Music Listening Research Articles

SHORT-TERM MUSIC TRAINING ENHANCES INHIBITION IN AGING

Abstract Music training was shown to benefit inhibition in adults; however, little is known about the benefits of specific types of music training and the dosages necessary to demonstrate gains in older adults. Based on the ADAM model, professional musicians use predictive temporal extrapolation to anticipate and perform coordinated bimanual movements. We applied this model to beginning adult musicians by isolating the effects of bimanual coordination when compared with non-motor standardized music interventions. We evaluated the effects of two standardized music programs (piano training, music listening instruction) on inhibition in novice adults after four-week intervals. Older adults (N=18) were recruited and randomly assigned to a manualized piano program (Keys to Staying Sharp) or music listening instruction (Music Listening Today, standard protocol). Participants completed a battery of standardized measures including measures of inhibition (Flanker, Cued Color Word Stroop) at pretesting and at each of the three follow-up intervals: 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks. Results of a Repeated Measures Group X Time ANOVA for the first four months of training showed reduced error rates, F(1, 14)=6.48, p=.023, and faster reaction times, F(1, 14) =5.27, p=.038 for piano training as compared to music listening instruction. Increased differences were prominent after eight-weeks of training for the piano group as compared to music listening. Data suggests that music training interventions while manualized are not created equal. Benefits from complex music performance are evident after short-term manualized music interventions. Short-term bimanual music interventions may increase cognitive performance beyond music listening instruction due to cognitive load.

SMART MUSIC INTERVENTION: PROTOCOL DEVELOPMENT OF A WEARABLE DEVICE FOR COLLECTION OF PHYSIOLOGICAL DATA

Abstract This study tested a protocol of collecting physiological data through sensors on a wearable device in response to favorite music from late adolescence/early adulthood. The benefits of personalized music for individuals living with dementia have been demonstrated in various studies, showing decreases in agitation, anxiety, depression, and other behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia and improvement in mood, memory, and well-being. Most studies have relied on observational data, standardized clinical scales, and self- or caregiver-reported perceptions of the effects of personalized music. Passively-collected physiological data may minimize researcher bias during data interpretation. We tested the protocol on 15 participants, triangulating the physiological, observational, and self-reported effects of personalized music on stress. Physiological measures were captured by a wearable wristband Empatica E4 and included heart rate, electrodermal activity, and temperature. Self-reported measures included the Perceived Stress Scale, level of stress on a 0-10 scale, and reactions to each song (happy, energized, calm, relaxed, nostalgic, sad, excited). Prior to music listening, we induced stress through three iterations of the Trier Mental Challenge Test, which involves three minutes of math exercises. Participants reported their level of stress after the Trier Test and after each song. Researchers observed participant reactions during each song. Preliminary analysis shows that nine minutes of a stress-inducing activity was enough to capture stress reactions and demonstrated a feasible protocol for collecting physiological, observational, and self-report data. These results inform the development of a novel protocol that responds to a person’s stress levels through a personalized music listening intervention.

“Genrefluid” Spotify Playlists and Mediations of Genre and Identity in Music Streaming

Recent popular discourse has claimed that music and listeners’ tastes are becoming increasingly “genrefluid” in popular music culture, and this idea has been linked to the logics of music streaming services. This article analyzes the Spotify-curated playlist Lorem, which has been presented by the company as a primary illustration of “genrefluid” music curation and listening, to investigate Spotify’s mediations of genre and identity at the intersections of media discourse, genre metadata, and curated sound. I discuss how the idea of genrefluidity links post-genre and post-identity discourses to the technocultural logics of algorithmic recommendation. At the same time, Spotify’s mediation of genre remediates earlier hegemonic associations between genre and identity in popular music culture. This article concludes that musical categorization in music streaming does not transcend genre and identity but is characterized by ambivalent mappings of genre and identity mediated by the logics of algorithmic technologies.

Influence of musical activities on the prosocial behaviors of preschool children

Music plays a key role in our evolution and contributes to the promotion of interpersonal relationships as well as enhancement of group cohesiveness. In this study, 29 five- to six-year-old preschool children were examined to explore the influence of passive music listening and active music engagement on their helping and sharing behaviors, compared with coloring activities. The results revealed that children’s prosocial behaviors were significantly different under the three conditions, and as compared with passive listening and coloring conditions, children’s prosocial behavior (including helping behavior and sharing behavior) in the active music engagement condition was significantly enhanced. Our research revealed that even short-duration active music engagement can improve children’s prosocial behavior, and the potential benefit of active engagement musical training for the development of preschool children should be recognized.

Music listening as emotion regulation: Associations with other emotion regulation strategies and symptoms of depression and anxiety

Music listening, an inherently emotional activity, is commonly used as a form of emotion regulation (ER). Although research suggests that some strategies of listening to music to regulate emotion are linked with psychological well-being and symptoms of affective disorders, the mechanisms underlying these relationships have not been thoroughly explored. The present study examined whether associations between music as ER and symptoms of depression and anxiety were mediated by individuals’ use of other adaptive and maladaptive ER strategies. A nationwide online sample of US adults ( n = 146) completed measures assessing their use of music as ER, other adaptive and maladaptive ER strategies, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. The results indicated that the overall use of music as ER was not directly associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety, whereas using music as discharge (venting negative emotions by listening to mood-congruent music) was positively associated with such symptoms. Mediational analyses revealed that adaptive ER mediated the relationship between overall use of music as ER and symptoms of depression and anxiety, whereas maladaptive ER mediated the relationships between discharge and symptoms. These findings suggest that people use music as ER alongside their other ER efforts, which in turn are linked with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Furthermore, although the overall use of music to regulate emotion may be beneficial for well-being via its association with adaptive ER, a more maladaptive pattern when using music for emotional discharge suggests that music plays a more nuanced role in ER and mental health.

Aesthetic Motivation Impacts Judgments of Others' Prosociality and Mental Life.

The ability to infer others' prosocial vs. antisocial behavioral tendencies from minimal information is core to social reasoning. Aesthetic motivation (the value or appreciation of aesthetic beauty) is linked with prosocial tendencies, raising the question of whether this factor is used in interpersonal reasoning and in the attribution of mental capacities. We propose and test a model of this reasoning, predicting that evidence of others' aesthetic motivations should impact judgments of others' prosocial (and antisocial) tendencies by signaling a heightened capacity for emotional experience. In a series of four pre-registered experiments (total N = 1440), participants saw pairs of characters (as photos/vignettes), and judged which in each pair showed more of a mental capacity of interest. Distractor items prevented participants from guessing the hypothesis. For one critical pair of characters, both characters performed the same activity (music listening, painting, cooking, exercising, being in nature, doing math), but one was motivated by the activities' aesthetic value, and the other by its functional value. Across all activities, participants robustly chose aesthetically-motivated characters as more likely to behave compassionately (Exp. 1; 3), less likely to behave selfishly/manipulatively (Exp. 1; 3), and as more emotionally sensitive, but not more intelligent (Exp. 2; 3; 4). Emotional sensitivity best predicted compassionate behavior judgements (Exp. 3). Aesthetically-motivated characters were not reliably chosen as more helpful; intelligence best predicted helpfulness judgements (Exp. 4). Evidence of aesthetic motivation conveys important social information about others, impacting fundamental interpersonal judgments about others' mental life and social behavior.

Emotion Based Music Player

The work presents described the development of Emotion Based Music Player, which is a computer application meant for all type of users, specifically the music lovers. Due to the troublesome workloads in songs selection, most people will choose to randomly play the songs in the playlist. As a result, some of the songs selected not matching the users’ current emotion. Moreover, there is no commonly used music player which able to play the songs based on user’s emotion. The proposed model is able to extract user’s facial expression and thus detect user’s emotion. The music player in the proposed model will then play the songs according to the category of emotion detected. It is aimed to provide a better enjoyment to music lovers in music listening. The scope of emotions in the proposed model involve normal, sad, surprise and happy. The system involves the major of image processing and facial detection technologies. Facial expression is a easy way and most ancient way of expressing emotion, feelings and ongoing mood of the person. This model based on real time extraction of facial expression and identify the mood. In this project we are using Haar cascade classifier to extract the facial features based on the extracted features from Haar cascade, we are using COHN KANADE dataset to identify the emotion of user. If the user's detected emotion is neutral then the background will be detected and the music will play according to the background.

Craving for music increases after music listening and is related to earworms and personality

Recent research suggests that music listening elicits chills during intense moments. In addition, anticipative physiological and neural responses prior to the chills occur. Those responses can be interpreted as craving for the particularly intense moments. The concept of craving originates in addiction research and describes the urge to consume a substance or to execute a behavior. The current study aims to investigate craving for music and its psychological correlates. Participants’ craving for music was assessed via questionnaire before and after they listened to a song. In addition, earworms before and after music listening were assessed. Finally, personality traits were measured. The results indicated that craving for music significantly increased after listening to a song. The same was observed for earworms. Craving for music and earworms were significantly related, and baseline craving was also related to psychoticism and openness to experience. The results emphasize that craving reactions not only occur within a piece of music but also increase after listening to music. This is in line with the findings from addiction research. The relationship between craving for music with other psychological states and traits opens perspectives for future research.

The association between divergent thinking, personality, and listening to classical music

Divergent thinking (DT) enables flexible thinking and the generation of a wider range of original ideas that form the basis of creativity. Although personality traits and music listening have been found to be positively correlated with DT performance, the association remains inconclusive. Furthermore, there is a debate regarding whether originality should be included as an index to measure DT. The present study examines the association between DT, personality, and classical music listening. There were 162 Malaysian adults who participated in this experiment. Participants were randomly allocated to either happy, sad classical music (i.e., listen to a repeated clip of happy or sad music), or silent conditions (i.e., no music was played). DT and personality were assessed with Figural and Realistic DT Tests and 44-item personality model with five broad factors, respectively. Positive intercorrelations were found between fluency, flexibility, originality, and DT total score. A weak positive correlation was revealed between DT total score and openness trait. However, there was no significant difference between happy, sad music, and silent conditions on DT performance. The findings support the notion that fluency, flexibility, and originality are the essential indices in measuring DT performance. The results suggest that open-minded people have better DT performance.

P75: Using music to reduce depressive symptoms among nursing home residents: Preliminary results of a Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Objective:Reviews show that music interventions may be effective in reducing depressive symptoms among nursing home residents. Since interventions use various ways to include music, results on the effectiveness on depressive symptoms are often inconsistent. A previous review found that receptive music interventions (e.g., music listening) are more effective than active music interventions to reduce depressive symptoms among nursing home residents. Other research suggest that active music interventions (e.g., playing instruments, dancing) are more effective. Moreover, therapists seem to prefer using active music interventions. Because of its low costs, the previously found effectiveness and low side effects, it is important to gain more insight into components specific to the intervention that may contribute to its effectiveness in reducing depressive symptoms. This insight may help to fine-tune interventions and develop treatment protocols.Method:A Bayesian Network Meta-analysis was conducted to calculate the relative effectiveness of interventions including music. In addition, different network-meta-regression analyses were conducted to explorer components that may contribute to the effectiveness of the included studies.Results:Our search strategy resulted in N=22 eligible Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT), that included music in the reported interventions. Compared to Care as Usual, a multidisciplinary approach including music was the most effective (MD=-0.92, 95% CrI -2.8 to 0.97), followed by music interventions focused on sensory stimulation (MD=-0.43, 95% CrI -1.1 to 0.19), music interventions with reminiscence (MD=-0.38, 95% CrI -1.2 to 0.45) and cognitive interventions with music (MD=-0.31, 95% CrI -2.0 to 1.40). Level of depression (ƅ=-0.88, CrI 95% [-1.81 to 0.06]), and being physical dependent (ƅ=-0.29, CrI 95% [-1.20 to 0.61]), moderated the effectiveness of interventions, although this was not significant. We did not found any difference between active and receptive music interventions.Conclusion:In the constructed network, interventions that included music, were not more effective in reducing depressive symptoms among nursing home residents when compared to the care as usual group. However, some subgroups seem to benefit more from music than others. To gain more insight in the effectiveness of music in reducing depressive symptoms, more research is needed, targeting those specific target groups.

Methods of Developing Student Personal Intellect Through Music Listening Activities in Music Culture Lessons

We know that one of the most important tasks facing education today is the development and formation of the student's intellect. It is possible to perform this task in every direction of education. In this article, we will talk about the theoretical and practical foundations of the development of the student's intellect through the activity of listening to music in music lessons.

Effects of disliked music on psychophysiology

While previous research has shown the positive effects of music listening in response to one’s favorite music, the negative effects of one’s most disliked music have not gained much attention. In the current study, participants listened to three self-selected disliked musical pieces which evoked highly unpleasant feelings. As a contrast, three musical pieces were individually selected for each participant based on neutral liking ratings they provided to other participants’ disliked music. During music listening, real-time ratings of subjective (dis)pleasure and simultaneous recordings of peripheral measures were obtained. Results showed that compared to neutral music, listening to disliked music evoked physiological reactions reflecting higher arousal (heart rate, skin conductance response, body temperature), disgust (levator labii muscle), anger (corrugator supercilii muscle), distress and grimacing (zygomaticus major muscle). The differences between conditions were most prominent during “very unpleasant” real-time ratings, showing peak responses for the disliked music. Hence, disliked music has a strenuous effect, as shown in strong physiological arousal responses and facial expression, reflecting the listener’s attitude toward the music.

Radio and Music Listening Practices in Colonial Mozambique: The Goan Experience

ABSTRACT In this article, I explore the role of radio and music listening practices in re-signifying the imperial identities of the population of Goan origin, who were either born in or migrated to colonial Mozambique. Apart from relying on archival research and interviews with radio professionals and other relevant informants, I also draw on 11 in-depth interviews with Portuguese and Mozambicans of Goan origin who have lived in colonial Mozambique for ten or more years, both men and women. Alongside the biographical method, I also examine my interlocutors’ relationship with several forms of media to investigate their past practices of radio reception and music listening. I articulate Nick Couldry’s framework of media as practice with Elizabeth Bird’s approach to the historical audience to understand my interlocutors’ memories of radio and sound reception as part of a broader set of social and cultural practices through which their imperial identities are reconstructed. The research results suggest that my interlocutors’ past radio and music listening practices contributed to both reproducing and discontinuing their parents’ socio-cultural practices brought with them when they migrated from Goa to Mozambique. Additionally, such practices enabled the construction of different ambivalent forms of Goan-ness in colonial Mozambique, hence across different spaces of the empire.

Effects of music intervention combined with progressive muscle relaxation on anxiety, depression, stress and quality of life among women with cancer receiving chemotherapy: A pilot randomized controlled trial.

The study was carried out from March to May 2022 in an oncology hospital in Vietnam. A single-blinded randomized controlled trial was conducted among 24 women with breast and gynaecological cancer undergoing chemotherapy. The intervention group (n = 12) received a face-to-face training program about music listening and progressive muscle relaxation skills. They then performed the self-practice daily at home for three weeks. The control group (n = 12) received standard care, including health assessment, regular health advice and nutrition consultation. Ten participants in the intervention group were interviewed with open-ended questions to explore the acceptability of the intervention. Anxiety, depression and stress were measured using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, while The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General was used to evaluate the quality of life. The outcome measurements were collected at baseline (T0), post-intervention (3rd week, T1) and follow-up (6th week, T2). Appropriate descriptive statistics were used to depict the outcome measures across study time points. A total of 24 patients were eligible to join, and 20 of them completed the study. Greater reductions in anxiety, depression and stress were observed in the intervention group than in the control group at T1 and T2. Greater improvements on quality of life were found in the intervention group than control group at T1 and T2 with respect to T0. The content analysis supported the acceptable intervention of participants through two themes, perceived beneficial effects on psychological and physical health and willingness to keep practising in the future. Implementing music intervention combined with progressive muscle relaxation is feasible and had a trend in reducing anxiety, depression and stress levels. A larger scale randomized controlled trial is needed to confirm the effect of the intervention on outcomes. This trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov with ID: NCT05262621.

Navigating Uncertainty

This report describes a music-based, insight-oriented, online group program for supporting the wellbeing of early career researchers during the global pandemic. A substantial body of research illuminates the wellbeing challenges faced by university students, notably PhD researchers. This context, coupled with the author’s significant experience and leadership roles within a tertiary research and teaching environment, and with a key responsibility for student wellbeing, led to the opportunity to conceive of a novel online program designed specifically for PhD researchers. Students were invited to engage in an 8 week, online group program, incorporating a range of theoretical perspectives and disciplinary approaches influenced by the author’s specific experiences as a music therapist, Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) therapist, lecturer and transformational coach. The use of self-revealing storytelling, alongside guided, creative, experiential activities, with a strong emphasis on music listening was fundamental to supporting participants in recognising both the shared nature of the external conditions they were grappling with as early career researchers, as well as the internal barriers to personal flourishing that they might benefit from understanding. Evaluation of the group involved narrative feedback through participant self-report in week four of the program, with typical feedback including descriptions of how the group afforded reconnection with their research aspirations, perspective and insight into their current personal challenges and strategies for better supporting oneself. Although this program was created specifically to respond to unexpected conditions, some aspects may be useful for future program design.

I am all EARS: Using open data and knowledge graph embeddings for music recommendations

Music streaming platforms offer music listeners an overwhelming choice of music. Therefore, users of streaming platforms need the support of music recommendation systems to find music that suits their personal taste. Currently, a new class of recommender systems based on knowledge graph embeddings promises to improve the quality of recommendations, in particular to provide diverse and novel recommendations. This paper investigates how knowledge graph embeddings can improve music recommendations. First, it is shown how a collaborative knowledge graph can be derived from open music data sources. Based on this knowledge graph, the music recommender system EARS (knowledge graph Embedding-based Artist Recommender System) is presented in detail, with particular emphasis on recommendation diversity and explainability. Finally, a comprehensive evaluation with real-world data is conducted, comparing of different embeddings and investigating the influence of different types of knowledge.

The influence of tonality, tempo, and musical sophistication on the listener's time-duration estimates.

Music listening affects time perception, with previous studies suggesting that a variety of factors may influence this: musical, individual, and environmental. Two experiments investigated the effect of musical factors (tonality and musical tempo) and individual factors (a listener's level of musical sophistication) on subjective estimates of duration. Participants estimated the duration of different versions of newly composed instrumental music stimuli under retrospective and prospective conditions. Stimuli varied in tempo (90-120 bpm) and tonality (tonal-atonal), in a 2 × 2 factorial design, while other musical parameters remained constant. Estimates were made using written estimates of minutes and seconds in Experiment 1, and the reproduction method in Experiment 2. Two-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) showed no main effect of tonality on estimates and no significant interactions between tempo and tonality, under any condition. Musical tempo significantly affected estimates, with the faster tempo leading to longer estimates, but only in the prospective condition, and with the use of the reproduction method. Correlation matrices using the Pearson correlation coefficient found no correlation between musical sophistication scores (measured using the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index [Gold-MSI]) and verbal or reproduction estimates. In conclusion, together with the existing literature, findings suggest that (1) changes in tonality, without further changes in rhythm, metre, or melodic contour, do not significantly affect estimates; (2) small changes in musical tempo influence only prospective reproduction estimates, with larger tempo differences or longer stimuli being needed to cause changes in retrospective estimates; (3) participants' level of musical sophistication does not impact estimates of musical duration; and (4) empirical research on music listening and subjective time must consider potential method-dependent results.

A Case Study of Using Problem-Based Learning in a University Liberal Arts Classroom : Focusing on a music appreciation-based class

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of students' self-directed learning, creative problem solving, and critical thinking skills through the use of PBL in a university liberal arts music appreciation-based class to improve learning efficiency. The subjects of the study are 66 male and female undergraduate students participating in the course ‘Theory and Appreciation of Music’ at a four-year B university in Region A in Korea. The class was run as a PBL for 10 weeks with theoretical knowledge of each period and genre along with related music listening activities. The research method used the SPSS program to conduct pre-post t-tests, the analysis of individual and team evaluations, and qualitative data analysis using reflection journals. First, the results showed significant effects on self-directed learning, creative problem solving, and critical thinking skills through PBL-applied music appreciation-based liberal arts classes. Second, the analysis of the reflection journals revealed the expression of creative thinking and the positive meaning of empathetic communication, the benefits of developing self-directed learning and problem-solving skills, the effectiveness of team-based cooperative learning, and the expectations of future learning design and community activities. Therefore, this study demonstrates that PBL is an appropriate teaching and learning method for university students' liberal arts music classes. Thus, it is necessary for instructors to design and operate differentiated classes centered on learners to promote learning motivation and participation and to improve the students' overall level of satisfaction. In addition, the assignment of PBL topics and tasks that apply to real life is emphasized to encourage non-music majors to reflect deeply from the perspective of new thinking. Finally, as a result of this study, we suggest that instructors improve upon their learning assessment methods and that they conduct continuous research on innovative teaching methods using PBL.

Artificial Neural Networks for a Semantic Map of Variables in a Music Listening-Based Study

Music listening is widely used in therapeutic music-based interventions across various clinical contexts. However, relating the diverse and overlapping musical elements to their potential effects is a complex task. Furthermore, the considerable subjectivity of musical preferences and perceptual components of music, influenced by factors like cultural and musical background, personality structure of the user, and clinical aspects (in the case of diseases), adds to the difficulty. This paper analyzes data derived from a previous randomized controlled study involving a healthy population (n = 320). The study aimed to induce relaxation through music listening experiences using both conventional and algorithmic approaches. The main goal of the current research is to identify potential relationships among the variables investigated during the experiment. To achieve this, we employed the Auto Contractive Map (Auto-CM), a fourth-generation artificial neural network (ANN). This approach allows us to quantify the strength of association between each of the variables with respect to all others in the dataset. The main results highlighted that individuals who achieved a state of relaxation by listening to music composed by Melomics-Health were predominantly over 49 years old, female, and had a high level of education and musical training. Conversely, for conventional (self-selected) music, the relaxing effect was correlated with the male population, aged less than 50 years, with a high level of education and musical training. Future studies conducted in clinical settings could help identify “responder” populations based on different types of music listening approaches.

Teachers’ Beliefs and Actions on affective responses during music listening activities in higher education in China

Music listening is very important in all stages of music learning. Affective response and cognition take place simultaneously during the music-listening process. However, there is a paucity of research on how university music teachers deal with the issues of involving the affective responses of students in listening. This study employed a questionnaire survey to investigate the current situation of teaching beliefs and actions of music academics towards affective responses while listening to music in China. The views of 160 music university teachers recruited from 15 different universities have been surveyed. The questionnaire was designed based on the concept of music teaching and learning with an acceptable reliability of K=0.58. The survey data identified the potential correlation between the teacher’s beliefs and their actions (r=0.67). Moreover, the possible correlation between several predictors associated with the teachers (gender, educational degree, teaching experience and the type of university, and so on) also have been investigated. The results of this study revealed that around 90% of respondents agreed that affective responses can be enhanced music cognition during the teaching process. The relationship between teachers’ beliefs and actions is found to be positive but not linear related. In addition, it was found that the teacher’s knowledge of effective pedagogical responses during music listening has the potential to broaden the scope of their teaching.