from an Internet questionnaire indicated that the specific forms of innovation can be adequately described by six dimensions. Faculty adoption of innovation is positively associated with both support and extrinsic rewards. A comparison of the perceived and desired levels of credit for the six dimensions of innovation show incongruence between the levels of support and reward faculty see as desirable and those provided by their respective institutions. More specifically, faculty perceive the reward and support systems to be lacking. A discussion of the key research findings and some suggested directions for future research are provided.
Marketing Courses Required for Marketing Majors
Authors: Tinsley Dillard B.
Published: March 2007

Responding to the educational needs of marketing students is a challenging task for marketing educators. This article discusses current trends and reviews both the undergraduate and graduate programs. Courses which should be required are sug gested.
Internationalizing the Required MBA Marketing Course
Authors: LaPlaca Peter J.
Published: March 2007

Under increasing criticism from the business community and additional pressures from the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business, marketing faculty have been asked to "internationalize" their graduate marketing curriculum. This article describes a successful procedure for accompiishing this objective using cases and outside readings. An attempt was made to minimize the requisite new course preparation so as to facilitate adoption of the curriculum among other course instructors.
Perceived Communication Barriers to Learning with Computer Simulation
Authors: Burns Alvin C. , Golen Steven P.
Published: March 2007

The authors contend that computer simulation in the classroom causes communication barriers. In a study with a broad cross-section of students, 14 barriers are determined and assessed for reliability and magnitude. The greatest concern to students are doubts about their own capabilities or subject matter interest and suspicions about the instructor. Next in importance are problems believed to arise from team interpersonal dynamics. Credibility differences, defensiveness, and emotional reactions are perceived as among the least serious barriers. Some differences are apparent between students, particularly working versus non-working students and various majors. Suggestions for dealing with the more serious communication barriers are offered.
The Propensity of College Students to Modify Course Expectations and its Impact on Course Performance Information
Authors: Ortinau David J. , Bush Robert P.
Published: March 2007

Students' expectancy beliefs and actual course performance rating belief behaviors were investigated empirically using a longitudinal research framework. The findings clearly indicate students significantly change their. expectancy beliefs toward the course evaluative criteria. These change patterns were found to have direct impact on course performance information. Important insights are presented toward overcoming tomorrow's educational challenges of maintaining and expanding quality academic courses and programs.
Improving Library Instruction in Marketing Research: A Model
Authors: Hawbaker A. Craig , Littlejohn Alice C.
Published: March 2007

At the University of Arizona, four class sessions on library instruction are integrated into a graduate marketing research course. In addition to general research strategies, secondary sources and online databases are taught. Teams of students complete assignments, culminating in a marketing report on an industry. Students evaluate the experience.
Teaching Forecasting: Marketing Faculty Opinions and Methods
Authors: Wilson J. Holton , Daubek Hugh J.
Published: March 2007

This article reports the results of a survey of marketing faculty concerning the teaching of forecasting. Results show that multiple and simple regression methods are rated as the most important of the 16 methods included in the study; Box-Jenkins and autoregressive methods are rated as the least important. Importance ratings are also evaluated by grouping objective and subjective methods as well as by computer users and nonusers and by level at which forecasting is taught.
Master Teaching Revisited Pursuing Excellence from the Students' Perspective
Authors: Kelley Craig A. , Conant Jeffrey S. , Smart Denise T.
Published: March 2007

This article examines effective teaching from the student perspective. Results indicate students value marketing educators who possess strong communication skills, are genuinely caring, and inject a real-world perspective into their classes. Additional insights were gained by asking the students who participated in the study about lecturing, course syllabi, student involvement and class discussion, the evaluation of student performance, and the development of student rapport.
Endowed Chairs in Marketing: Status and Assessment
Authors: Jensen Thomas D. , Kurtz David L.
Published: March 2007

This research looks at the status of endowed chairs in marketing. A survey of both accredited and nonaccredited AACSB schools was conducted to assess the numbers of such chairs and to determine the characteristics of institutions with them. Approximately one-sixth of the schools responding to the survey had endowed chairs in marketing. No relationship was found between the presence or absence of chairs and whether the institution was public or private. However, chairs were more likely to be found in accredited institutions and those granting doctorates. Institution size and other business school endowments were also linked to marketing faculties with endowed chairs.
Multimedia Delivery Systems: A Bridge between Teaching Methods and Learning Styles
Authors: Ronchetto John R. , Budkles Tom A. , Barath Robert M. , Perry James
Published: March 2007

The major premise of this article is that current and emerging applications of electronic and computer technologies can assist marketing educators in teaching college-level business students both task-related and critical thinking skills. The article (1) reviews selected learning style and teaching style literature, (2) provides examples of new multimedia technologies and delivery systems, (3) proposes a framework that can serve as an organizing structure for choosing an appropriate multimedia delivery system, and (4) briefly outlines implications for researchers, educators, and students.
It is Time to Teach Creativity throughout the Marketing Curriculum
Authors: Ramocki Stephen P
Published: March 2007

This article presents an overview of the major concepts relating to creativity, which marketing educators will need to consult as they prepare to include the instruction of creativity formally within the curriculum. The overview is presented through discussions of both psychological constructs of creativity relating to the individual and organizational constructs with their accompanying managerial implications. Individual and group implications of creativity are considered in conjunction with marketing pedagogy. A plea is made to distribute education in creativity throughout the marketing curriculum wherever this is feasible.
Training Marketing Students to be Service Problem Solvers: A Framework for Integrated Training for Services (FITS)
Authors: Farber Bonnie M. , Fox Karen F.A.
Published: March 2007

This article presents a tested approach to preparing services marketing students to be more skillful analysts and problem solvers. The Framework for Integrated Training for Services (FITS) integrates three methods—the critical incident technique, service process analysis, and role playing to improve students' competencies in synthesizing information and evaluating service quality.
Bloom's Cognitive Domain Theory: A Basis for Developing Higher Levels of Critical Thinking Skills in Reconstructing a Professional Selling Course
Authors: Clabaugh Maurice G. , Forbes Jessie L. , Clabaugh Jason P.
Published: March 2007

Qualifications of business college graduates are being criticized, and changes are being demanded. As one method of improving the quality of courses, the authors show how to reconstruct a sales course that develops and measures higher-level critical thinking skills. This article illustrates a Professional Selling course that builds progressively higher critical thinking skills with inputs based on Bloom's Taxonomy and Gronlund's Learning Objectives. Also described are throughputs of cases, lectures, and presentations and outputs that measure students' progress in developing critical thinking skills.
Effective Local Government Management: Role Emphases of Public Works Directors
Authors: Felbinger Claire L.
Published: March 2007

In this article I examine whether the role orientations of local public works directors mirror the orientations discovered by Wright (1969) among city managers and reexamined by Newell and Ammonds (1987) among managers, assistant managers, mayors, and mayoral assistants. In other words, has the shift from management to policy and political orientations extended to bureau chiefs. The findings show that role orientations are stable over time with the emphasis on management. Operating in a political environment (mayor form of government) does not affect this relationship as Newell and Ammonds found. However, there is some support for their finding that political and policy orientations increase with city size. Age or tenure in the profession is positively linked with a policy orientation, unlike the Newell and Ammonds finding. There is no massive shift to political and policy activities among actors at this level of the local hierarchy, at least among local public works directors.
The Contemporary Role of City Managers
Authors: Nalbandian John
Published: March 2007

A growing body of recent literature documents the city manager's politically active role in today's communities. This role challenges the normative assumption upon which the council-manager plan of government is based; namely that the city manager is a politically neutral, administrative expert subordinate to a governing body. On the basis of in-depth interviews and the published work of today's city managers primarily, the way city managers explain and justify their role is identified and examined.
Neutrality: An Enduring Principle of the Federal Service
Authors: Maranto Robert , Skelley B. Douglas
Published: March 2007

Although many proponents of civil service reform question the principles of classical American public administration and specifically reject its neutral competence model of federal service, the principle of neutrality continues to be an important belief of federal career executives. This finding is based on an analysis of responses to a survey of 1,045 high-level (SES and GM-15) careerists and 242 political appointees from 15 federal organizations undertaken in November and December of 1987. As expected, Reagan political appointees profess slightly more support for the neutrality principle than their career subordinates. Still, careerist support for the principle is high and relatively uniform across organizations. The highest levels of the career bureaucracy, the Senior Executive Service, seem slightly more likely than their GM-15 subordinates to profess support for neutrality. Finally, support for this principle does not seem to improve career-noncareer relations, which instead appear to turn on the goal congruity of the organization and presidential policy. The attachment of career executives to the neutrality principle cannot be ignored by those who seek to reform the federal service.
Career Advancement: Does Gender Make a Difference?
Authors: Newman Meredith Ann
Published: March 2007

Barriers to women's advancement in the public sector continue to be very real. Debate has shifted from concern about equal employment opportunity and access to entry- and middle-level leadership positions to an examination of the glass ceiling phenomenon, which prevents many women from reaching upper level management positions. Using a conceptual and analytical framework developed for my doctoral dissertation and data generated from a survey of 253 upper level administrators in the Florida State government, this paper compares the experiences of women to those of men in elite public management positions. The paper underscores the barriers women encounter as they attempt to advance their careers and argues that it is not gender difference, but rather the difference that gender makes that explains why these barriers persist.
Reforming Human Resource Management Systems: Exploring the Importance of Organizational Trust
Authors: Condrey Stephen E.
Published: March 2007

The literature suggests, but provides no empirical evidence, that high trust levels within organizations may aid human resource management reform efforts. This article seeks to fill this empirical gap by assessing the effect of organizational trust across a variety of attitudinal variables. The analysis indicates that increased levels of organizational trust strengthen the pay-for-performance link; appraisal, and the supervisory role in that process; and positively influence organization-specific attitudes toward merit pay. As such, the findings suggest that a supportive and trusting organizational climate may be a necessary precursor to "successful" reform of human resource management systems.
Management Chief Negotiators, Bargaining Strategies, and the Likelihood of Impasse in Public Sector Collective Bargaining
Authors: Chandler Timothy D. , Judge Timothy A.
Published: March 2007

Chief negotiators are uniquely positioned to affect the level of collective bargaining conflict because of their roles as external representatives and information processors during negotiations. The nature of these effects should be of special interest to government administrators who are concerned about improving their self-resolution track record in collective bargaining. In this article, the authors use a unique 1992 survey of municipal chief negotiators to examine the impact of various chief negotiator characteristics on the likelihood of impasses occurring in negotiations with municipal police unions. The findings support two major conclusions. First, chief negotiators who are positioned higher in the management hierarchy experience fewer collective bargaining impasses than do those who are lower in the organization. Second, negotiators' strategies and personality characteristics significantly influence the likelihood of an impasse but, in general, demographic characteristics of negotiators and environmental factors do not.
A Philosophical Essay about A General Theory of Competition: Resources, Competences, Productivity, Economic Growth
Authors: Savitt Ronald
Published: March 2007

Shelby Hunt has produced one of the most important books in marketing in decades. He basically challenges us to engage in the discussion of competition based on what develops as “resource-advantage.” The extensive essay is based on a comprehensive examination of the foundations of competition with the hopes of offering a synthetic theory. Although Hunt provides compelling arguments worthy of serious attention, the major shortcoming of the work is the absence of competitive theory drawn from the theory and practice of marketing, that lodged directly in the marketing discipline. Nevertheless, the integration of competition can more easily flow now that a basic framework has been provided.
The Interpretation of Arch Wilkinson Shaw’s Thought by Japanese Scholars
Authors: Usui Kazuo
Published: March 2007

This article explores Japanese research on Arch Wilkinson Shaw’s marketing thought. First, to understand the work by Japanese scholars, three features of the Japanese discussion of U.S. marketing history are examined: the micro-macro dichotomy in the explanations of U.S. marketing thought, a narrow definition of marketing, and the influence of Morishita’s paradigm. Second, three issues that have interested Japanese scholars regarding Shaw’s thought are considered: political economy in Shaw’s time, the functional approach, and the relation to F. W. Taylor’s scientific management. The author shows that the Japanese interpretation of Shaw’s thought has been produced in Japanese contexts, not in a North American one.
Sumptuary Legislation: Demarketing by Edict
Authors: Hollander Stanley C.
Published: March 2007

Sumptuary legislation, or governmental control over consumption, is better known to historians of the Middle Ages than to modern marketing scholars. Yet, such legislation (and related semi-formal codes) exists in varying degree and in many guises in all countries today and the potentialities for increase also warrant attention. The legislation is considered here in terms of enforceability and of price, distributional, and allocative effects.
Selecting Industries for Export Growth—A Directional Policy Matrix Approach
Authors: Ayal I. , Peer A. , Zif J.
Published: March 2007

This article presents a methodology for screening a large number of branches of industry or product-market groups, and setting priorities on support for export promotion. The methodology is an adaptation and extension of directional policy matrix methods, which are widely used for other strategic planning problems. The article specifies the methodology, presents an actual application for a major trading corporation, and discusses the advantages and the limitations of the approach.
"And How does it Look in America?": H. F. J. Kropff's Historic Report on U.S. Marketing
Authors: Fullerton Ronald A.
Published: March 2007

A 1939 report on the state of U.S. marketing by veteran Austrian advertising consultant H. F J. Kropff, translated and presented in large part here, provides a fine picture of the depth, sophistication, and power of U.S. marketing thought and practice half a century ago. Kropff's report yields implications of considerable value to marketing strategists, policy planners, and marketing educators.
Achieving Congruence between Macro and Micro Generic Strategies: A Framework to Create International Competitive Advantage
Authors: Samli A. Coskun , Jacobs Laurence
Published: March 2007

In order to achieve the strongest international competitive advantage, there must be cooperation between the public and business sectors. That is, there must be congruence between the macro and micro competitive strategies in a country. It is maintained that nations will optimize their competitive advantage when both government and the firm use competitive advantage or comparative advantages simultaneously. This article expands Porter's generic strategies into areas of macro and micro application. It further suggests that Porter's three generic strategies can be supported by governmental actions, enabling a country to exercise competitive advantage options for maximum results, and articulates how this can be accomplished.
Ethical Implications of Target Market Selection
Authors: Rittenburg Terri L. , Parthasarathy Madhavan
Published: March 2007

Marketers have been criticized recently for the selection of target markets, especially for targeting disadvantaged segments of a society with harmful products. Very little has been done, however, to provide guidelines for marketers developing target market strategies. This article examines the ethical dimensions of target market selection. The proposed model for analyzing target markets allows for differences in both the sophistication of consumer segments and the product's benefits or harmfulness to users and society. Within this proposed framework, market failures related to target market selection are identified. Furthermore, the ethical and public policy implications of various categories of market failure are explored. Finally, future research directions are suggested for both the micro and macro levels.
Income, Consumption, and Subjective Well-Being: Toward a Composite Macromarketing Model
Authors: Ahuvia Aaron C. , Friedman Douglas C.
Published: March 2007

This article reviews, critiques, and integrates three psychological perspectives on the relationship between wealth and subjective well-being. First, the comparative perspective holds that life satisfaction results from a comparison of one's own financial position to that of some reference group or material norm. Second, the goal attainment perspective looks at money as a potential source of well-being by enabling people to attain goals they set. Finally, the hedonic perspective looks at how money leads to well-being by enabling people to use their time in more satisfying ways. In addition to providing a critical analysis, this article integrates these three perspectives into a single composite model. This model explains the mechanisms linking income and other material resources with the cognitive and affective elements of subjective well-being. The model also clarifies why income has only a modest relationship to subjective well-being.
The Topographic Primal Sketch
Authors: Haralick Robert M. , Watson Layne T. , Laffey Thomas J.
Published: March 2007

A complete mathematical treatment is given for describing the topographic primal sketch of the underlying gray tone intensity surface of a digital image. Each picture element is independently classified and assigned a unique descriptive label, invariant under monotonically increasing gray tone transformations from the set ( peak, pit, ridge, ravine, saddle, flat, and hillside), with hillside having subcategories ( inflection point, slope, convex hill, concave hill, and saddle hill). The topographic classification is based on the first and second directional derivatives of the estimated image- intensity surface. A local, facet model, two-dimensional, cubic polynomial fit is done to estimate the image-intensity surface. Zero-crossings of the first directional derivative are identified as locations of interest in the image.
Unifying Screw Geometry and Matrix Transformations
Authors: Samuel A.E. , McAree P.R. , Hunt K.H.
Published: March 2007

Transformation matrices are widely used in robotics for kinematic analysis and trajectory planning. Screw geome try offers better geometric insight into such analyses. In this article we unify the two approaches through the use of invariant properties of orthogonal matrices under simi larity transformations. We give a complete expression for the finite screw motion in terms of the entires of a 3 x 3 dual-number transformation matrix. Our analysis suggests that the finite screw is suitable for trajectory planning, and we develop a concise expression that gives the trans formation matrix describing the displacement at each point along the path of the finite screw motion.
Modeling Spaces for Toleranced Objects
Authors: Boyer M. , Stewart N.F.
Published: March 2007

In this article we propose a modeling space for objects defined in terms of tolerances based on Requicha's sug gestion of using variational classes. Variational classes are subsets of the hyperspace 2En, where En is euclidean n-space. In order to motivate the ideas, the discussion involves the same simple example throughout: the specifi cation of a ball bearing defined by position, size, and form constraints. We begin by discussing the relationship between Reguicha's original proposal and our proposal for a definition of what should be viewed as a permissible variational class. We call such a permissible class, together with a nominal solid S, an R-class. We then introduce generalized versions of the regularized Boolean operations, which operate not on r-sets, but rather on R- classes. Just as the r-sets are closed under regularized Boolean operations, so the R-classes are closed under the generalized versions of the regularized Boolean opera tions. Finally, we discuss the relationship between the R- classes and the particular feature tolerancing methods proposed by Requicha.
A Shortest Path Algorithm for a Carlike Robot in a Polygonal Environment
Authors: Desaulniers Guy , Soumis François , Laurent Jean-Charles
Published: March 2007

This paper addresses the problem of finding a shortest collision- free path for a carlike point robot maneuvering around polygonal obstacles in a room bounded by a polygonal line. The authors introduce a sufficient set of 56 subpath types for the no-obstacle case in which a subpath is defined as a piece of a path that starts and ends at either the initial position, the final position, or any position on a cell boundary. The authors propose a near-optimal algorithm that consists of finding a shortest path in a search graph where the arcs represent subpaths whose types belong to the sufficient set. The authors then study an algorithm in which the robot is allowed to turn on the spot at a certain cost. Finally, the authors compare the solutions derived from both algorithms.
Vision-Based Control in Driving Assistance of Agricultural Vehicles
Authors: Khadraoui D. , Debain C. , Rouveure R. , Martinet P. , Bonton P. , Gallice J.
Published: March 2007

This article presents a real-time control system for an agricultural mobile machine (vehicle) based on an on-board vision system using a single camera. This system has been designed to help humans in repetitive and difficult tasks in the agricultural domain. The aim of the robotics application concerns the control of the vehicle with regard to the reap limit detected in image space. The perception aspect in relation to the application has been described in previous work, and here we deal with the control aspect. We integrate image features issued from the modeling of the scene in the control loop to perform an image-based servoing technique. The vehicle behavior described here concerns bicycle and neural models, and three control laws are then synthesized. The first and the second are modeling approaches and use an interaction between the scene and the image space. They are based on the regulation of a task function. The third is a "black-box modeling" technique, and is based on a neural network. Finally, experimental results obtained with these different control laws in different conditions are presented and discussed.
Perceptions of Musicians: Gender Stereotypes and Social Role Theory
Authors: Cramer Kenneth M. , Million Erin , Perreault Lynn A.
Published: March 2007

Research reports of consistent gender differences in the selection of musical instruments (i.e. trumpets for boys and flutes for girls). As observed in other domains, social perception research shows comparably negative evaluations of individuals engaged in activities atypical to their gender. The present study investigated college students' evaluations of fictitious male or female musicians playing either a masculine (drum and tuba) or feminine (flute or harp) instrument. Using a semantic differential scale, the 98 students were asked their impressions of each of the four fictitious musicians according to masculine (dominant, leadership, activity), feminine (warm, sensitive, caring), or gender-neutral (adjustment, happiness, success) descriptors. Results showed that female musicians were perceived as more dominant, active, and better leaders than male musicians. Moreover, musicians of feminine instruments were perceived as more caring, warm, sensitive, and better adjusted; but less dominant and prone to leadership than musicians of masculine instruments. Finally, the hypothesised interaction between instrument gender and musician sex was significant. Specifically, males and females were judged equivalently for masculine instruments, but males playing feminine instruments were perceived as less dominant, active, and better leaders than females playing the same instruments. Implications for gender stereotypes and social role theory are discussed, and directions for future research are outlined.
Pitch Pattern Instruction and the Singing Achievement of Young Children
Authors: Jarjisian Catherine S.
Published: March 2007

Six first-grade classes in two schools participated in a study to determine the effects of diatonic and/or pentatonic pitch pattern instruction, musical aptitude, and socioeconomic status on rote-singing achievement. Students in each school were divided into three experimental groups for an instructional period of four months, at the conclusion of which their individual singing performances of diatonic and pentatonic criterion songs were recorded. Judges' ratings of the students' performances, students' tonal aptitude level, and school environment composed the factors for an analysis of variance for each song. Results showed the group receiving a combination of diatonic and pentatonic pitch pattern instruction to have significantly higher performance scores than either the diatonic or pentatonic treatment groups, regardless of tonal aptitude or school environment.
Pitch Change Recognition as a Function of Duration in Successive Dichotic Stimuli
Authors: Kelley Zoe A. , Brandt John F.
Published: March 2007

The interactive effects of time and frequency on recognition of pitch change in three element sequences were assessed by dichotic listening tests. Musicians demonstrated greater accuracy of pitch change recognition than did non-musicians. Both musicians and nonmusicians showed greater recognition of pitch change in the left ear than in the right ear. However, pitch processing did occur in the right ear for all subjects. The difference in performance between ears was greatest for musicians. As time (duration/rhythm) became more complex, pitch change recognition was reduced in all listeners. Musicians were better able to use the temporal cues to support good pitch change recognition than non-musicians. The data were interpreted to suggest that the right hemisphere was generally more efficient in recognition of pitch change than the left hemisphere.
A Schema Theory of How Children Learn to Sing in Tune
Authors: Welch Graham F.
Published: March 2007

The literature on children's singing reveals that, for each age group, there are some children who cannot sing in tune. These children are labelled "poor pitch singers" (p.p.s.). The literature suggests that singing in tune is not simply a question of "can" or "cannot" but rather a continuum of skill with several degrees of competence. In general, the numbers of p.p.s. within sample populations declines with age, with boys outnumbering girls by 2 or 3 to 1.

The customary method of treating this disability, although implying that improvement is possible, has only shown limited success.

Reference to the psychological literature on feedback, however, suggests that, (1) learning can only take place when Knowledge of Results (KR) is present, and (2) variety of experience rather than repeated measures of the same kind may be more conducive to producing "novel" patterns of behaviour.

Applying these findings to the mechanism of singing, a schema theory of how children learn to sing in tune is proposed, under which a recall and recognition schema are hypothesised as being responsible for vocal pitch production, and vocal pitch accuracy is determined by the efficiency of an error labelling schema.
Vocal matching of pitch intervals: Learning and transfer effects'
Authors: Harvey Nigel , Garwood Jeanette , Palencia Mario
Published: March 2007

Subjects heard a musical interval defined by a sequence of two notes and then attempted to sing it. Those who had previously received consistent practice on another single interval performed better than those who had earlier received variable practice on a number of different intervals. This difference was as evident when the practice involved just listening as it was when the practice involved singing. The learning that took place during practice occurred without provision of knowledge of results from an experimenter. The relevance of these effects to the pedagogy of singing is considered and they are discussed in relation to various psychological models of the cognitive processes underlying development of the skill.
Cognitive-Behavioural Treatment of Musical Performance Anxiety
Authors: Nagel Julie Jaffee , Himle David P. , Papsdorf James D.
Published: March 2007

This pilot study evaluated the effectiveness of a treatment approach for musical performance anxiety that combined progressive muscle relaxation, cognitive therapy, and temperature biofeedback training. Twelve competent pianists who complained of debilitating performance anxiety were randomly assigned to a treatment group; and eight subjects were placed on a wait-list control group. Following a six-week programme of group therapy, signifi- cant differences between pre- and post-measurements were observed for the treatment group in performance anxiety, and trait anxiety. The results suggest that it is possible to lower debilitating stage fright in performance- anxious musicians through a cognitive-behavioural treatment approach.
Research Note. Thresholds for Detecting Tempo Change
Authors: Ellis Mark C.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to (a) determine thresholds for the detection of tempo change across a range of tempos, (b) compare thresholds across tempos and direction of change, and (c) examine the effect of previous music experience on detection ability. The subjects (n = 48). college non-music majors, responded to synthesised stimuli that gradually increased or decreased in tempo.

The plot of detection thresholds for all tempo-direction combinations suggests an interaction between tempo and direction thresholds for detection were greater for increases than for decreases at MM48 and MM84, but greater for decreases than for increases at MM192 and MM228. All threshold means for the high experience group were smaller than those of the low experience group.
Musical Cognition Within an Analogical Setting: Toward a Cognitive Component of Musical Aptitude in Children
Authors: Nelson David J. , Barresi Anthony L. , Barrett Janet R.
Published: March 2007

This study is a cross-sectional investigation of the development of children's information-processing and problem-solving strategies as they relate to musical cognition within an analogical setting. 111 children ranging in age from preschool through to 11 years were administered a series of musical analogy tests (MANTs), a series of spatial analogy tests (SANTs), and Gordon's Primary Measures of Music Audiation. The results reinforced the results of an earlier study which revealed that the cognitive strategies used in spatial analogical tests appear very similar to those employed in musical analogical tests. These results should encourage researchers of musical aptitude to maintain the use of discrimination testing and also to broaden the scope of their investigations to include measurements of other aspects of intelligence so as to gain a more complete understanding of musical aptitude.
Research Note: Alleviation of Performance Anxiety through Hypnotherapy
Authors: Stanton Harry E.
Published: March 2007

Many musicians experience stage fright. The present article describes a two-session hypnotherapeutic approach combining success imagery and Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET) which is designed to reduce musicians' performance anxiety and so alleviate this problem. Three case studies illustrate how the approach is employed. The first involves a member of a symphony orchestra, the second a final year music student, and the third a rock band guitarist.
An Exploratory Investigation of the Assessment of Vocal Jazz Improvisation
Authors: Madura Patrice D.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate the assessment of vocal jazz improvisation achievement. Subjects were 101 college students enrolled in vocal jazz courses. The following aspects of vocal jazz improvisation were measured: (a) tonal (intonation, correct tones, appropriate language, variety, originality, motivic development, and unity): (1) rhxthm (steady pulse, appropriate feel, appropriate figures, varietvx originalitv, motivic development, and unity); and (c) expression (appropriate scat svllables, appropriate tone quality, variety in tone quality. varietv in range, and variety in dynamics). These items were measured by three judges using fivepoint rating scales for two tasks, a blues and a ii-V7-1 progression. The major findings of this study were as follows: (a) interjudge reliability for items ranged from 47 to 89; (b) interjudge reliability for the composite measure was 90; (c) a high correlation (.88) was found between the blues and ii-V7-I tasks; (d) moderately strong correlations were found among the dimensions of tone, rhythm, and expression, ranging from 76 to 78; and (e) three underlying factors of vocal jazz improvisation were identifiedRhythm, accounting for 66% of the variance; Tonal, accounting for an additional 8%; and Divergence, accounting for 6%.
Measuring Musical Aptitude in Children: On the Role of Age, Handedness, Scholastic Achievement, and Socioeconomic Status
Authors: Good James M. M. , Aggleton John P. , Kentridge Robert W. , Barker Julian G. M. , Neave Nick J.
Published: March 2007

Scores on the Bentley Measures of Musical Ability test (BMMA) for 897 seven-or eight-year-old children were analysed with respect to a number of factors which previous research suggested might be associated with test performance. Comparisons between the 17 schools participating revealed that the same schools tended to produce either high or low scores. Further analyses revealed a significant relationship between BMMA scores and assessments of school achievement (Standard Attainment Targets - SATs). An association was also present between those schools scoring poorly on the BMMA and those containing relatively large numbers of children receiving subsidised school meals. There was also an association with age. No significant relationship was found, however, between handedness and BMMA scores. The results not only identify some specific limitations of the BMMA, but also point to more general problems in interpreting tests designed to screen for musical ability in children.
Dualisms, Hierarchies and Gender in Engineering
Authors: Faulkner Wendy
Published: March 2007

There seems to be a general penchant for dichotomous styles of thought in engineering, in which hierarchies and gender are often evident - both symbolically and organizationally. This paper explores these themes, drawing in part on a pilot ethnographic study of software developers. The technical/social distinction is strongly gendered inasmuch as it maps on to masculine instrumentalism and feminine expressiveness. Also, the two sides of this dualism are seen as mutually exclusive such that `the technical', which defines the core of engineering expertise and identity, specifically excludes `the social'. Still, the related distinction between specialist and heterogeneous rôles becomes valued, and gendered, in contradictory ways. The abstract/concrete dualism is even more contradictory. The privileging of analytical abstraction in science and education sits sometimes uncomfortably alongside the obvious practical importance of, and pleasures in, a hands-on relationship with technological artefacts - conflicting versions of masculinity. Multiple tensions coexist around such dualisms, yet they endure. The concluding discussion considers possible factors related to the co-existence of certainty and uncertainty around technology, and to the performance of gender more generally.
Constructive Tensions in Feminist Technology Studies
Authors: Lohan Maria
Published: March 2007

Gender must be taken into account in a full understanding of technologies. Equally, technologies must be taken into account in a full understanding of gender. This poses a challenge for the individual scholarships of feminist studies and science and technology studies (S&TS), which, for the most part, can competently theorize either gender relations or technological relations, but neither school has the theoretical wherewithal to tackle the co-construction of genders and technologies. This paper elaborates the developing theory coalition between feminist studies and S&TS in feminist technology studies. The discussion centres on four main points of tension between the disciplines that I have found particularly challenging in my study of the co-construction of masculinities and (domestic) technology. These points of tension relate to: research sites, analytic lenses, power relations and reflexivity. The objective of working through the points of tension is to elaborate the mutual learning process between the two traditions when conducting empirical research on gender and technology.
Science and its Public
Authors: Dickson David
Published: March 2007

A recent report from the UK House of Lords on Science and Society proposes that the public's understanding of science should not be construed on the `deficit' model, but approached through improved `dialogue'. This Comment suggests that this approach is insufficient in itself: what is required is the effective `empowerment' of the public.
The Negational Reference: or the Art of Dissembling
Authors: MacRoberts Michael H. , MacRoberts Barbara R.
Published: March 2007

The Note examines the negational citation, and suggests why it is uncommon in scientific writing.
Private Science and Public Knowledge: The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of the Claims of the Paranormal and its Use of the Literature
Authors: Pinch T. J. , Collins H. M.
Published: March 2007

The scientific literature can be used to construct facts or to deconstruct them. The formal journals construct by presenting maximally `demodalized' accounts of experiment. The more popular journals are licensed to present more than this, but usually, where they do provide contingent details of scientists' work, these are details of life away from the laboratory bench. Sometimes, popular journals use their license to present contingent details of work at the laboratory bench, and this has a deconstructing effect on the scientific results presented. This analysis emerges from a consideration of the role of the literature from an active `construction of scientific knowledge' perspective. The work of the `Committee for the Scientific Investigation of the Claims of the Paranormal' and its journal are then analyzed with these themes in mind. The Committee sometimes presents itself as revealing the results of its own experiments, and sometimes uses its journal to deconstruct others' work. The cases of `Remote Viewing' and the astrological `Mars Effect' are discussed. The analysis bears out the `active' view as regards the scientific literature. Also, members of the Committee are seen to take up the active view as their experience of controversial science grows.
Vocabularies of Freedom and Resentment: A Strawsonian Perspective on the Nature of Argumentation in Science and the Law
Authors: Yearley Steven
Published: March 2007

In this paper Strawson's work on a linguistically based metaphysics is used to uncover fundamental similarities in the structure of argumentation in science and the law. It is shown that in both instances a practical judgement regularly has to be made between competing, exclusive vocabularies of freedom and determinism. The analytic significance of the existence of these vocabularies is developed conceptually to suggest how such vocabularies may underlie some of the empirical regularities observed by discourse analysts. These issues are then exemplified through a study of argumentative strategies found in geologists' writings. The paper concludes with proposals for extending the analytic impact of Strawson's work for science studies.
Experiment, Technology and the Intrinsic Connection Between Knowledge and Power
Authors: Radder Hans
Published: March 2007

The paper starts with an analysis of similarities and differences between experimentation and technological production. It is argued that both imply an active intervention in nature and society, but that the cognitive and social aspects of experiment and technology may display considerable differences. The theoretical analysis is illustrated by means of examples taken, in particular, from the technology of nuclear energy production. Next, it is shown that, from the viewpoint of this paper, the technology conception prevailing in public debates on technology and in technology policy is inadequate; again, the case of nuclear energy serves as an example. Finally, it is concluded that scientific or technological knowledge and social power are intrinsically connected.
Sacrifice and the Transformation of the Animal Body into a Scientific Object: Laboratory Culture and Ritual Practice in the Neurosciences
Authors: Lynch Michael E.
Published: March 2007

The term `sacrifice' is used by experimental biologists to describe methods for killing laboratory specimens. In Western societies, `sacrifice' usually connotes a process of `making sacred', a process Durkheim and his followers interpreted as a ritual transformation between `profane' and `sacred' realms. This paper examines whether `sacrifice' in the experimental context bears any relation to such traditional usage, or whether, as animal rights advocates argue, the term is no more than a euphemism for brutal and unnecessary slaughter. Drawing on ethnographic observations of laboratory practice, the paper argues that `sacrifice' means much more than simply killing a specimen, and that the violence done to the animal victim is part of a systematic `consecration' of its body to transform it into a bearer of transcendental significances. While scientists do not treat their practices as ceremonial rituals endowed with religious meaning, laboratory `sacrifice' is a part of a sequence of procedures through which the naturalistic animal body is transformed into an abstracted analytic object with generalized significance for members of the research community.
The Politics of Therapeutic Evaluation: The Vitamin C and Cancer Controversy
Authors: Richards Evelleen
Published: March 2007

This paper reconstructs and analyzes the content and context of the debate over the efficacy of vitamin C in the treatment of cancer, and compares it with medical responses to, and evaluations of, two other cancer drugs — the cytotoxic drug SFU (conventionally used in the treatment of gastro-intestinal cancers) and the `naturally-occurring' (but recombinant DNA-produced) drug interferon. This comparative approach is designed to facilitate the integration of microsociological and structural levels of analysis of the processes by which knowledge claims about therapeutic efficacy are evaluated by the powerful adjudicating medical community. It is argued that the assessment of medical therapies is inherently a social and political process; that the idea of neutral appraisal is a myth; that clinical trials, no matter how rigorous their methodology, inevitably embody the professional values or commitments of the assessors; and that judgements about experimental findings may be structured by wider social interests, such as consumer choice or market forces. It is concluded that the necessarily social character of medical knowledge cannot be eliminated by methodological reform, and that this has important implications for the social implementation of medical therapies and techniques.