Current negative mood encourages changes in end-of-life treatment decisions and is associated with false memories

To investigate the effects of mood on people’s end-of-life treatment decisions and their false memories of those decisions, participants took part in two sessions. At Time 1, participants were experimentally induced into positive or negative moods. They decided whether they would want to receive or refuse treatments in a range of hypothetical medical scenarios, such as tube feeding while in a coma. Four weeks later, at Time 2, participants were induced into the same or the opposite mood and made these decisions a second time. They also recalled their previous decisions. Participants in negative moods at Time 2 changed more of their current decisions and falsely remembered more of their previous decisions than participants in positive moods. These findings suggest that people’s current moods influence whether they change their treatment decisions; current decisions in turn bias recall of past decisions

Mental context reinstatement increases resistance to false suggestions after children have experienced a repeated event

When children allege repeated abuse, they are required to provide details about specific instances. This often results in children confusing details from different instances, therefore the aim of this study was to examine whether mental context reinstatement (MCR) could be used to improve children’s accuracy. Children (N ¼ 120, 6–7-yearolds) participated in four activities over a 2-week period and were interviewed about the last (fourth) time with a standard recall or MCR interview. They were then asked questions about specific details, and some questions contained false information. When interviewed again 1 day later, children in the MCR condition resisted false suggestions that were consistent with the event more than false suggestions that were inconsistent; in contrast, children in the standard interview condition were equally suggestible for both false detail types and showed a yes bias. The results suggest a practical way of eliciting more accurate information from child witnesses.

False economies : a global health crisis

Recommends measures to combat global epidemics and collapsing health care systems. Global aid to health; Greater market access for developing countries; Reversal of the brain drain; Development of better drugs and vaccines.

Vocal mimicry in songbirds

Baylis (1982, Acoustic Communication in Birds, Academic Press) decried the serious lack of experimental verification for the various hypotheses proposed to explain vocal mimicry in songbirds. With few exceptions, our understanding of the function and acquisition of this fascinating behaviour seems to have scarcely progressed. We examine the proposed functional explanations and supporting evidence, and summarize advances made since Baylis's (1982) review. We conclude that there is no compelling evidence to support any of the functional hypotheses but, rather, that almost all of the data concerning song mimicry are consistent with the learning mistakes hypothesis, whereby birds learn simple and common sounds, frequently using them in inappropriate contexts. Additionally, many apparently mimicked sounds are calls, not songs, which themselves may not be learned by the models. It is plausible that many examples of call mimicry are, in fact, due to evolutionary convergence.

Vocal mimicry in male bowerbirds : who learns from whom?

Vocal mimicry is one of the more striking aspects of avian vocalization and is widespread across songbirds. However, little is known about how mimics acquire heterospecific and environmental sounds. We investigated geographical and individual variation in the mimetic repertoires of males of a proficient mimic, the spotted bowerbird Ptilonorhynchus maculatus. Male bower owners shared more of their mimetic repertoires with neighbouring bower owners than with more distant males. However, interbower distance did not explain variation in the highly repeatable renditions given by bower owners of two commonly mimicked species. From the similarity between model and mimic vocalizations and the patterns of repertoire sharing among males, we suggest that the bowerbirds are learning their mimetic repertoire from heterospecifics and not from each other.

Vocal individuality of in-air Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) pup "primary" calls

As a result of selective pressures faced during lactation, vocal recognition may play a crucial role in maintaining the phocid mother–pup bond during the period of dependence. To investigate this possibility, we examined whether Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) pups produce individually distinctive “primary” calls. One temporal, nine fundamental frequency features, and two spectral characteristics were measured. A discriminant function analysis (DFA) of 15 Vestfold Hills pups correctly classified 52% of calls, while the cross-validation procedure classified 29% of calls to the correct pup. A second DFA of 10 known-age McMurdo Sound pups correctly classified 44% of “test” calls. For novel calls, the probabilities of attaining such classification rates by chance are low. The relationship between age and call stereotypy indicated that pups 2 wk and older may be more vocally distinctive. Overall, findings suggest that Weddell seal pup “primary” calls are moderately distinctive and only exhibit sufficient stereotypy to aid maternal recognition by approximately two weeks of age.

Vocal mimicry

What is vocal mimicry? Vocal mimicry occurs when an individual learns a sound from another species or the environment. It differs from other animal vocalisations such as bird song or human speech, as these are learned from members of the same species (conspecifics). Parrots are the most renowned mimics, with reports of their talents dating back at least to the early 1500s with Henry VIII of England's pet African grey parrot, Psittacus erithacus, which mimicked his servants' voices.

Deeper than the forest AMBIENT with VOCAL

A short instrumental featuring ethereal female vocals, percussion, bells, synths, mandolin, and sound design.

Allelujah (female vocal led dreamy)

Allelujah is a cinematic and New Age piece that also fits well with projects of a religious or spiritual theme; Christmas and Easter included. It centers on a female vocal singing Alleluia, with violin, cello, piano, harp and 2 synths and bells at the very end.

Allelujah vocal 01

Allelujah Vocal 01 is a short vocal piece featuring a female voice singing Allelujah.

Allelujah vocal 03

Allelujah Vocal 03 is a short vocal piece featuring a synthesized female voice singing Allelujah.

Ave (piano and vocal) DREAMY

This audio features vocals, piano, strings, synth and bells a curious and unique piece with a light feel.

Vocal mimicry in spotted bowerbirds is associated with an alarming context

Although the presence of vocal mimicry in songbirds is well documented, the function of such impressive copying is poorly understood. One explanation for mimicry in species that predominantly mimic alarm calls and predator vocal isations is that these birds use mimicry to confuse or deter potential threats or intruders, so these vocalisations should therefore be produced when the mimic is alarmed and be uncommon in other contexts. Male bowerbirds construct bowers to display to females and anecdotal reports from the Ptilonorhynchus genus suggest that males mimic alarm sounds when disturbed at their bowers. We quantified and compared the rate of mimicry during disturbance to the bower by a human and in naturally occurring social contexts in a population of spotted bowerbirds Ptilonorhynchus maculatus. Male bowerbirds produced mimicry more than thirty times more frequently in response to bower disturbance than they did in any other context. Neither conspecifics nor heterospecifics were attracted to the bower area by mimicry. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that the production of mimicry is associated with a response to an alarming situation. Additionally, the predominance of alarm mimicry by spotted bowerbirds raises the possibility that the birds learn these sounds when they experience alarming situations and they reproduce them in subsequent alarming situations.