Social Representation of 'Vocal Hygiene' in India and Bhutan: A Cross-Sectional Survey.

BACKGROUND: The study aimed to explore the professional and recreational and/or personal voice use patterns and social representation of 'vocal hygiene' in two culturally and geographically diverse societies: India and Bhutan. METHODS: A total of 339 volunteers of Indian and Bhutanese nationality participated through snowball sampling. The responses were elicited using multiple-choice questions and a free association task. The data from the multiple-choice questions were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. The free association task's responses underwent content and co-occurrence analysis to identify the most frequently occurring response categories. RESULTS: The professional voice use pattern differed between the two populations but not the recreational and/or personal voice use pattern. The results also revealed diverse social representations of 'vocal hygiene' in India and Bhutan. CONCLUSIONS: The present study sheds light on the voice use patterns and how the concept of vocal hygiene is represented in the two countries. These findings may have implications for developing and executing society specific awareness programs about vocal hygiene and its importance.

Musical Aptitude as a Variable in the Assessment of Working Memory and Selective Attention Tasks.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The influence of musical aptitude on cognitive test performance in musicians is a long-debated research question. Evidence points to the low performance of nonmusicians in visual and auditory cognitive tasks (working memory and attention) compared with musicians. This cannot be generalized to all nonmusicians, as a sub-group in this population can have innate musical abilities even without any formal musical training. The present study aimed to study the effect of musical aptitude on the working memory and selective attention. SUBJECTS AND PURPOSE: Three groups of 20 individuals each (a total of 60 participants), including trained-musicians, nonmusicians with good musical aptitude, and nonmusicians with low musical aptitude, participated in the present study. Cognitive-based visual (Flanker's selective attention test) and auditory (working memory tests: backward digit span and operation span) tests were administered. RESULTS: MANOVA (followed by ANOVA) revealed a benefit of musicianship and musical aptitude on backward digit span and Flanker's reaction time (p<0.05). Discriminant function analyses showed that the groups could be effectively (accuracy, 80%) segregated based on the backward digit span and Flanker's selective attention test. Trained musicians and nonmusicians with good musical aptitude were distinguished as one cluster and nonmusicians with low musical aptitude formed another cluster, hinting the role of musical aptitude in working memory and selective attention. CONCLUSIONS: Nonmusicians with good musical aptitude can have enhanced working memory and selective attention skills like musicians. Hence, caution is required when these individuals are included as controls in cognitive-based visual and auditory experiments.