Human beings seem to thrive both cognitively and affectively
when they are exposed to any number of the infinite combinations of
melody, harmony and rhythm that make up a particular piece of what we
know as "music". Music has the potential to enrich our lives, to enable
us to learn about ourselves and others around us and experience and
interact with reality in dynamic and creative ways. Music can have
profound and unique effects on our well-being, it can help us cope with
the stresses that life brings and can make us feel happier in ourselves,
and it can also make our brains happier! But there's a darker side to music.
In our technologically 'advanced' society, different types of
music are more accessible than ever before. In this day and age, with
the multiplicity of specialized MP3 players, mobile phones and other
assorted gadgets, an entire album can be downloaded within a matter of
seconds... with little or no content restrictions in place.
So how much music do kids actually listen to these days? An English study published by North et alin
2000 showed that a sample of 2,456 adolescents listened to an average
of 2.45 hours of music per day. It has also been reported that children
aged eight to ten listen to an average of 1 hour per day. A more recent study (Roberts et al) in 2005 showed that a staggering 85% of children aged eight to eighteen years old listened to music on any given day.
The effect of music and video on a developing human psyche
According to psychologists Ashby and Rich (2005) in their paper, Video killed the radio star:
"Music induces strong emotions that can make individuals more
susceptible to changes in attitude or behavior. Multiple studies
demonstrated the influence of visual media on risky attitudes, beliefs,
and behaviors among adolescents. Combined in a music video, music and
visuals may enhance, redirect, or contrast with the effects of the
lyrics and introduce new aspects to the media experience that were not
understood or considered previously by the viewer.
"The combination of music and video may be synergistic in their effect on adolescent attitudes and behavior. Once music establishes a mood, the lyrics and images that are portrayed may have more impact than either form alone.Music
can alter an individual's receptivity to visual presentation. A study
from the early years of music television found that the enhancement of
rock music with a visual component increased appreciation of the music.
Conversely, research shows that after watching music videos, the visual
images persist with the viewer even when that individual is listening to
an audio only version of a song; most music video viewers ''always'' or
''frequently'' thought of content from the music video when listening
to the corresponding music. Rubin et al demonstrated that
college students assessed music videos more positively and believed that
they were more ''potent'' than music alone "
So, the presence of both audio and visual stimulation can cause the
visual image portrayed in a music video to "persist with the viewer"?
They further state:
"Music videos socialize young people by communicating ideas about expected behavior,relationships, and male and female roles.
Although music videos are diverse and individual music videos portray a
variety of gender roles and responsibilities, content analysis of music
videos demonstrates that those who use music videos as a source of
social learning generally receive specific information about the roles,
responsibilities, and behavior of their gender in society."
OK! So we are now aware that children and adolescents listen to a lot
of music, and we also can see that music can induce strong emotions and
can "communicate ideas about expected behaviors, relationships and male
and female roles" playing a definite role in a child's identity
formation, while visual images can "persist with the viewer even when
that individual is listening to an audio only version of a song". So
what type of music do kids today listen to?
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