Training of Aural Attention Components by Using the Computerized Program AUT

Abstract

Attention, being a precondition for any cognitive process, has always been of the utmost importance for teachers. The teachers who work with musically gifted children also face the problems of insufficient concentration, and inability to listen attentively.The research is based on the acknowledgments about aural attention processes, the role of music parameters in the activation of the attention system's functions, as well as the cognitive processing of acoustic information as a result of structured training. During the research a system of structures was created and it includes two music parameters - pitch and rhythm. This system serves as a basis for its computerized model - the training program AUT. By including a standardized aural attention test AUDIVA, a research measuring the effectiveness of the newly-created AUT program was conducted. The participants of the research were 7-8 years old children (N=85) - pupils of a school in which they were learning music-related subjects in-depth. Three groups were created: pitch (n=30), rhythm (n=30), and a control group (n=25). The research concludes that in 7-8 years old children, who study music-related subjects, significant differences can be observed in attention's activity, persistence and distribution. Structured pitch and rhythm training activates the attention system, but the effect of this activation and persistence differs. This has been confirmed by the differences revealed in the effect's analysis in both experiment groups. The results of the training program's effectiveness analysis point to flexibility in the most important aural attention components - activation and alertness functions- during structured and level-based acoustic training.