The purpose of this project is to explore the effectiveness of combining music and visual supports as a means of facilitating communication in exceptional preschoolers. The results indicate that music and visual supports have some merit for increasing verbal responses.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between seventh, tenth, and twelfth graders' participation in school choir and their perceived levels of self-concept and social support. The problems of the study were to determine (1) if there were significant differences in perceived self-concept and social support levels of choir members and non-music students, and (2) if there were significant changes in self-concept and social support of choir members from grades seven to ten to twelve. A secondary concern was school activity involvement, to guard against attributing significant differences of self-concept and social support to choir participation alone.

The increasing importance of music as a therapeutic benefit in mental hospitals has prompted this study. Numerous unscientific reports and papers concerned with music therapy have been published; however, material based upon controlled experiments and results is available which has proven valuable in the study of this growing aid for mental patients. The reference material in the following chapters has been organized and limited to objective reports produced by those who have devoted their interest and time to the facts about the use of music as a therapeutic agent in mental hospitals.

The problem which is reported in these pages represents an attempt on the part of the writer to discover whether the music curriculum of the Denton Senior High School is meeting the personality needs of the students of the school. In order to discover a starting-point from which to attack this problem, the writer administered standardized personality and music tests to the students enrolled in her music classes. The results of these tests form the primary basis of the investigation and of this thesis.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the musical tastes of the primary children in ten schools within a radius of fifty miles of Bellevue, Texas.

Humans are a musical species and every culture has its music. However, twenty individuals out of a cohort of twenty-nine participants in this study judged themselves to be 'not musical'. Through their words, silences and responses, the story of music in the lives of these self-perceived non-musicians uncovered a musical world where concepts of performance, judgment and talent dominate. My investigation into individuals' perceptions of their musicality revealed a pervasive societal belief that individuals were either born 'musical' or they were not; their everyday reality was one where music was perceived as a performance, an object, something that only talented people can 'do'. I planned conversations with participants that aimed to reveal clues that could help to unravel a paradox that lies within music in our Western culture: every young human is intrinsically musical but only some are born with a gift to be musical. Participant convictions that they were not musical deterred some individuals from active engagement in music making. They felt as if they had been left out of the 'musical ballpark'. Details from conversations illustrated a constricting cultural imposition on individuals; this was perpetuated in many schools and also in private music teaching. Data revealed that current educational practice contributed to a denial of a natural birthright and alienated some individuals from being part of a musical community. As their stories revealed failed attempts to engage in music making, iterative contacts created a daunting quantity of data. But there was poetry in participant data. These self-perceived non-musicians simultaneously demonstrated their musicality in the rhythms of their narrative as they denied that they were musical; this emerged as a means to report the research whereby participants' words combined to tell a non-musician's tale. Compelling narrative revealed a society where educational practice does little to address individual musical development. While each story alone was specific and complex, once the stories became woven together as a complex and contradictory whole, the ballad of the never picked captured the essence of a distanced musicality in our Western society. Narrative drove towards meaning. Through interpretation and detailed qualitative analysis, understandings began to emerge from depths of experience and from friction existing within contradictions. Deep within narrative which evolved over a period of five years were perceptions that led to understandings of our cultural reality. Active involvement in this research became part of an emancipatory process for several participants where mutually reflective acts exposed unnecessary impositions from societal expectations. Participant voices uncover a bifurcated reality wherein the musical development of many individuals is undermined through an ignorance of holistic human potential; this musical-unmusical divide is perpetuated in educational practice.

Composition has been conceptualized as a method for communicating a way of thinking (i.e., cognition) from composers to performers and audience members. Music notation, or how music is represented in a visual format, becomes the vehicle through which such cognition is communicated. In the past, research on notation has been approached either categorically or as a taxonomy, where it is placed into separate categories based primarily on visual elements, including its symbols, conventions, and practices. The modern application of notation in Western classical music repertoire, however, has shown that the boundaries between these systems are not always clear and sometimes blend together. Viewing music notation from a spectrum-based approach instead provides a better understanding of notation through its cognitive effects. These spectra can then be viewed through multiple dimensions, all addressing different aspects. The first dimension consists of the historical systems of notation, ranging from standard music notation (SMN) to music graphics. Additional kinds of notation, such as proportional, pictorial, and aleatoric, work as the mediary levels between these two. The second dimension focuses on whether notation is processed intuitively, based on either cultural priming or general cognitive principles, or through conscious interpretation. The last dimension views notation as either a visual representation of the sound (descriptive) or a representation of the process performed to create the sound (prescriptive). This thesis conceptualizes a theory for understanding music notation though these multiple dimensions by synthesizing psychological studies about music, music notation research, and pre-existing musical scores.

The problem with which this investigation was concerned was that of determining the value of the use of musical accompaniment while bowling. This study analyzed the effects of two different types of background music, played at the same decibel level, on the bowling scores and attitudes of college students enrolled in bowling classes at a state university.

Afrikaans text / Die doel van hierdie studie was om vas te stel of musiek in terapie gebruik kan word deur ' opvoedkundige sielkundiges, asook wat die verskil is tussen musiekterapie en die terapeutiese aanwending van musiek deur ander terapeute. Vir die verkenning van die terapeutiese gebruik van musiek is 'n literatuurstudie gedoen oor die fenomeen musiekterapie, asook oor die terapeutiese gebruik van musiek. Die twee verskynsels is met mekaar vergelyk om ooreenkomste en verskille aan te dui. Die empiriese studie het aan die lig gebring dat musiek op baie verskillende maniere in terapie gebruik kan word en gekombineer kan word met ander hulpmiddels. Die emosionele en kognitiewe funksie wat musiek vervul is met die studie uitgewys. Musiek help byvoorbeeld om 'n emosionele klimaat te skep wat effektief in terapie gebruik kan word; en musiek kan 'n mens se denke stimuleer. Aanbevelings is ook gegee vir die terapeutiese gebruik van musiek. / The object of the study was to determine if and how music can be used in therapy by the educational psychologist. The further aim was to determine the difference between music therapy and the therapeutic application of music by other therapists. In the exploration of the therapeutic use of music, a comparative study was done between music therapy as phenomenon and the therapeutic use of music, where similarities and differences were outlined. The empirical study showed that music can be used in different ways in therapy and can also be combined with other therapeutical aids. According to this study, music can fulfill an emotional and a cognitive roll. A pleasant emotional climate for therapy can be created and stimulate the client's thoughts. With this study it was possible to give guidelines for therapeutic applications of music. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Voorligting)

Thesis (M.Mus.)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Countless scientists had been struggling for centuries to find a significant connection between cognition, emotion and reasoning – resulting in today’s rather embarrassingly imperfect understanding of even the most basic human cognition. We should apprehend that it is unlikely that major breakthroughs in the Cognitive Sciences, Psychology, Sociology or the Medical Sciences will elucidate everything about the human brain and -behaviour in the very near future. Realizing this, it is realistic that we should transfer our attention to things that we do know and understand, and reconsider the power that lies in the integration of results and an interdisciplinary perspective in research. Using the tools we have to our disposal today – digital tools such as ANNs which did not exist a few decades before – this is actually readily viable today. This thesis demonstrates that it is possible to break the traditional boundaries that have periodically prevented the Humanities and the Natural Sciences to join forces towards a greater understanding of human beings. By using ANNs, we are able to merge data from any subfield within the Humanities and Natural Sciences in a single study. The results, interpretations and applications which could develop from such a study would certainly be more inclusive than those derived from research conducted in one or two of these fields in isolation. Sufficient evidence is provided in this dissertation to support a methodology which employs an artificial neural network to assist with decision-making processes related to the choice of advertisement music. The main objective of this endeavour is to establish the feasibility of combining data from many diverse fields, in the creation of an ANN that can be helpful in research regarding South African advertisement music. The thesis explores the notion that knowledge from many interdisciplinary study fields ought to play a leading role in the creation and assessment of effective, target-group-specific advertisement music. In obtaining this goal, it examines the probability of producing a computer-based tool which can assist people working in the advertising industry to obtain an educated match between product, consumer, and advertisement music. Taking a multidisciplinary point of view, the author suggests a methodology for the design of a digital tool in the form of a musical network model. It is concluded that, by using this musical network, it is indeed possible to guarantee a functional musically-paired commercial, which effectively addresses its target-group and has an appropriate emotional effect in support of the marketing goals of the advertising agent. The thesis also demonstrates that it is possible to gain new insights regarding a fairly unstudied discipline, without necessarily conducting new research studies in the specified field. The thesis proves that - by taking an interdisciplinary approach and by using ANNs - it is possible to attain new data that is scientifically valid, even in an unacknowledged field such as South African advertisement music. Although the scope of the thesis does not provide for the actual implementation of the musical network, the feasibility of the conceptual idea is thoroughly examined, and it is concluded that the theory in it’s entirely is definitely feasible, and can be implemented in a future study. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Vir eeue al probeer wetenskaplikes ‘n betekenisvolle verwantskap tussen denke, emosie en redenasie vind. Nietemin het ons vandag slegs ‘n beperkte begrip van selfs die mees basiese menslike kognisie. Ons moet besef dat dit onwaarskynlik is dat deurbrake in die Kognitiewe Wetenskappe, Sielkunde, Sosiologie of die Mediese Wetenskap in die nabye toekoms die volle funksionaliteit van die menslike brein en gedrag sal bekendmaak. Met inagname hiervan, is ‘n aandagsverskuiwing geoorloof - na die dinge wat ons wel weet en verstaan. Die enorme potensiaal opgesluit in die integrasie van resultate en ‘n interdissiplinêre navorsingsperspektief behoort gevolglik heroorweeg te word. Ons beskik tans oor meer as voldoende digitale hulpbronne, waaronder kunsmatige neurale netwerke, wat wel so ‘n benadering kan bewerkstellig. In hierdie tesis word daar gedemonstreer dat dit moontlik is om die grense wat tradisioneel ‘n samewerking tussen die Geestes- en Natuurwetenskappe beperk het, af te breek - ‘n werkswyse wat noodwendig sal lei tot ‘n beter begrip van die mens. Kunsmatige neurale netwerke maak dit moontlik om navorsingsdata uit die Geestes- en Natuurwetenskappe te kombineer in ‘n enkele onderneming. Die bevindinge, interpretasies en toepasings wat potensieel uit so ‘n metodologie sou kon voortspruit, is sonder twyfel meer omvattend as dié afkomstig vanuit ‘n eendimensionele studie. Voldoende bewyse word deur die loop van hierdie studie voorgehou ter ondersteuning van ‘n kunsmatige neurale netwerk-metodologie in die assistering van besluitnemingsprosesse rakende advertensiemusiek. Die hoofdoelwit van die onderneming is om te toets of die ontwerp van ‘n kunsmatige neurale netwerk - deur die kombinasie van data uit diverse studierigtings - wel geoorloof en funksioneel sou kon wees. Die aanname dat inligting uit ‘n aantal interdissiplinêre studierigtings ‘n prominente rol behoort te speel tydens die skep en beoordeling van effektiewe, teikengroep-gerigte advertensiemusiek, word gevolglik ondersoek. Om hierdie objektief te bewerkstellig, word die waarskynlikheid bestudeer na die ontwerp van ‘n rekenaargebaseerde hulpbron - wat mense in die advertensiewese behulpsaam kan wees om ‘n berekende en ingeligte keuse uit te oefen om produk, verbruiker en advertensiemusiek te laat pas. Die outeur benader die probleem vanuit ‘n multidissiplinêne oogpunt, en stel ‘n werkswyse voor vir die ontwerp van ‘n digitale hulpbron – in die vorm van ‘n musikale netwerk model. Daar word bevind dat - deur die gebruik van die voorgestelde model, dit wel moontlik is om die funksionaliteit van ‘n musiekgepaarde advertensie te verseker. Verder word daar gedemonstreer dat nuwe insigte rakende ‘n grotendeels afgeskeepte studierigting soos Suid-Afrikaanse advertensiemusiek moeiteloos bekom kan word, sonder om noodwendig navorsing binne die spesifieke gebied te loods. Laasgenoemde is doenbaar deur ‘n interdissiplinêre navorsingsbenadering, gekombineerd met ‘n kunsmatige neurale netwerk-metodologie. Die omvang van hierdie studie maak nie voorsiening vir die implementering van die musikale netwerk nie. Nietemin word die werkbaarheid van die konseptuele idee in diepte ondersoek, met die gevolgtrekking dat die teorie in sy geheel sonder twyfel prakties is, en in ‘n toekomstige studie geïmplementeer kan word.