| MadSci Network: Other |
Dear Bethany, I have answered questions similar to yours recently, so my
response is a summary of my previous ones. There is no simple answer to
your question because research results are very inconsistent. Some studies
show that music has a strong effect on things such mood, learning, memory
and even some of our physiological responses. Other studies show little or
no effects. Like so many other studies in psychology and related fields, it
really depends on the type of subjects you use, what you are measuring (your
dependent variable), and your manipulation (your independent variable).
However, an exciting new research area in psychology called neuro-feedback
(similar in some ways to biofeedback) may eventually shed some light on
these inconsistencies and perhaps explain why music does have certain
effects on our behavior. I should warn you that there is a lot of “bad
science” out there, so be careful about believing everything you hear or
even read on the Internet. One book that I can recommend to you about this
topic area is called “The Tao of Music” by John Ortiz, Ph.D. I think he does
a good job of reporting the scientific evidence for some of the effects
music has on us. His homepage can be found here: http://www.soundpsych.com.
In addition, the following links on the internet also address your question.
http://www.studynow.com/braintune/index.htm http://www.maui.net/~pbm/powermus.html http://www.seattletimes.com/extra/browse/html97/altther_110297.html
There are a number of other places to find research material for your
subject. You might consider doing a search on Medline. The following is the
URL address for a free site provided by the National Library of Medicine
where this can be done. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/. Use “the
effects of music on moods” as your keywords.
I did a simple search for you and came up with the following articles. Some
of these look like they may be useful for you. Perhaps you can have your
science teacher help you obtain some of these references.
Scheel KR, et al.
Heavy metal music and adolescent suicidality: an empirical
investigation.
Adolescence. 1999 Summer;34(134):253-73.
PMID: 10494975; UI: 99423166.
Smith JL, et al.
Objective measurement of mood change induced by contemporary music.
J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 1998 Oct;5(5):403-8.
[MEDLINE record in process]
PMID: 10067488; UI: 99166460.
Peretz I, et al.
Exposure effects on music preference and recognition.
Mem Cognit. 1998 Sep;26(5):884-902.
PMID: 9796224; UI: 99012316.
Fox LS, et al.
Mood induction with older adults: a tool for investigating effects of
depressed mood.
Psychol Aging. 1998 Sep;13(3):519-23.
PMID: 9793125; UI: 99009520.
Durand VM, et al.
Influence of "mood-inducing" music on challenging behavior.
Am J Ment Retard. 1998 Jan;102(4):367-78.
PMID: 9475945; UI: 98136422.
McCraty R, et al.
The effects of different types of music on mood, tension, and mental
clarity.
Altern Ther Health Med. 1998 Jan;4(1):75-84.
PMID: 9439023; UI: 98102010.
Sousou SD.
Effects of melody and lyrics on mood and memory.
Percept Mot Skills. 1997 Aug;85(1):31-40.
PMID: 9293553; UI: 97439101.
McKinney CH, et al.
Effects of guided imagery and music (GIM) therapy on mood and
cortisol in healthy adults.
Health Psychol. 1997 Jul;16(4):390-400.
PMID: 9237092; UI: 97380302.
Kenealy PM.
Mood-state-dependent retrieval: the effects of induced mood on memory
reconsidered.
Q J Exp Psychol A. 1997 May;50(2):290-317.
PMID: 9225625; UI: 97369137.
Iwaki T, et al.
Changes in alpha band EEG activity in the frontal area after
stimulation with music of different affective content.
Percept Mot Skills. 1997 Apr;84(2):515-26.
PMID: 9106843; UI: 97260724.
Good M.
Effects of relaxation and music on postoperative pain: a review.
J Adv Nurs. 1996 Nov;24(5):905-14. Review.
PMID: 8933249; UI: 97087246.
Scherer KR.
Expression of emotion in voice and music.
J Voice. 1995 Sep;9(3):235-48. Review.
PMID: 8541967; UI: 96050119.
You can also do an Internet search on AltaVista (or similar search
engine). In this case, I would use the keywords of psychology and music.
There is also journal called Music Perception that may be useful for you.
You can find out more about this at: http://www-ucpress.berkeley.edu/
journals/mp/. Another one is called the Psychology of Music and here is an
address: http://www.shef.ac.uk/uni/academic/I-M/mus/staff/wlw/srpmme/
psymus.html. The Auditory homepage (http://sound.media.mit.edu/~dpwe/
AUDITORY/) will provide some other resources. In addition, the following
URL address is for the Society of Amateur Scientists, which may also be of
interest to you (http://web2.thesphere.com/SAS/).
Good luck in your scientific journey!
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