The psychology of music is an interdisciplinary field that studies the perception, cognition and characteristics of music and its production.
The general principles that guide most of the work in music psychology can be summarized as under:
- that music can be studied by asking questions about one’s perceptions.
- that music operates in a cultural continuum and hence one can come to terms with the continuum through analysis of music.
- that the production of music is a meaningful enterprise and as such is an important avenue by which one comes to terms with human creativity.
Recent research studies in this discipline, especially relating to the impact of music on human behaviour, intelligence, learning, pain tolerance and health have generated a number of interesting findings. Though these studies have used small sample sizes and some have not controlled for confounding variables, more research appears to be required in this area. However, given that many studies have generated almost identical results for certain types of music, they are worth exploring here.
Music and Violence
In a study of university students, it was observed that one batch listened to seven songs with violent lyrics, while a control group listened to the same seven songs without violent lyrics.
It was found that when asked to classify words as violent or nonviolent, those who had listened to violent lyrics were more likely to ascribe aggressive meanings to words such as “rock” and “stick” than, in the “nonviolent” batch. The American Psychological Society has also endorsed the view that there is a proven link between youth violence and violent media which includes music.
Music and Suicide
On a stranger note, James Gundlach , a sociology professor found higher rates of suicide among those who listen to country music. However, Gundlach has noted that the suicide link occurred only with older country music, which he believes is not as upbeat as its contemporary avatar. Music and Maze David Merrill, a student devised an interesting experiment aimed at discovering how music could affect the learning ability of mice. He had one group of mice which listened to classical music round the clock and another to heavy metal. He then timed the mice as they ran through mazes to see if the music affected their speed of learning. However, he could not complete the experiment as he found ‘the heavy metal mice’ all killed one another!. In a second experiment, mice that listened to Mozart for 10 hours a day dramatically improved their maze-solving abilities, as the ‘heavy metal mice’ found themselves unable to solve mazes, as compared to their capability at the beginning of the experiment.
Music, Intelligence and Learning
According to the Association for Psychological Science, intelligence test scores grew higher in children who took lessons in keyboard singing. In another study, boys between the ages of 6 and 15 who took music lessons scored much higher on tests of verbal memory than a control group of students which had not extended such training in music.
Audio-Analgesia
It is on record that some researchers have found that patients who listened to harp, piano, synthesizer, orchestra or slow jazz experienced less post-surgical pain, as compared to those who did not.
Music Therapy and Autism
In recent years, there are many reports which endorse that music therapy is helpful for autistic students, who have difficulty interacting with their class-mates and teachers. Music therapy has thus helped them to remain calm under stressful conditions so that they could socialize well. It is yet another story that the autistic children reveal better music skills, as compared to the average ones.
This article was published in ‘My Doctor’ – February 2010 – Pages 18, 19
Edited by Geeta Shreedar, August 9, 2021