RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN EARLY CHILDHOOD MUSIC EXPERIENCES AND MUSIC APTITUDERelationships between Early Childhood Music Experiences and Music Aptitude (original) (raw)
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RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN EARLY CHILDHOOD MUSIC EXPERIENCES AND MUSIC APTITUDE
ABSTRACT Relationships between Early Childhood Music Experiences and Music Aptitude By Eric P. Rasmussen Temple University, 2004 Doctor of Philosophy Major Advisor: Dr. Darrel L. Walters The problems of this study are to 1) identify early childhood musical experiences (birth to 18 months) that predict music aptitude scores as measured in first grade and 2) learn whether school type (public/private) and school setting (urban/suburban) contribute to the predictions. The researcher administered the Intermediate Measures of Music Audiation (IMMA) (Gordon, 1986) to children in first grade. Parents completed the Musical Experiences Questionnaire (MEQ), designed to ascertain the richness of children’s musical experiences. The reliabilities of the measures were from .72 to .92. A factor analysis on the MEQ yielded six factors: musical behaviors of parents, music and movement classes, prenatal music exposure, live instrumental experiences, music from television, and live music and radio. After performing two series of multiple regression analyses, the researcher found no significant relationships between MEQ factors and IMMA scores. The researcher did find that when the MEQ factors were combined with the school variables, they accounted for a statistically significant amount of variance in common with IMMA tonal scores. The t-tests revealed that the difference between urban and suburban school settings (favoring suburban) contributes substantially to the variance accounted for in the IMMA tonal scores, p = .004. The researcher conducted open interviews with seven parents of children with high music aptitudes and low MEQ scores. Interviewees demonstrated a high level of interest in the music development of their children. All but one provided their children with music lessons or classes, and all but one attended church weekly with their children. The researcher concluded that the MEQ did not discriminate between environments that sufficiently nurture a child's musical development and those that do not. Regarding the difference in tonal aptitude scores between the urban and suburban groups, the researcher suggests that because melody and harmony is lacking in much urban music, children would seemingly suffer some degree of musical malnutrition given lesser opportunity to hear music with more tonal substance. Challenges facing urban music educators may also play a role in the discrepancy—that is if the music experiences children receive after reaching school age can indeed influence aptitude scores.
Much research in music psychology characterizes the music background of its participants in a dichotomous manner, labeling participants as 'musicians' and 'non-musicians' or professionals and non-professionals. However, this terminology is inconsistent from study to study, and even more sophisticated measures fail to accurately represent music experiences; Moreover, there is no standardized measures suitable for use with younger participants. This paper presents a new measure, the Exposure to Music in Childhood Inventory, for capturing the amount and type of exposure to music activities suitable for use with children. Children from public and private school, aged 5-to-13 years old (n = 1006; mean 8.36 years old, standard deviation 1.5 years) completed the inventory, and through a combination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis a two-factor solution was obtained. The first factor includes personal music listening activities, home musical environment and the influence of television and the internet; the second reflects more social, active and public elements of music-making, playing an instrument and performing. This scale is suitable for use in a wide range of future research to more accurately assess the kinds of music activities children have access to in a dimensional way which can have a bearing on their understanding of music.
Social Science Quarterly, 2009
Objective. The study examines the association between music involvement and academic achievement in both childhood and adolescence using three measures of music participation: in school, outside of school, and parental involvement in the form of concert attendance. Methods. We review prior work pertaining to music's impact on achievement and then draw from two nationally representative data sources (ECLS-K and NELS:88). Our analyses apply logistic and OLS regression techniques to assess patterns of music involvement and possible effects on math and reading performance for both elementary and high school students. Results. Music involvement varies quite systematically by class, and gender status, and such involvement holds implications for both math and reading achievement, and for young children and adolescents. Notably, associations with achievement persist in our modeling even when prior achievement levels are accounted for. Although music does mediate some student background effects, this mediation is only minimal. Conclusions. Music participation, both inside and outside of school, is associated with measures of academic achievement among children and adolescents. Future work should further delineate the relevant processes of music involvement , as well as how background inequalities and music involvement intersect in relation to educational performance. Music involvement has been publicly linked to student achievement-a presumed connection made all the more obvious in debates over cuts to high school elementary and high school music programs. Youth music participation is associated with higher matriculation rates (Aschaffenburg and Maas, 1997), higher rates of acceptance into medical schools (Thomas, 1994), lower rates of current and lifetime alcohol, tobacco, or drug abuse (Texas Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 1999), and lower rates of disruptive classroom behaviors (OH 43210 hSouth-gate.5@sociology.osu.edui. Upon request, the corresponding author will share all data and coding information with those wishing to replicate the study. Thank you to Douglas Downey for his assistance in conceptualizing this work. We especially appreciate the helpful comments of the editor and the reviewers.
The Impact of Music on Childhood and Adolescent Achievement*
2009
Objective. The study examines the association between music involvement and academic achievement in both childhood and adolescence using three measures of music participation: in school, outside of school, and parental involvement in the form of concert attendance. Methods. We review prior work pertaining to music's impact on achievement and then draw from two nationally representative data sources (ECLS-K and NELS:88). Our analyses apply logistic and OLS regression techniques to assess patterns of music involvement and possible effects on math and reading performance for both elementary and high school students. Results. Music involvement varies quite systematically by class, and gender status, and such involvement holds implications for both math and reading achievement, and for young children and adolescents. Notably, associations with achievement persist in our modeling even when prior achievement levels are accounted for. Although music does mediate some student background effects, this mediation is only minimal. Conclusions. Music participation, both inside and outside of school, is associated with measures of academic achievement among children and adolescents. Future work should further delineate the relevant processes of music involvement, as well as how background inequalities and music involvement intersect in relation to educational performance. OH 43210 hSouthgate.5@sociology.osu.edui. Upon request, the corresponding author will share all data and coding information with those wishing to replicate the study. Thank you to Douglas Downey for his assistance in conceptualizing this work. We especially appreciate the helpful comments of the editor and the reviewers.
International Journal of Music Education, 2010
Recent advances in the study of the brain have enhanced our understanding of the way that active engagement with music may influence other activities. The cerebral cortex selforganises as we engage with different musical activities, skills in these areas may then transfer to other activities if the processes involved are similar. Some skills transfer automatically without our conscious awareness, others require reflection on how they might be utilised in a new situation.
Frontiers in Psychology, 2019
It is widely believed that intensive music training can boost cognitive and visuo-motor skills. However, this evidence is primarily based on retrospective studies; this makes it difficult to determine whether a cognitive advantage is caused by the intensive music training, or it is instead a factor influencing the choice of starting a music curriculum. To address these issues in a highly ecological setting, we tested longitudinally 128 students of a Middle School in Milan, at the beginning of the first class and, 1 year later, at the beginning of the second class. 72 students belonged to a Music curriculum (30 with previous music experience and 42 without) and 56 belonged to a Standard curriculum (44 with prior music experience and 12 without). Using a Principal Component Analysis, all the cognitive measures were grouped in four high-order factors, reflecting (a) General Cognitive Abilities, (b) Speed of Linguistic Elaboration, (c) Accuracy in Reading and Memory tests, and (d) Visuospatial and numerical skills. The longitudinal comparison of the four groups of students revealed that students from the Music curriculum had better performance in tests tackling General Cognitive Abilities, Visuospatial skills, and Accuracy in Reading and Memory tests. However, there were no significant curriculumby-time interactions. Finally, the decision to have a musical experience before entering middle school was more likely to occur when the cultural background of the families was a high one. We conclude that a combination of family-related variables, early music experience, and pre-existent cognitive make-up is a likely explanation for the decision to enter a music curriculum at middle school.
Zbornik radova Filozofskog fakulteta u Pristini, 2021
The development of musical abilities and the space given to music education is determined by various factors. Disagreement in opinions about the role of some factors carries the danger of neglecting some activities that would contribute to the development of musical talent. In that sense, the aim of the paper is pointed at understanding the importance of hereditary and environmental factors for the development of musical abilities, with special emphasis on determining the activities of adults in the function of music education and achievement, but also overall development. Applying the method of theoretical analysis, a comparison of different conceptual approaches was performed, as well as of the results of the conducted research and the conclusions of the authors. After considering these issues, it is concluded that although debates about giving preference to certain factors still exist, there is no dilemma that innate and environmental factors are both important, but not in themse...
Effects of Structural and Personal Variables on Children’s Development of Music Preference
2012
Hargreaves’ (1982) hypothesis of an age-related decline in children’s preference for unfamiliar music genres (“open-earedness”) forms the theoretical background of our longitudinal study with four points of measurement between grade one and four. Primary school children answered a sound questionnaire with 8 music examples on a 5-point iconic preference scale. Structural and personal data was collected using standardized questionnaires, and complementary interviews were conducted. We operationalized open-earedness as a latent construct with “classic” and “ethnic/avant-garde” music preference (Louven, 2011) as distinguishable factors through exploratory factor analyses. The aim is to identify predictor variables (e.g. gender, personality, music experience, migration background, and socio-economic status) using structural equation modelling. This way we tried to assess a measurement model to be used for further investigation of our longitudinal data. So far, analyses of variance suppor...