Uses of music in everyday life

The value of music in people’s everyday lives depends on the uses they make of it and the degree to which they engage with it, which are in turn dependent on the contexts in which they hear it. Very few studies have investigated people’s experiences of music in naturalistic, everyday circumstances, and this exploratory study provides some initial normative data on who people listen with, what they listen to (and what their emotional responses to this music are), when they listen, where they listen, and why they listen. A total of 346 people who owned a mobile phone were sent one text message per day for 14 days. On receiving this message, participants were required to complete a questionnaire about anymusic they could hear, or had heard since their previous message. Responses indicated a high compliance rate; a high incidence of exposure to music; that the greatest number of musical episodes occurred while participants were on their own; that pop music was heard most frequently; that liking for the music varied depending on who the participant was with, where they were, and whether they had chosen to be able to hear music; that music was usually experienced during the course of some activity other than deliberate music listening; that exposure to music occurred most frequently in the evening, particularly between 10PM and 11 PM, and on weekends; that music was heard most frequently at home, with only a small number of incidences occurring in public places; that the importance of several functions of music varied according to temporal factors, the place where the music was heard, and the person or people the participant was with. Further research shouldinclude participants from a greater range of sociodemographic backgrounds and should develop context-specific theoretical explanations of the different ways in which people use music as a resource

Creativity and play in children

This research looks at conceptions of creativity and at the question of its measurement in the broad context of psychological assessment and the potentialities of mental tests. It falls into three parts. The studies described in Pert 1 establish, by correlational and factorial techniques, that "creativity" implies an integrated range of abilities, represented by divergent thinking tests, which although related to intelligence in subjects of average I.Q., remains factorially distinct from it. This "dimensionality" issue is affected by individual differences in motivation which are aroused by the conditions of test administration; Part 2 looks at the effects of three situational factors on divergent test scores. The atmosphere in which they are administered (play-like as distinct from test-like), the modes of stimulus presentation (reel objects or verbal stimuli) and response (written or spoken) are shown to affect performance; it is concluded, however, that situationally-produced individual differences in motivation are overridden by those existing in capacity. The research described in Part 3 extends the study of the "playfulness" of test situations by relating divergent teat scores to measures of free play. The theoretical justification for this relationship ie elaborated in Chapter 6, and it is tested empirically in Chapters 7 end 8 by studying children's adaptations to the same (initially novel) toys on four separate occasions and by observing the effects of different play instructions. It is concluded that there are qualitative and quantitative difference in the ways in which children "learn through play", and that these are determined by individual difference in abilities such as divergent thinking. The issue which are raised by mixing the psychometric construct system with one which does not emphasise abilities are discussed in Chapter 9. The implications of this work for the "mental testing movement" are outlined, and some suggestions for further research are made

Children"s Modes of Listening to Music at Home and at School

This study investigated how children listen to music, by examining relationships different modes of listening and different contexts, home and school. It also looked tal and cultural perspectives, by comparing children from different age levels and The 120 participants were British and Portuguese children aged 9-10 years, attending schools, and 13-14 years, attending secondary schools. Children responded interview with open-ended questions, concerning their modes of listening to music at school. Findings showed that children's modes of listening imply various levels emotional involvement with music, and depend on the context, which may be related junctions of music. At home, few children listened to music as a main activity. listening and performing (singing, dancing), or accompanying a variety of non-(studying, playing games). At school, children listened to music often while doing ties (analysis, performing), moderately as a main activity, but rarely while doing activities. There were no relevant national differences, and age differences resulted specific teaching strategies at each school level.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Listening to music at home and at school

This study investigated the differences between the functions of music listening at home and at school, and the potential effects of age and nationality on these differences. 120 participants completed an individual structured interview schedule, which consisted of ten open-ended questions. These covered the role of music listening in young people's leisure interests as a whole, and more speci®c aspects of listening at home and at school. Sixty participants were from schools in the UK, and sixty from schools in Portugal: within each nationality group, thirty were aged 9±10 years and thirty aged 13±14 years. The ®ndings showed that music listening was an important leisure activity, especially for the older children, and that most children showed moderate positive attitudes towards school music. Home music listening and school music ful®lled different functions: participants reported that home listening was linked with enjoyment, emotional mood and social relationships, whereas school music was associated with motivation for learning and being active, and particular lesson content. There were few clear-cut national differences, and music was generally undervalued in both countries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Interpersonal Influences on Children's Emotional Responses to New Age Music

This study investigated the effects of interpersonal context and age on children's emotional responses to new age music. One hundred and twenty participants aged 9-10 and 13-14 years listened to four excerpts either alone, or in groups of three. Immediately after listening, they rated the emotions aroused by the excerpts on eight five point-scales based on a circumplex model which conceives of four quadrants of emotional response: positive/negative affect, and high/low arousal. The results showed that participants gave significantly higher ratings on four of the eight scales when listening in groups rather than when listening alone, and that the younger children gave significantly higher ratings on positive emotional states (relaxed, excited, energetic) and liking, whereas the older children gave significantly higher ratings on negative emotions (irritated, bored). These findings suggest the influence of both social and developmental factors upon children 's emotional responses to music; namely group effects, and younger children 's higher tolerance for unfamiliar styles.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Affective and evaluative responses to pop music

From reviews published in the “serious” pop music press, twenty recordings were selected which had received consistently favourable appraisals on affective and evaluative bases. A further twenty recordings were selected on the basis of high levels of chart performance but a lack of critical acclaim. Sixty-four subjects rated representative excerpts of these recordings on 11-point scales of either liking or artistic merit. The results indicated significantly lower liking and artistic merit ratings of critically praised excerpts; a positive liking-artistic merit correlation; and some “fragmentation” between affective and evaluative responses. The apparent discrepancy between the attitudes of the music press and subjects' ratings is discussed in terms of the availability and sophistication of evaluation cues

MUSIC PSYCHOLOGY AND ME

This has given me a chance to reflect on the 40 years or so during which I have been working in these fields. Many changes have taken place over that time - nearly all for the better. I hope it will be of interest to readers to hear my personal story, in which I will chart - in a completely rambling and intuitive but loosely chronological fashion - some of the twists and turns in my career. Some of these have been influenced by changes in music psychology itself; some by career moves; and some because I ran into significant others at different points on the journey.Grupo de Investigación HUM-672 AREA (Análisis de la Realidad EducativA) de la Universidad de Granad