Irrelevant music: How suprasegmental changes of a melody’s tempo and mode affect the disruptive potential of music on serial recall

On tests of verbal short-term memory, performance declines as a function of auditory distraction. The negative impact of to-be-ignored sound on serial recall is known as the irrelevant sound effect. It can occur with speech, sine tones, and music. Moreover, sound that changes acoustically from one token to the next (i.e., changing-state sound) is more disruptive to serial recall than repetitive, steady-state sound. We tested manipulations that resulted in changes in (higher levels of) perceptual organization for more complex tonal stimuli. Within a trial, the first two bars of a well-known melody were repeated (a) in the exact same manner, (b) with variations only in tempo, (c) with variations only in mode (e.g., Dorian or Phrygian), or (d) with variations in both tempo and mode. Participants serially recalled digits in each of the irrelevant sound conditions as well as in a silent control condition. In Experiment 1a, we tested non-music students and, to investigate whether musical expertise affected the findings, additionally tested students majoring in music in Experiment 1b. Across both samples, recall in the irrelevant sound conditions was significantly poorer than in the silent control condition, but only the tempo variation caused an additional harmful effect. The mode variation did not affect recall performance, in either music or non-music students. These findings indicate that, at least with music, changes are a matter of degree and not every additional variation impairs recall performance.publishedVersionPaid Open Acces

Why Are Certain Items More Difficult than Others in a Competency Test for Music-Related Argumentation?

This paper examines why certain items in a competency test for music-related argumentation are more difficult than others. Based on previous studies on school-related achievement tests, the authors assume that differences in item difficulty are related to different item characteristics or combinations of characteristics. In this study, the item characteristics of a test for music-related argumentation were first identified and coded. Three domains were identified as contributing to item difficulty: cognitive requirements, knowledge, and formal item features. Second, multiple linear regression analyses were conducted with the item characteristics as predictors of item difficulty, which had been estimated in a prior study (Ehninger et al., 2021). A comparison of three regression models confirmed that the model holding four predictors of the domain “cognitive requirements” best fit the study data 〖R_adj〗^2= .71). The strongest predictor in the final model was “reference to musical attributes” (β=0.46,β=0.51), followed by “cross-sentence argumentation” (β=0.37) and “dialogical argumentation” (β=0.20). These results indicate that the difficulty of an item increased most when participants had to refer to musical attributes to solve the task. The items that required the participants to provide cross-sentence or dialogical argumentation were more challenging as well. The findings regarding the relations between item characteristics and item difficulty contribute to a better understanding of music-related argumentative competence, with important implications for the music classroom.Why Are Certain Items More Difficult than Others in a Competency Test for Music-Related Argumentation?publishedVersio

A New Measurement Instrument for Music-Related Argumentative Competence : The MARKO Competency Test and Competency Model

In this paper, we introduce the MARKO competency test and competency model, a new measurement instrument for music-related argumentative competence (MARKO: Musikbezogene ARgumentationsKOmpetenz; German for music-related argumentative competence). This competence, which plays an essential role in school curricula, refers to the ability to justify and defend judgments about music. The two main goals of this study were (1) to design an assessment test for music-related argumentation that fulfills psychometric criteria and (2) to derive competency levels based on empirical data to describe the cognitive dispositions that are necessary when engaging in argumentation about music. Based on a theoretical framework, we developed a competency test to assess music-related argumentative competence. After two pretests (N = 391), we collected data from 440 students from Grade nine to the university level. The final test consisted exclusively of open-ended items, which were rated with coding schemes that had been designed for each item. After ensuring inter-rater reliability, we composed an item pool that met psychometric criteria (e.g., local stochastic independence and item homogeneity) and represented content-related aspects in a meaningful way. Based on this item pool, we estimated a one-dimensional partial credit model. Following a standard-setting approach, four competency levels were derived from the empirical data. While individuals on the lowest competency level expressed their own opinions about the music by referring to salient musical attributes, participants on the highest level discussed different opinions on the music and considered the social and cultural context of the music. The proficiency scores significantly varied between grades. Our findings empirically support some theoretical assumptions about music-related argumentation and challenge others.publishedVersio

The discursive terms of music/teacher education at four higher educational institutions

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Higher education as context for music pedagogy research

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Music Pedagogical Perspectives on Learning in Practices. A Videographic Study of a Workshop in an Opera House

Bei der Beobachtung eines videographierten Schüler*innenworkshops zum Musical Anatevka, der mit Methoden der Szenischen Interpretation gestaltet war, stellte sich die Frage, ob das Lernen, das laut Aussagen der Schüler*innen im Rahmen des Workshops stattgefunden hatte, mit Hilfe eines in praxeologischen Zusammenhängen entwickelten Lernbegriffs empirisch rekonstruiert werden könnte. In einem ersten Schritt wurden in der Auswertung der videographierten Daten auf Basis der Unterscheidung von Praktiken und Praxen nach Alkemeyer und Buschmann (2016) Spuren von Praktiken in den beobachteten Praxen aufgespürt. In einem zweiten Schritt wurde der praxeologische Lernbegriff von Bittner und Budde (2018) herangezogen: Lernen wird hier verstanden als Explizitmachen von implizitem Wissen und der gegenläufigen Bewegung vom expliziten zum impliziten Wissen. Mit Hilfe dieses Lernbegriffs gelang es, Lernprozesse in Praxen zu erschließen. Auf Basis der Auswertungsergebnisse wird eine geringfügige Erweiterung des Lernbegriffs von Bittner und Budde angeregt und dazu aufgefordert, stärker auf die Bedeutung des impliziten Wissens in Lernprozessen zu achten.Musikpädagogische Perspektiven auf Lernen in Praktiken. Eine videographische Studie zu einem Workshop im OpernhausMusic Pedagogical Perspectives on Learning in Practices. A Videographic Study of a Workshop in an Opera HousepublishedVersio

Music pedagogical perspectives on learning in practices. A videographic study of a workshop in an opera house

Bei der Beobachtung eines videographierten Schüler*innenworkshops zum Musical Anatevka, der mit Methoden der Szenischen Interpretation gestaltet war, stellte sich die Frage, ob das Lernen, das laut Aussagen der Schüler*innen im Rahmen des Workshops stattgefunden hatte, mit Hilfe eines in praxeologischen Zusammenhängen entwickelten Lernbegriffs empirisch rekonstruiert werden könnte. In einem ersten Schritt wurden in der Auswertung der videographierten Daten auf Basis der Unterscheidung von Praktiken und Praxen nach Alkemeyer und Buschmann (2016) Spuren von Praktiken in den beobachteten Praxen aufgespürt. In einem zweiten Schritt wurde der praxeologische Lernbegriff von Bittner und Budde (2018) herangezogen: Lernen wird hier verstanden als Explizitmachen von implizitem Wissen und der gegenläufigen Bewegung vom expliziten zum impliziten Wissen. Mit Hilfe dieses Lernbegriffs gelang es, Lernprozesse in Praxen zu erschließen. Auf Basis der Auswertungsergebnisse wird eine geringfügige Erweiterung des Lernbegriffs von Bittner und Budde angeregt und dazu aufgefordert, stärker auf die Bedeutung des impliziten Wissens in Lernprozessen zu achten. (DIPF/Orig.)The study is based on video material of a student workshop using methods of dramatic interpretation and focusing on the musical Anatevka. During the video analysis the question arose whether the learning, which according to the students had taken place in the context of the workshop, could be empirically reconstructed with the help of a concept of learning developed in praxeological contexts. As a first step, traces of “Praktiken” in the observed “Praxen” were detected in the evaluation of the video data based on the distinction between “Praktiken” and “Praxen” according to Alkemeyer and Buschmann (2016). In a second step, Bittner and Budde’s (2018) praxeological concept of learning was used: learning is understood as the explicitation of implicit knowledge and the ‘tranformation’ of explicit knowledge to implicit knowledge. Against this background, it was possible to elicit learning processes in practices. On the basis of our findings, we suggest a slight extension of Bittner and Budde’s concept of learning and call upon to pay more attention to the importance of implicit knowledge in learning processes. (DIPF/Orig.

The current status of singing in kindergartens in Norway – An exploratory study

This study investigates the current situation regarding singing in Norwegian kindergartens. More specifically, how often kindergartens offer singing possibilities to children, in what situations singing is embedded, how valued singing is in such institutions, what singing methods and repertoires the teachers use, and whether teachers have certain underlying goals and beliefs connected to their use of singing. Furthermore, we are interested in whether there are contextual factors that influence the singing practice of a kindergarten/teacher. This exploratory cross-sectional study uses a webbased questionnaire, and the sample consists of 660 Norwegian kindergarten teachers. The statistical analyses cover standard descriptive and inferential statistics. The study’s main findings are as follows: (1) singing is highly valued in most kindergartens; (2) singing is done “very often” in most kindergartens, and the majority of teachers report that they sing with the children daily in a large variety of situations and using mainly Norwegian songs – however, the actual frequency and amount of singing depends on various factors; (3) one of the most important factors regarding singing praxis is musical expertise of teachers, regarding which most teachers rate themselves as below the population average; (4) the teachers mainly sing unaccompanied with the children; (5) they learn new songs mainly through streaming services; and (6) the teachers assume that singing leads to especially positive psychological, social, and cognitive effects on children.publishedVersio

Det store bildet: En kartlegging av faget sal og scene i Norge i 2019

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