<p> The purpose of this study was to examine the cognitive development in music of first- to third-grade children, with particular interest in the mean level of development for each age and the role that gender may play. Participants included 224 students (115 girls and 109 boys) from grades 1-3. Using a developed research protocol, a trained committee of music educators rated children's drawings for cognitive development with respect to melodic line. The study found significant difference among grade levels with <i>F</i> = 6.9702, <i>df</i> = 2, 222, p = .0012 at the .01 level using a three-group ANOVA. However, there were no significant difference between genders, with <i>F</i> = 0.0487, <i>df</i> = 1, 222, p =.9008 at the .05 level using a two-group ANOVA.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to investigate the sources of variation in music preferences as defined by Leblanc (1980, 1982), provide a comprehensive review of literature as it relates to the variables under investigation, and make recommendations for future research in the field of music preference. Participants (N=420) were undergraduate students (<i>n</i>=354) at a large southeastern university and high school students (<i>n</i>=66) in the southeastern United States. A questionnaire was used to collect demographic information and data for this study. Using a Semantic differential, participants to indicated the influence of twenty-one variables on their musical preferences and an open-ended question at the end allowed them to mark any important influences that may have been left off of the questionnaire. Using demographic information participants were placed in unmatched groups for comparison. </p><p> Results showed stark differences between the groups' responses of certain variables. The most salient of comparisons was made between the groups of Music Major and Non-Music Major, and Musician and Non-Musician. The Music Major and Musician groups rated the variables of Teachers, Quality, Musical Ability, and Musical Training significantly higher. This may be due to the groups' development as musicians, creating a paradigm of influence that is based on musician-oriented variables. Alternately, Non-Music Majors and Non Musicians rated the variables of Mood, Personality, and Incidental Conditioning higher. Unlike the musician-centric paradigm, these groups seemed to base influences on self, social interaction, and emotion. Future research should investigate the relationship of the hierarchy of influential variables between the population of Musician and Non Musician.</p>

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The present study is a comparison of music and non-music students with respect to their response patterns on the Brief Symptom Inventory as well as several demographic questions. The sample consisted of 148 non-music students and 141 music students at three levels (1) freshmen/sophomore, (2) juniors/seniors; and (3) graduate students. Music students consisted of volunteers from several different music classes and non-music students were volunteers from non-music classes.

With the large role that music and the media plays in our society today it, is necessary to examine the effects that they have on certain harmful behaviors. The current study was based upon the Cultivation and Social Cognitive theories. The purpose of this study was to further examine the relationship between music and risky sexual behaviors. A total of 715 participants from the University of Central Florida answered multiple questionnaires via the SONA system. Questionnaires included topics such as music listening/viewing habits, sexual behaviors, dating behaviors, and demographics. The sample was comprised of primarily Caucasian young adults, with an average age of 20.71. The study hypothesized that music is influential because listeners begin to think that the behaviors depicted via music lyrics and videos are normal, thereby influencing the sexual behaviors of listeners. A series of linear regression analyses were conducted using SPSS to determine how musical preference and listening habits relate to the sexual behaviors of participants. Data was also analyzed using a series of repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVAs) to determine any significant differences in how participants viewed their sexual behaviors in comparison to their perceived sexual behaviors of peers and friends. Results of the repeated measures ANOVAs indicated that African American participants exhibited more of a cultivation effect of their sexual behaviors than Caucasian or Hispanic participants.

Taiwan has many high-level music colleges that prepare students for performance and teaching careers. These music colleges are competitive environments in which students are potentially learning to cope with musical performance anxiety (MPA). MPA has been widely researched in recent years. Studies have found that college musicians use their own unique coping strategies or rely on past experiences of coping with MPA to manage it. Nevertheless, literature that focuses on MPA self-management is still limited. The aim of this thesis is to fill this gap by investigating the ways in which MPA is self-managed by Taiwanese college musicians (TCMs). The research questions are: 1) How do TCMs define and perceive MPA? 2) How do TCMs self-manage MPA? 3) What strategies for managing MPA do the TCMs believe they will use with their students when they carry out teaching as part of their future portfolio careers? Fifty-three undergraduates were recruited from a music college in Taiwan. Each participant was interviewed before all of their performances taking place in one semester: formal concert, exam, and graduate recital. The data was analysed through a qualitative approach by using thematic analysis in order to examine the strategies used and the process of managing MPA. The findings are presented as four themes: 1) Strategies used in preparation for different types of performance, during different time periods of preparation and performance. 2) Strategies in context: people and places. 3) Understanding the strategies: metacognition in musical learning and managing MPA. 4) MPA self-management and the teaching-learning cycle. Results revealed that it is possible for TCMs to self-manage their MPA through developing metacognitive processes with support networks in the conservatoire environment and with various external resources. However, information on MPA-coping strategies are like pieces of a puzzle that are scattered rather than being coherently fitted together. Therefore, recommendations for further research and applications to practice are made.

Stress in music performance shows an intrinsic relationship with changes in cardiovascular functioning and emotions, yet to date, studies analysing these stress indicators are few and far between. The overarching aim of this thesis is therefore to investigate performance stress through the lens of both self-reported anxiety and physical stress signatures in heart rate variability. For rigour, this is achieved through a close examination of the relationship between stress and structural complexity of heart rate variability in response to different conditions musicians underwent: (1) a low- and high-stress performance and (2) a simulated performance environment. In my thesis I approached the problem in a comprehensive way and investigated five Studies. Studies 1 and 2 (Chapters 3 and 4) employ new heart rate variability methods to analyse physical stress. Study 3 (Chapter 5) compares heart rate variability responses before and during a performance in a simulated and a real-life performance environment; Study 4 (Chapter 6) qualitatively addresses further enhancements related to simulated performance environments. Study 5 (Chapter 7) examines heart rate variability responses to simulated performance feedback of different emotional valence. Results provide conclusive evidence that musicians performing in high-stress conditions display lower levels of structural complexity in the heart rate variability (signature of high stress), in particular prior to the performance, and a statistically significant elevation of subjective anxiety. The findings show that both simulated and real performance scenarios create similar physical and emotional responses. Interviews with musicians reveal the benefits of simulations in combination with complementary training methods. More immediate follow-up research may focus on heart rate variability responses to other training strategies, such as Alexander Technique and physical exercise; use a greater selection of standardised self-assessments; and evaluate musicians experiencing severe performance stress, for which this thesis has paved the way.

<p> The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of group songwriting versus poetry writing on the self-efficacy of adults who are homeless. The study was conducted in the day center of an emergency shelter where participants took part in one of two conditions. The treatment condition consisted of a single music therapy songwriting session during which participants (<i> n</i> = 19) collaboratively wrote lyrics and composed the music for an original song. After the group performed the song together, with the use of handheld percussion instruments, the researcher facilitated a closing discussion. The control condition consisted of a single poetry therapy session during which participants (<i>n</i> = 14) collaboratively wrote a free-verse poem, recited it together, and concluded with a facilitated discussion. Results showed increased mean self-efficacy scores for both conditions, though neither group's improvement was significant. While there was also no significant difference in the amount of change exhibited by one condition as compared to the other, the music group did evidence a stronger trend of movement toward higher self-efficacy. Music participants had higher mean change scores on 4 out of 5 pre/posttest questions, as well as a higher overall mean change score (6% change as compared to 2% in the poetry condition). The products created in each session were analyzed for observable differences. Overlapping themes included: love, peace, happiness, unity, goals, change, positive thinking, and overcoming adversity. The songs composed by the two music therapy groups were written in verse-chorus form and produced between 6 and 8 unique, unrepeated lines. The poem written by the poetry therapy group was through-composed and produced 26 unique lines. The poetry group product also contained more themes, more sub-thematic material and greater complexity, as evidenced by more detailed explication of each idea. The unique strengths of songwriting and poetry writing in this setting were illuminated by their use in this study; specific goal areas best suited to each modality are discussed. Literature reviewed strongly suggests the need for additional research regarding the use of music therapy with adults experiencing homelessness. The results of this study suggest that both music therapy and poetry therapy are effective therapeutic approaches for this population and that songwriting specifically, may have distinct advantages in addressing self-efficacy.</p>

<p> This thesis examines the impact of music on people from a depth-psychological perspective and explores how music can deeply touch and change clients&rsquo; lives and allow for healing. In so doing, this thesis will contribute to increased understanding of the need for music therapeutically. Utilizing qualitative methodology and a hermeneutic approach, this thesis considers the significant impact of music on the body, brain, mind, spirituality, and emotions, and examines how music can be used as a healing power. The research question guiding this thesis is: How can music be used in a client&rsquo;s therapeutic process to allow for the needed healing? The results explain what music therapy is and how it is used therapeutically, and how it promotes healing while bringing a greater understanding and appreciation for music therapy.</p>

The lived experiences of professional orchestral musicians are under-­‐researched by scholars in both music and psychology, who are interested in the world of the professional orchestra and the careers of classical musicians. Framed within a Social Constructionist paradigm, the research in this thesis is concerned with investigating the subjective meanings and individual experiences of a group of ten classical orchestral musicians. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was the methodological framework chosen to design and analyse a set of open-­‐ ended interviews with the musicians, which allowed reflexivity and flexibility throughout the research process. Three superordinate themes were identified from a close reading and IPA analysis of the interview data: ‘Musical Foundations’, ‘Struggle: “The Never Ending Quest”’ and ‘Thank You For The Music’. ‘Musical Foundations’ examines the process of musical identity construction for the ten participants, from its early beginnings in childhood, through adolescence and their time in the professional orchestra. Different facets of musical identity construction are outlined and becoming an orchestral musician is viewed as essentially a social process shaped by social interactions, building on a sense of possessing certain ‘innate’ characteristics. ‘Struggle: ‘The Never Ending Quest”’ illustrates the challenges the musicians encountered within the profession and the impact that being a professional orchestral musician had on other aspects of their lives (e.g. personal and social). The fear and conflict the ten musicians experienced is outlined and how the musicians coped and ‘survived’ within the professional orchestra is demonstrated. In addition, the central importance of the identity of ‘orchestral musician’ within the participants’ lives is illustrated. The last theme, ‘Thank You For The Music’ outlines why the musicians continued within the profession despite the struggles summarised by the previous theme. This chapter highlights the autonomy and control the musicians felt they gained within their orchestras and the physiological and emotional connections they experienced with both the profession and classic music itself. Common to all three superordinate themes is their reported power struggle between the musicians and the orchestra, and between the individual and the collective. Another common issue was how central the identity of ‘orchestral musician’ was for all participants, impacting all aspects of their lives. The professional musicians constructed, negotiated and maintained their musical identities in accordance with both their own expectations and those of the classical music genre itself. The research in this thesis raises awareness of the importance of the orchestral musician identity in the musicians’ lives and how an understanding of this can help gain an insight into other aspects of the participants’ lives. Recommendations are made for further research regarding: the lived experiences of classical music students, investigation of current teaching practices in conservatoires and further exploration of the professional structures within an orchestra.