This systematic review of the literature aims to identify, analyze, and synthesize studies assessing the effectiveness of interventions stimulating prosocial behavior. It concentrates on helping behavior and covers experimental and quasi‐experimental research concerning interventions carried out in different settings. This review was performed in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. Of the initial sample of 4,653 publications found in databases, 49 articles met our inclusion criteria and were classified as eligible for data extraction and narrative synthesis. The studies included in the review assessed 63 interventions, most of them targeted at children and adolescents. We distinguished three strategies stimulating prosocial behavior: behavioral, cognitive, and emotional. This review is informative for both researchers and practitioners. It provides researchers with methodological guidelines concerning how to conduct studies on the effectiveness of prosocial interventions, and it provides practitioners with guidelines on empirically tested strategies for stimulating prosocial helping behavior.

Affect impacts people’s cognitive processes as well as provides the energy to pursue goals and engage in actions. Research suggests that affect might influence instrumental learning behavior. This review aims to summarize the existing literature concerning the relationship between affect and instrumental practice. In order to determine the role of affect in undertaking instrumental practice and in engagement in practice, we conducted a systematic search via electronic databases and reference lists; we also hand-searched the key journals. Studies were included in the review if they concerned both affect and practicing behavior in musicians and instrumental students across all age groups and if the relationships between the two constructs were investigated. We focused on individual instrumental practice in the classical repertoire. Eleven studies met our inclusion criteria. They reported quantitative relationships between affect and the amount of practice or qualitatively described the role of affect in practice engagement. The results of this systematic review show that practicing a musical instrument is associated with different types of affect—practice-related, performance-related, and context-free affect. Further investigation of affect in the context of music learning may inform future interventions for instrumentalists motivating them to practice.

The concept of music performance achievement or musical achievement is variably understood and operationalised in different ways in research. Assessing the level of instrumental music performance is a complex task, requiring the assessment of many aspects of music performance. The aim of this article is to analyse (a) the ways achievement in music performance is understood, (b) factors affecting the assessment of instrumental music performance, and (c) tools used to measure such achievements. We describe the distinctions made in terms of the level of music expertise attained and the quality of the performance. We also present factors considered when assessing performance achievement: types of musical performance tasks, choice of repertoire, assessment criteria, such as the overall impression of the performance, technical ability, expressive components, and the basic parameters of the quality of the performance. Finally, we discuss available assessment tools, indicating their limitations.