Film music influences how viewers relate to movie characters.

Film music has powerful aesthetic effects on the perception and understanding of screen content, but does it also influence viewers' sense of connection with movie characters thereby creating antecedents for an experience of empathy? Participants viewed clips showing characters' neutral or ambiguous reaction to an event, person, or object. Viewers rated character likability and their certainty about characters' thoughts in three conditions: thriller music, melodrama music, and no music. The effect of music conditions differed significantly from the no music condition. Compared to melodramatic music, thriller music significantly lowered likability and certainty about characters' thoughts. During subsequent cued recall of screen content, thriller music increased anger attributions and lowered sadness attributions, while melodramatic music increased love attributions and lowered fear attributions. The study provides evidence that film music can influence character likability and the certainty of knowing the character's thoughts, which are antecedents of empathetic concern and emphatic accuracy. Thus film music may be regarded as modulating antecedents of empathic concern and empathic accuracy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Music-induced context preference following cocaine conditioning in rats.

Traditional models of drug-seeking behavior have shown that exposure to associated environmental cues can trigger relapse. These learned associations take place during repeated drug administration, resulting in conditioned reinforcement. Although considerable investigation has occurred regarding simple conditioned stimuli, less is known about complex environmental cues, particularly those that may be salient in human addiction. Recent studies indicate that music can serve as a contextual conditioned stimulus in rats and influence drug-seeking behavior during abstinence. The purpose of the present study was to further assess the effectiveness of music as a conditioned stimulus in rats, to determine rats' preferences for two contrasting pieces of music, and to determine rats' preferences for music versus silence. To this end, we created an apparatus that gave instrumental control of musical choice (Miles Davis vs. Beethoven) to the rats themselves. After determining baseline musical preference, animals were conditioned with cocaine (10 mg/kg) to the music they initially preferred least, with alternating conditioning sessions pairing saline with the music preferred most. The animals were subsequently tested in a drug-free state to determine what effect this conditioning had on musical preference. The results indicate that music serves as an effective contextual conditioned stimulus, significantly increasing both musical preference and locomotor activity after repeated cocaine conditioning. Furthermore, we found that rats initially favor silence over music, but that this preference can be altered as a result of cocaine-paired conditioning. These findings demonstrate that, after repeated association with reward (cocaine), music can engender a conditioned context preference in rats; these findings are consistent with other evidence showing that musical contextual cues can reinstate drug-seeking behavior in rats. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The minor third communicates sadness in speech, mirroring its use in music.

There is a long history of attempts to explain why music is perceived as expressing emotion. The relationship between pitches serves as an important cue for conveying emotion in music. The musical interval referred to as the minor third is generally thought to convey sadness. We reveal that the minor third also occurs in the pitch contour of speech conveying sadness. Bisyllabic speech samples conveying four emotions were recorded by 9 actresses. Acoustic analyses revealed that the relationship between the 2 salient pitches of the sad speech samples tended to approximate a minor third. Participants rated the speech samples for perceived emotion, and the use of numerous acoustic parameters as cues for emotional identification was modeled using regression analysis. The minor third was the most reliable cue for identifying sadness. Additional participants rated musical intervals for emotion, and their ratings verified the historical association between the musical minor third and sadness. These findings support the theory that human vocal expressions and music share an acoustic code for communicating sadness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Music in play therapy: Playing my feelings.

Through free and creative exploration of music and music activities, emotionally conflicted and confused children can be encouraged to express their emotions. The purpose of this article is to briefly review nondirective play therapy and music play therapy and to describe how these could be combined in actual practice. The two case examples further illustrate and encourage other play therapists to incorporate music and music activities into the playroom. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reenvisioning Jungian analytical play therapy with child sexual assault survivors.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a pervasive, traumatic event (A. H. Heflin & E. Deblinger, 2007) affecting hundreds of thousands of ethnically and socioeconomically diverse children and families across the United States (F. W. Putnam, 2003). E. Gil (2006) and J. S. Shelby and E. D. Felix (2006) have noted that integrative therapies--those that combine directive and nondirective strategies--possess the capacity to benefit a child traumatized by sexual assault. Jungian analytical play therapy (JAPT) is a creative, integrative therapy that may be beneficial when applied to children affected by CSA (J. Allan, 1988). Within the safety of a nonjudgmental, therapeutic relationship, children affected by CSA may become consciously aware of and subsequently resolve conflicting emotions associated with sexual assault in symbolic, less-threatening ways. Through participation in JAPT, the child's psyche may begin the therapeutic process of integrating inner and outer emotional polarities in an archetypal quest for self-healing after sexual trauma (E. Green, 2005). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and uses of music as predictors of preferences for music consensually classified as happy, sad, complex, and social.

This study replicates the findings of a recent study (Chamorro-Premuzic, Gomà-i-Freixanet, Furnham, & Muro, 2009) on the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and everyday uses of music or people's motives for listening to music. In addition, it examined emotional intelligence as predictor of uses of music, and whether uses of music and personality traits predicted liking of music consensually classified as sad, happy, complex, or social. A total of 100 participants rated their preferences for 20 unfamiliar musical extracts that were played for a 30-s interval on a website and completed a measure of the Big Five personality traits. Openness predicted liking for complex music, and Extraversion predicted liking for happy music. Background use of music predicted preference for social and happy music, whereas emotional music use predicted preference for sad music. Finally, males tended to like sad music and use music for cognitive purposes more than females did. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotions evoked by the sound of music: Characterization, classification, and measurement.

One reason for the universal appeal of music lies in the emotional rewards that music offers to its listeners. But what makes these rewards so special? The authors addressed this question by progressively characterizing music-induced emotions in 4 interrelated studies. Studies 1 and 2 (n = 354) were conducted to compile a list of music-relevant emotion terms and to study the frequency of both felt and perceived emotions across 5 groups of listeners with distinct music preferences. Emotional responses varied greatly according to musical genre and type of response (felt vs. perceived). Study 3 (n = 801)--a field study carried out during a music festival--examined the structure of music-induced emotions via confirmatory factor analysis of emotion ratings, resulting in a 9-factorial model of music-induced emotions. Study 4 (n = 238) replicated this model and found that it accounted for music-elicited emotions better than the basic emotion and dimensional emotion models. A domain-specific device to measure musically induced emotions is introduced--the Geneva Emotional Music Scale. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exposure influences expressive timing judgments in music.

This study is concerned with the question whether, and to what extent, listeners' previous exposure to music in everyday life, and expertise as a result of formal musical training, play a role in making expressive timing judgments in music. This was investigated by using a Web-based listening experiment in which listeners with a wide range of musical backgrounds were asked to compare 2 recordings of the same composition (15 pairs, grouped in 3 musical genres), 1 of which was tempo-transformed (manipulating the expressive timing). The results show that expressive timing judgments are not so much influenced by expertise levels, as is suggested by the expertise hypothesis, but by exposure to a certain musical idiom, as is suggested by the exposure hypothesis. As such, the current study provides evidence for the idea that some musical capabilities are acquired through mere exposure to music, and that these abilities are more likely enhanced by active listening (exposure) than by formal musical training (expertise). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Feelings and perceptions of happiness and sadness induced by music: Similarities, differences, and mixed emotions.

The authors examined similarities and differences between (1) listeners’ perceptions of emotions conveyed by 30-s pieces of music and (2) their emotional responses to the same pieces. Using identical scales, listeners rated how happy and how sad the music made them feel, and the happiness and the sadness expressed by the music. The music was manipulated to vary in tempo (fast or slow) and mode (major or minor). Feeling and perception ratings were highly correlated but perception ratings were higher than feeling ratings, particularly for music with consistent cues to happiness (fast-major) or sadness (slow-minor), and for sad-sounding music in general. Associations between the music manipulations and listeners’ feelings were mediated by their perceptions of the emotions conveyed by the music. Happiness ratings were elevated for fast-tempo and major-key stimuli, sadness ratings were elevated for slow-tempo and minor-key stimuli, and mixed emotional responses (higher happiness and sadness ratings) were elevated for music with mixed cues to happiness and sadness (fast-minor or slow-major). Listeners also exhibited ambivalence toward sad-sounding music. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Theories of dream function.

Reviews some contemporary and psychoanalytic theories of dream function. Particular attention is given to Jung's model of personality and theory of dream function, a dynamic, open-system approach that stands in contrast to Freud's mechanistic drive-reduction model. Contemporary theories tend to focus on the function of environmental mastery viewed from 1 of 3 perspectives: (a) problem solving, (b) information processing, or (c) ego consolidation. Only a few have gone beyond environmental control to consider creative functions of the dream. Most contemporary theories are at least partially supported by data, and many are not mutually exclusive, dealing with different processes or proposing similar processes in different-sounding languages. Some dream theories do differ from others in underlying model, in scope, or in the degree to which nonrational processes are admissible as data. Jung's approach has much to add to contemporary dream theory, particularly in making room for creative and nonrational processes, as well as in the specific proposition that dreams function to balance and complete waking consciousness. (39 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Limits and relationship in child-centered play therapy: Two case studies.

This article presents case studies exploring two boys' uses of limit testing as a therapeutic tool in child-centered play therapy (CCPT). Both boys were referred for behavior that was abnormally disruptive for their age and setting, which was kindergarten in an elementary school that serves a very high poverty community and is accustomed to handling misbehavior. Data evidencing progress is provided as a reference point, while analysis is focused on conceptualization and mechanisms of change related to each child's use of limit testing in CCPT. The authors suggest that each boy used limit testing in CCPT to try out the therapeutic relationship as a stand-in for other relationships, to rethink relational expectations inside and outside of therapy, revisit unmet needs and meanings of early experiences, and change self-concept in ways that affected positive behavioral change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

What makes us like music? Determinants of music preference.

What are the determinants of music preference, and how strong is their relative influence? This article investigates the parameters that may influence music preference, focusing on the cognitive, emotional, and cultural functions of music, physiological arousal, and familiarity. Data were collected in a lab study and in an online survey (total N = 263). Participants listened to six pieces of distinct musical styles (and to their own favorite music in the lab study). They had to indicate how much they liked the music and how much they agreed with a list of statements concerning the parameters mentioned above for each piece. Multiple regressions revealed that all parameters (except cultural functions) accounted significantly for the strength of music preference. The cognitive functions of music (i.e., music as a means for communication and self-reflection), as well as physiological arousal elicited by the music, were the most important determinants of music preference. The results are discussed in the light of several assumptions about the evolutionary foundation of music listening. In addition, the present findings may serve as a basis for the construction of an empirically derived theory of music preference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An investigation of the effects of music and art on pain perception.

The authors examined the effects of preferred music, visual distraction, and silence on pain perception. Visual distraction was provided by participants' choice of painting from a selection of 15 popular artworks. Eighty participants (43 females) underwent 3 trials of cold pressor pain induction with measurement of tolerance, pain intensity, perceived control, and anxiety, and a music listening patterns questionnaire. Preferred music was found to significantly increase tolerance and perceived control over the painful stimulus and to decrease anxiety compared with both the visual distraction and silence conditions. Pain intensity rating was decreased by music listening when compared with silence. During the music condition, frequent listening to the chosen piece in everyday life was found to negatively correlate with anxiety level, and extent of knowledge of the lyrics further positively correlated with tolerance of the stimulus and perceived control. That general importance of music in everyday life also correlated with perceived control reiterates the importance of relationship and familiarity with favorite music as key to its therapeutic effect. There was no relationship between structural features of the selected music and any of the significant effects. It is suggested that preference may render music with different structural aspects functionally equivalent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Values: The enfant terrible of psychotherapy.

Cites clinical examples, personal experience, and empirical research demonstrating that the values of psychotherapists affect diagnoses, as well as the process and goals of therapy. Some therapists believe that values should not influence therapy. Thus, indirect ways of dissemination of values may be used as shown by clinical illustrations. The author holds a value-determined image of psychotherapy, in which therapeutic schools are viewed as "perceptual houses" to which the client is being converted. The advantages of making the public aware of the role of values in psychotherapy are briefly discussed. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The efficacy of using music in children of divorce groups: Impact on anxiety, depression, and irrational beliefs about divorce.

This study examined the efficacy of a children of divorce group using music as an intervention in comparison to a more traditional psychoeducational children of divorce group. It was predicted that children of divorce groups that utilized music would have a significantly greater impact on the children's levels of anxiety, depression, and irrational beliefs about divorce after the group ended and at a 3-month follow-up assessment. Both interventions significantly decreased cognitive and social anxiety and all irrational beliefs about divorce, except hope of reunification. Depression did not decrease for all participants but when the relationship between depression and irrational beliefs was examined, irrational beliefs were found to be mediators of depression for children of divorce. These results suggest that current interventions for children of divorce do decrease anxiety and irrational beliefs in general, but specifically addressing irrational beliefs may also decrease depressive symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality, self-estimated intelligence, and uses of music: A Spanish replication and extension using structural equation modeling.

This study replicates and extends a recent study on personality, intelligence and uses of music [Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Furnham, A. (2007). Personality and music: Can traits explain how people use music in everyday life? British Journal of Psychology, 98, 175–185] using Spanish participants and structural equation modeling. Data from 245 university students showed that, in line with our hypotheses, individuals higher in Neuroticism were more likely to use music for emotional regulation (influencing their mood states), those higher in Extraversion were more likely to use music as background to other activities, and those higher in Openness were more likely to experience music in a cognitive or intellectual way. As predicted, self-estimates of intelligence were also linked to cognitive use of music, though not when individual differences were considered. On other hand, contrasting with initial predictions, Extraversion was positively rather than negatively linked to emotional use of music. Small incremental effects of gender (over personality) were also found on the emotional use of music. Results are discussed in regards to previous findings on personality traits as determinants of uses of music. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Misery loves company: Mood-congruent emotional responding to music.

We examined emotional responding to music after mood induction. On each trial, listeners heard a 30-s music excerpt and rated how much they liked it, whether it sounded happy or sad, and how familiar it was. When the excerpts sounded unambiguously happy or sad (Experiment 1), the typical preference for happy-sounding music was eliminated after inducing a sad mood. When the excerpts sounded ambiguous with respect to happiness and sadness (Experiment 2), listeners perceived more sadness after inducing a sad mood. Sad moods had no influence on familiarity ratings (Experiments 1 and 2). These findings imply that “misery loves company.” Listeners in a sad mood fail to show the typical preference for happy-sounding music, and they perceive more sadness in music that is ambiguous with respect to mood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional intelligence, not music training, predicts recognition of emotional speech prosody.

Is music training associated with greater sensitivity to emotional prosody in speech? University undergraduates (n = 100) were asked to identify the emotion conveyed in both semantically neutral utterances and melodic analogues that preserved the fundamental frequency contour and intensity pattern of the utterances. Utterances were expressed in four basic emotional tones (anger, fear, joy, sadness) and in a neutral condition. Participants also completed an extended questionnaire about music education and activities, and a battery of tests to assess emotional intelligence, musical perception and memory, and fluid intelligence. Emotional intelligence, not music training or music perception abilities, successfully predicted identification of intended emotion in speech and melodic analogues. The ability to recognize cues of emotion accurately and efficiently across domains may reflect the operation of a cross-modal processor that does not rely on gains of perceptual sensitivity such as those related to music training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The mental representation of music notation: Notational audiation.

This study investigated the mental representation of music notation. Notational audiation is the ability to internally "hear" the music one is reading before physically hearing it performed on an instrument. In earlier studies, the authors claimed that this process engages music imagery contingent on subvocal silent singing. This study refines the previously developed embedded melody task and further explores the phonatory nature of notational audiation with throat-audio and larynx-electromyography measurement. Experiment 1 corroborates previous findings and confirms that notational audiation is a process engaging kinesthetic-like covert excitation of the vocal folds linked to phonatory resources. Experiment 2 explores whether covert rehearsal with the mind's voice also involves actual motor processing systems and suggests that the mental representation of music notation cues manual motor imagery. Experiment 3 verifies findings of both Experiments 1 and 2 with a sample of professional drummers. The study points to the profound reliance on phonatory and manual motor processing--a dual-route stratagem--used during music reading. Further implications concern the integration of auditory and motor imagery in the brain and cross-modal encoding of a unisensory input. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An experience sampling study of emotional reactions to music: Listener, music, and situation.

The Experience Sampling Method was used to explore emotions to music as they naturally occurred in everyday life, with a focus on the prevalence of different musical emotions and how such emotions are related to various factors in the listener, the music, and the situation. Thirty-two college students, 20 to 31 years old, carried a palmtop that emitted a sound signal seven times per day at random intervals for 2 weeks. When signaled, participants were required to complete a questionnaire on the palmtop. Results showed that music occurred in 37% of the episodes, and in 64% of the music episodes, the participants reported that the music affected how they felt. Comparisons showed that happiness-elation and nostalgia-longing were more frequent in episodes with musical emotions, whereas anger-irritation, boredom-indifference, and anxiety-fear were more frequent in episodes with nonmusical emotions. The prevalence of specific musical emotions correlated with personality measures and also varied depending on the situation (e.g., current activity, other people present), thus highlighting the need to use representative samples of situations to obtain valid estimates of prevalence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)