Perception of mode, rhythm, and contour in unfamiliar melodies: Effects of age and experience

We explored the ability of older (60-80 years old) and younger (18-23 years old) musicians and nonmusicians to judge the similarity of transposed melodies varying on rhythm, mode, and/or contour (Experiment 1) and to discriminate among melodies differing only in rhythm, mode, or contour (Experiment 2). Similarity ratings did not vary greatly among groups, with tunes differing only by mode being rated as most similar. In the same/different discrimination task, musicians performed better than nonmusicians, but we found no age differences. We also found that discrimination of major from minor tunes was difficult for everyone, even for musicians. Mode is apparently a subtle dimension in music, despite its deliberate use in composition and despite people's ability to label minor as "sad" and major as "happy."

Sedimentology, Depositional Age, and Provenance of Sedimentary and Volcanic Rocks Exposed Along Willow Creek, Eastern Susitna Basin, South-Central Alaska: Implications for Modification of a Forearc Basin by Spreading Ridge Subduction

This is the first detailed study of the westernmost portion of the outcrop belt, which extends along the western flank of the Talkeetna Mountains and includes thick, well-exposed outcrops along Willow Creek in the eastern Susitna basin. New sedimentologic, compositional, and geochronologic data were obtained from stratigraphic sections within Arkose Ridge Formation strata at Willow Creek. This data combined with new geologic mapping and geochronologic data from Willow Bench and Kashwitna River Bluff (north of Willow Creek), and from the Government Peak area (east of Willow Creek), help constrain depositional processes and source terranes that provided detritus to the westernmost Arkose Ridge Formation strata.