Searching for music's potential: A critical examination of research on music therapy with individuals with autism

Accordino, Robert E.; Comer, Ronald; Heller, Wendy

doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2006.08.002

Cited by 61 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Descriptive studies and studies on assessment of skills were excluded, as were other reviews and theoretical papers. Accordino et al 2007;Gold et al 2006). The search was also limited to English-language journal articles.…”

Section: Inclusion and Exclusion Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast to Gold et al's (2006) review, Accordino et al (2007) undertook a narrative review of the literature. They identified 20 studies, published between 1973 and 2000.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many of the studies addressed more than one of these outcomes. Based on their review of these studies, Accordino et al (2007) concluded that there was limited empirical support for music therapy.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The inclusion of AIT in the narrative review by Accordino et al (2007) and the omission of single-case research studies and the elapsed time since Gold et al's (2006) review would therefore seem to justify a further examination of the literature on music therapy for the treatment of individuals with ASD. The aim of the present review was to provide an updated review of both group and single-case studies that have evaluated music therapy for individuals with ASD.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Music Therapy for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Systematic Review

James

Sigafoos

Green

et al. 2014

Rev J Autism Dev Disord

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We identified, summarized, and appraised the certainty of evidence for 12 studies investigating the use of music therapy for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The studies were summarized in terms of (a) participant characteristics, (b) dependent variables, (c) procedures, (d) results, and (e) certainty of evidence. A total of 147 participants aged 3 to 38 years were included in the 12 studies. Dependent variables included: (a) decreasing undesirable behavior, (b) promoting social interaction, (c) improving independent functioning, (d) enhancing understanding of emotions, and (e) increasing communication. Music therapy included the use of specific songs with lyrics related to target skills as well as musical improvisation. Outcomes were positive for 58 % of the studies and mixed for 42 % of the studies. Certainty of evidence was rated as conclusive for 58 % of the studies. The existing literature suggests that music therapy is a promising practice for individuals with ASD, but additional research is warranted to further establish its generality and the mechanisms responsible for behavior change.

show abstract

Section: Inclusion and Exclusion Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast to Gold et al's (2006) review, Accordino et al (2007) undertook a narrative review of the literature. They identified 20 studies, published between 1973 and 2000.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Music Therapy for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Systematic Review

James

Sigafoos

Green

et al. 2014

Rev J Autism Dev Disord

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, adolescents with ASC are less accurate at detecting emotional expressivity in musical performance (Bhatara et al, 2010). Although research has suggested that individuals with ASC do not have deficits in emotional categorization (Quintin, Bhatara, Poissant, Fombonne, & Levitin, 2011), reports of emotional reactivity to music by individuals with ASC are different compared to the general population (Allen, Hill, & Heaton, 2009 (Accordino, Comer, & Heller, 2007).One of the main limitations of the existing research on music as it relates to both empathy and autism is that it focuses only on empathy and does not measure a related dimension of the mind which has been argued to be linked to empathy: systemizing (Baron-Cohen, Richler, Bisarya, Gurunathan, & Wheelwright, 2003).[1] Whereas empathy is the cognitive and affective capacity to understand and react appropriately to the feelings and mental states of others (Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004), systemizing is the capacity to construct, analyze, and predict systems, including those that are natural (e.g. weather or tidal systems), abstract (e.g.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Music Increase Empathy? Interpreting Musical Experience Through the Empathizing–Systemizing (E-S) Theory: Implications for Autism

Greenberg

Rentfrow

Baron‐Cohen

2015

EMR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recent research has provided evidence that musical interaction can promote empathy. Yet little is known about the underlying intrapersonal and social psychological processes that are involved when this occurs. For example, which types of music increase empathy and which types decrease it; what role, if any, does empathy play in determining individual differences in musical preference, perception, and performance; or, how do these psychological underpinnings help explain the musical experiences of people with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). To address these questions we employ the Empathizing-Systemizing (E-S) theory as a fruitful framework in which to understand these music-related phenomena. Specifically, we explore how individual differences in musical preference, perception, and performance can be explained by E-S theory. We provide examples from open-ended descriptions of strong musical experiences to demonstrate the ways in which empathy and music inter-relate. Importantly, we discuss the implications for the study of autism, and for how music therapists and clinicians can use music as a tool in their work with individuals diagnosed with ASC.Submitted 2014 April 29; accepted 2014 June 29. KEYWORDS: empathy, autism, musical preference, perception, performance EMPATHY is a fundamental feature of human interaction. It requires both cognitive (Dennett, 1989;Baron-Cohen, 1995) and affective (Davis, 1994) components that enable people to recognize the emotional and mental states of others, and to respond to these with appropriate emotions (Harris, Johnson, Hutton, Andrews, & Cooke, 1989;Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004). Empathy allows for the perception of another's thoughts and feelings, and allows one to predict how they will behave (Whiten, 1991). Music listening and performance, which is a universal feature of human behavior (Blacking, 1995), also requires components of cognitive and affective processing. We listen and are exposed to music for hours each day (Motion Picture Association of America, Inc, 2007;Rentfrow, 2012), during which time we perceive the emotional and psychological content in music; interpret the thoughts, feelings, and proficiency of the musicians from auditory and visual cues (Thompson, Russo, & Quinto, 2008;Tsay, 2013); respond emotively to the music and the musician (Juslin, & Västfjäll, 2008;Zentner, Grandjean, & Scherer, 2008), and can predict the direction of a melodic phrase or narrative. Empathy is thus connected with the perception, interpretation, and emotional reactions to music.However, only recently have researchers in the field of music, personality, and social psychology begun to focus on how music and empathy are linked. For example, Wöllner (2012) showed that people with higher levels of empathy are able to perceive and identify a musician's intentions with greater accuracy than those with lower levels, and Egermann and McAdams (2013) demonstrated that perceived and induced emotion from music is moderated by empathy. Further, not only does empathy influenc...

show abstract

Music therapy for people with autism spectrum disorder

Geretsegger

Elefant

Mössler

et al. 2014

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

262

203

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The findings of this updated review provide evidence that music therapy may help children with ASD to improve their skills in primary outcome areas that constitute the core of the condition including social interaction, verbal communication, initiating behaviour, and social-emotional reciprocity. Music therapy may also help to enhance non-verbal communication skills within the therapy context. Furthermore, in secondary outcome areas, music therapy may contribute to increasing social adaptation skills in children with ASD and to promoting the quality of parent-child relationships. In contrast to the studies included in an earlier version of this review published in 2006, the new studies included in this update enhanced the applicability of findings to clinical practice. More research using larger samples and generalised outcome measures is needed to corroborate these findings and to examine whether the effects of music therapy are enduring. When applying the results of this review to practice, it is important to note that the application of music therapy requires specialised academic and clinical training.

show abstract

Searching for music's potential: A critical examination of research on music therapy with individuals with autism

Cited by 61 publications

References 28 publications

Music Therapy for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Systematic Review

Music Therapy for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Systematic Review

Can Music Increase Empathy? Interpreting Musical Experience Through the Empathizing–Systemizing (E-S) Theory: Implications for Autism

Music therapy for people with autism spectrum disorder

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About