The Psychological Science Accelerator's COVID-19 rapid-response dataset.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data.

In COVID-19 Health Messaging, Loss Framing Increases Anxiety with Little-to-No Concomitant Benefits: Experimental Evidence from 84 Countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic (and its aftermath) highlights a critical need to communicate health information effectively to the global public. Given that subtle differences in information framing can have meaningful effects on behavior, behavioral science research highlights a pressing question: Is it more effective to frame COVID-19 health messages in terms of potential losses (e.g., "If you do not practice these steps, you can endanger yourself and others") or potential gains (e.g., "If you practice these steps, you can protect yourself and others")? Collecting data in 48 languages from 15,929 participants in 84 countries, we experimentally tested the effects of message framing on COVID-19-related judgments, intentions, and feelings. Loss- (vs. gain-) framed messages increased self-reported anxiety among participants cross-nationally with little-to-no impact on policy attitudes, behavioral intentions, or information seeking relevant to pandemic risks. These results were consistent across 84 countries, three variations of the message framing wording, and 560 data processing and analytic choices. Thus, results provide an empirical answer to a global communication question and highlight the emotional toll of loss-framed messages. Critically, this work demonstrates the importance of considering unintended affective consequences when evaluating nudge-style interventions.

Spectrum Effects of a Velopharyngeal Opening in Singing.

The question whether or not a velopharyngeal opening is advantageous in singing has been discussed for a very long time among teachers of singing. The present investigation analyzes the acoustic consequences of a large, a narrow, and a nonexistent velopharyngeal opening (VPO). A divided flow mask (nasal and oral) connected to flow transducers recorded the nasal and oral DC flows in four female and four male classically trained singers while they sang vowel sequences at different pitches under these three experimental conditions. Acoustic effects were analyzed in three long-term average spectra parameters: (i) the sound level at the fundamental frequency, (ii) the level of the highest peak below 1 kHz, and (iii) the level of the highest peak in the 2-4 kHz region. For a narrow VPO, an increase in the level of the highest peak in the 2-4 kHz region was observed. As this peak is an essential voice component in the classical singing tradition, a narrow VPO seems beneficial in this type of singing.

Voice pedagogy-what do we need?

The final keynote panel of the 10th Pan-European Voice Conference (PEVOC) was concerned with the topic 'Voice pedagogy-what do we need?' In this communication the panel discussion is summarized, and the authors provide a deepening discussion on one of the key questions, addressing the roles and tasks of people working with voice students. In particular, a distinction is made between (1) voice building (derived from the German term 'Stimmbildung'), primarily comprising the functional and physiological aspects of singing; (2) coaching, mostly concerned with performance skills; and (3) singing voice rehabilitation. Both public and private educators are encouraged to apply this distinction to their curricula, in order to arrive at more efficient singing teaching and to reduce the risk of vocal injury to the singers concerned.

Voice Source Variation Between Vowels in Male Opera Singers.

OBJECTIVES: The theory of nonlinear source-filter interaction predicts that the glottal voice source should be affected by the frequency relationship between formants and partials. An attempt to experimentally verify this theory is presented. STUDY DESIGN: Glottal voice source and electrolaryngograph (ELG) signal differences between vowels were analyzed in vowel sequences, sung at four pitches with the same degree of vocal loudness by professional opera singers. In addition, the relationships between such differences and the frequency distance between the first formant (F1) and its closest partial were examined. METHODS: A digital laryngograph microprocessor was used to simultaneously record audio and ELG signals. The former was inverse filtered, and voice source parameters and formant frequencies were extracted. The amplitude quotient of the derivative of the ELG signal (AQdELG) and the contact quotient were also compared. RESULTS: A one-way repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significant differences between vowels, for contact quotient at four pitches and for maximum flow declination rate (MFDR) at three pitches. For other voice source parameters, differences were found at one or two pitches only. No consistent correlation was found between MFDR and the distance between F1 and its closest partial. CONCLUSIONS: The glottal voice source tends to vary between vowels, presumably because of source-filter interaction, but the variation does not seem to be dependent on the frequency distance between F1 and its closest partial.

Formant tuning strategies in professional male opera singers.

The term "formant tuning" is generally used for the case that one of the lowest formant frequencies coincides with the frequency of a source spectrum partial. Some authors claim that such coincidence is favorable and belongs to the goals of classical opera voice training, whereas other authors have found evidence for advising against it. This investigation analyzes the relationships between formant frequencies and partials in professional singers, who sang scales on the vowels /a/, /u/, /i/, and /ae/ in a pitch range including the passaggio, that is, the fundamental frequency range of approximately 300-400Hz, applying either of the two singing strategies that are typically used (1) in classical and (2) in nonclassical singing, respectively. Formant frequencies of each note in the scales were measured by inverse-filtering the acoustic signal. In the classical style, the first formant tended to be lower than in the nonclassical style. Neither the first nor the second formant tended to change systematically between scale tones, such that on some scale tones either or both formants was just below, just above, or right on a spectrum partial. In many cases, singers produced similar spectrum characteristics of the top tones of the scales with different first and second formant frequencies. Regardless of whether the first formant was slightly lower, slightly higher, or right on a partial, the properties of the voice source did not seem to be affected.

Professional male singers' formant tuning strategies for the vowel /a/.

Certain spectrum characteristics have been identified as important for register equalization around the male passaggio, an effect ascribed to formant tuning although descriptions of formant tuning diverge. Eight professional singers sang scales including their passaggio range on different vowels, applying two formant tuning strategies as found in (1) classical and (2) non-classical singing. Formant frequencies were measured using inverse filtering. Results revealed differences between the two strategies. For the classical formant tuning, systematic changes of formant frequencies with pitch were observed. For the highest note sung on /a/, F1 was below the second partial and F2 in the vicinity of the third. Similar spectrum characteristics were achieved by different F1 and F2 values between singers.