Measuring emotional responses to music within a classroom setting

Abstract

Investigating the emotional impact of music listening has a long history. Indeed, reactions to subtle as well as obvious changes in music, whether inadvertent or deliberate, occupy a good deal of interest for the music researcher as well as the music educator. Regardless of the extremely subtle acoustic changes that are perceptible within almost all studies from an electronic digital perspective, it is the total overall effect that most occupies the attention of the individual listener/student. While newer listening devices offer a plethora of music selections that can be presented and studied, often the educator does not have access to the advanced equipment used by researchers and has very limited resources other than their own performance and/or using various recording/playback units. The study investigated a 'paper and pencil' drawing compared with the much more advanced Continuous Response Digital Interface (CDRI) using high-school students. Results indicated that subjects approximate the same emotional responses with a drawing when compared to the sophisticated graphic analysis of the CRDI. These findings indicate that a teacher using only a simple paper and pencil representation might be able to elicit and document an 'overall emotional effect' that provides as much musical information as using more sophisticated measuring devices.

Mindfulness, attention, and flow during music listening: An empirical investigation

“…Here, cognitive ability may be characterized as skills in attention or discrimination, and challenges with the likelihood that a particular stimulus might be interesting enough to warrant an adequate level of engagement. In research on similar types of heightened affective experiences, many of these issues have been accounted for through controlling for training, careful selection of stimuli, and through employing a novel combination of minimally invasive real time measuring techniques paired with qualitative responses (Madsen, Brittin, & Capparella-Sheldon, 1993; Madsen & Geringer, 2008; Napoles & Madsen 2008; Southall, 2003). However, no deliberate attempt has been made to control for the variable of attention.…”

“…Additionally, as in previous studies, the questionnaire sought to answer: (1) whether participants had experienced the attendant construct (flow/aesthetic response) during the experiment; (2) whether the CRDI had accurately registered variations in their response; (3) what was the temporal length and location of the response (during arias, other sections, etc. ); and (4) what was the overall magnitude of the response (Madsen et al, 1993; Madsen & Geringer, 2008; Napoles & Madsen, 2008; Southall, 2003). For descriptive purposes, each participant was also asked to indicate their level of experience with meditation-related techniques.…”

“…Along with providing a non-verbal, continuous means of response, some investigators have been able to control for musical training and stimulus properties in relationship to heightened affective experiences. For example, in several studies using high school through highly trained graduate level and professional musicians, the vast majority reported peak aesthetic experiences in response to an audio excerpt of Giacomo Puccini’s opera La Bohème (Byrnes, 1997; Madsen, 1997; Madsen et al, 1993; Madsen & Geringer, 2008; Napoles & Madsen, 2008; Southall, 2003). Additionally, some of the studies employed a mixed methodological design in order to investigate a number of additional variables, including the overall length, frequency, magnitude, and phenomenological properties of responses.…”

“…The singers on the recording included soprano Montserrat Caballe, and tenor Placido Domingo. This excerpt has been used in numerous studies dealing with affective response among musically trained populations (Byrnes, 1997; Madsen, 1997; Madsen et al, 1993; Madsen & Geringer, 2008; Napoles & Madsen, 2008; Southall, 2003).…”

“…Previous researchers have justified the use of the excerpt based on several criteria, including: (a) the likelihood that musically trained populations would be familiar with it (Madsen et al, 1993); (b) the high-level artistic quality of the performances (Southall, 2003); and (c) previous data indicating that the vast majority of participants have experienced high magnitude aesthetic experiences in relationship to the stimulus (Byrnes, 1997; Madsen, 1997; Madsen et al, 1993; Madsen & Geringer, 2008; Napoles & Madsen, 2008; Southall, 2003). Since the study aimed to examine how mindfulness might affect attention and in relationship to affective responses, and not if mindfulness causes affective response per se , it was reasonable to assume that as in past investigations, effects such as lack of familiarity or inaccuracies of performance would not act as confounding variables throughout the investigation.…”