Disco Time: The Relationship Between Perceived Duration and Tempo in Music

Our perception of the duration of a piece of music is related to its tempo. When listening to music, absolute durations may seem longer as the tempo—the rate of an underlying pulse or beat—increases. Yet, the perception of tempo itself is not absolute. In a study on perceived tempo, participants were able to distinguish between different tempo-shifted versions of the same song (± 5 beats per minute (BPM)), yet their tempo ratings did not match the actual BPM rates; this finding was called tempo anchoring effect (TAE). In order to gain further insights into the relation between duration and tempo perception in music, the present study investigated the effect of musical tempo on two different duration measures, to see if there is an analog to the TAE in duration perception. Using a repeated-measures design, 32 participants (16 musicians) were randomly presented with instrumental excerpts of Disco songs at the original tempi and in tempo-shifted versions. The tasks were (a) to reproduce the absolute duration of each stimulus (14–20 s), (b) to estimate the absolute duration of the stimuli in seconds, and (c) to rate the perceived tempo. Results show that duration reproductions were longer with faster tempi, yet no such effect was found for duration estimations. Thus, lower-level reproductions were affected by the tempo, but higher-level estimations were not. The tempo-shifted versions showed no effect on both duration measures, suggesting that the tempo difference for the duration-lengthening effect requires a difference of at least 20 BPM, depending on the duration measure. Results of perceived tempo replicated the typical rating pattern of the TAE, but this was not found in duration measures. The roles of spontaneous motor tempo and musical experience are discussed, and implications for future studies are given.

Dimensions of time and space in sociology

Contemporary sociology has significantly changed the concept of space and time. According to Wallerstein, time and space represent a reality that sociology has long neglected. The situation is different in historical sciences, in which, as White states, the narrative approach prevails, and in historical sociology. The authors focus on time and space as frames for the historically oriented explanation. Thus, time can be understood in different ways - as passing, duration, measure, moment appropriate for an action or change. Different forms of time represent different frames for interpreting social events. Space is often interpreted in the relational perspective - as an order of relations formed by interacting subjects. The frame, in which we place an event, determines how we see and think about space and time. Reflections on time were significantly influenced by Braudel, who distinguished three levels of historical time. Today, the issue of space and time-space is considered by social geography, which provides some insights for sociology, as Giddens shows, especially when examining modernization and globalization. The sociological concept of time-space was developed by Wallerstein, who distinguished five types of space-time: episodic-geopolitical, conjunctural-ideological, structural, eternal, and transformative. These types of space-time provide different perspectives for the analysis of specific historical events. One of the reasons why Wallerstein places such an emphasis on space-time is that he believes that we are in the transformative time-space, which marks the end of the long structural space-time of the world system. Therefore, we face opposing historical choices and have no certainty, except that every step we take will have serious consequences.

Application of Duration Measure in Quantifying the Sensitivity of Project Returns to Changes in Discount Rates

In this research, the concept of Duration with a new application in project management has been defined. The Duration of each project provides the project manager with a combined measure containing concepts of return, cost and time of the project. Further in this article, the changes in project return, based on different assumptions such as discount rate, have been examined. To examine the effect of the changes in these factors, the Monte Carlo simulation has been used. The relationship between these factors is nonlinear which reflects the great importance of investment on appropriate risk management systems. The data from a set of construction projects have been used in order to verify the results of this study. Similar relationships can be expected to exist in other industries as well.

AN ACTUARIAL BALANCE SHEET MODEL FOR DEFINED BENEFIT PAY-AS-YOU-GO PENSION SYSTEMS WITH DISABILITY AND RETIREMENT CONTINGENCIES

In this paper, we develop a theoretical basis for drawing up a “Swedish” type actuarial balance sheet for a defined benefit pay-as-you-go (DB PAYG) scheme with retirement and disability benefits. Our model enables us to obtain the system's expected average turnover duration, measure the scheme's solvency and explore the phenomenon identified as “pension reclassification”, a widespread practice that masks the system's real status unless further pension information becomes available. The model is clearly linked to actuarial practice in social security and gives partial support to the practical adaptation of Swedish methodology carried out by OSFI (2012) in applying the concept of the contribution asset to the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) balance sheet, which includes disability and survivor benefits.

THE HEATH–JARROW–MORTON DURATION AND CONVEXITY: A GENERALIZED APPROACH

This paper extends the traditional duration measure for continuous-time Heath–Jarrow–Morton models. The result is a general Heath–Jarrow–Morton duration measure based on a zero-coupon yield for an arbitrary maturity as state variable. A convexity measure compatible to this generalized duration is derived. In addition, closed-form solutions are presented for two popular example models.