Savchenko, N.L.

Background. The involvement of the motor component in the perception of musical intonation is emphasised by leading researchers in this field of music psychology and musicology. However, these theoretical positions require empirical research and confirmation.

Objective. The aim of the study was to hypothesise the role of motor similarity in the formation of musical perception. It is presupposed that the emotional and personal involvement of the listener is increased due to the motor experience of music.

Study Participants. Seventy-six people took part in the study (10 men and 66 women with an average age of 30). 35 participants were involved in the main group and the other 41 respondents constituted the control group.

Methods. A between-groups comparison design was used: the control group listened to a lecture or conference papers on psychological topics between the first and second music listening sessions, while the core group participated in a musical movement masterclass. Participants in the experimental group were asked to respond to the music with a movement. Free descriptions were used and qualitatively evaluated by experts according to categories.

Results. The effect of the inter-factorial interaction (group factor and number of listening sessions) on the categories of emotional and personal involvement and perception of intonational development in music is shown. Pairwise comparisons of each participant's descriptions revealed that the main group had significantly more changes related to the change in perceptual position (from external to internal), the manner in which the music was described, and the transformation of the visual image were significantly more frequent in the main group.

Conclusions. The perception of music in improvisation with motor imitation is characterised by a greater emotional and personal involvement: the listener's attitude to music changes, as does their connection with and personal significance of the music they experience. The role of motor likeness in enabling the perception of intonational development in music is demonstrated. When participants who listened to music without movement listened to it again, the changes in their descriptions were mainly related to the transformation of visual images.

Background. Media performs an important role in the social construction of an image of a disability. In its turn, that image influences the reader`s generated value orientation and behavioral attitudes towards the disabled persons. One of the main problems is that in most media articles disabled persons are not differentiated by sex. This raises the question of whether there is a description of the disabled persons` gender features in articles where their sex is specified.

Objective. To conduct a content-analysis of the news articles in order to reveal gender-specific features of the social construction of a disabled person`s image in aspects of behavior, social interaction and personality characteristics.

Sample. 107 media articles published during the period from December 2020 to August 2021 in the RBC, RIA Novosti, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, TASS, Izvestia.

Methods. The media article texts were analyzed using content-analysis. For this purpose, the authors selected 27 categories in a coordinated expert assessment. These categories are related to three parameters: disabled person's actions, interaction with a disabled person and personality characteristics. Contingency tables were constructed and frequency analysis of the categories used in the descriptions of the disabled men and women were conducted based on obtained data.

Results and conclusion. The frequency distribution of the categories used in media articles shows that description of disabled persons corresponds to gender social role stereotypes. At the same time, the ways of social interaction of disabled men and women are different. Disabled men are focused on communication with a principal-agent, while disabled women address those involved in some situation. When disabled women are described there are violations of the readers` expectations regarding their greater vulnerability. In other words disabled women are presented as more persistent compared to disabled men.