Psychology Commons^™

Spirituality Countering Dehumanization: A Cypher On Asian American Hip Hop Flow, Brett J. Esaki

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

Flow—an artistic connection to the beat—is essential to the experience and cultural mix of Hip Hop. “Flow” is also a term from positive psychology that describes a special out-of-body state of consciousness, first articulated by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. When Hip Hop performers get into artistic flow, they sometimes become immersed in psychological flow, and this article examines the combination for Asian American Hip Hop. Based on my national survey of Asian Americans in Hip Hop, I argue that dual flow inspires spiritual transformation and mitigates the dehumanization of social marginalization. However, the combination of terms presents problematic possibilities, given that Hip …

Addressing Audience Engagement Through Creative Performance Techniques, Lindsay Osterholt

Honors Projects

This project explores how utilizing creative performance techniques might affect change in the sociology that occurs within a Western art music performance. Creative performance techniques can include any behaviors or elements not typical to a Western art music performance. In the context of a senior vocal recital, this project aimed to see how audience members might respond to and engage with added creative elements.

Does Bedtime Music Listening Improve Subjective Sleep Quality And Next-Morning Well-Being In Young Adults? A Randomized Cross-Over Trial, Nadyana M. Majeed, Verity Y. Q. Lua, Jun Sen Chong, Zoey Lew, Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Previous research has found that young adults exhibit patterns of poor sleep and that poor sleep is associated with a host of negative psychological consequences. One potential intervention to improve sleep quality is listening to music at bedtime. Although there exist previous works investigating the efficacy of listening to music as a form of sleep aid, these works have been hindered by statistically weak designs, a lack of systematic investigation of critical characteristics of music that may affect its efficacy, and limited generalizability. In light of the limitations in the existing literature, a 15-day randomized cross-over trial was carried out …

The Challenges Of Balancing Personal And Professional Relationships Among Historically Black Colleges And Universities (Hbcus) Band Directors, Rodney Deshun Chism

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative study is to identify common challenges and provide strategies for band directors at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), who face work-life balancing issues. HBCU band directors typically experience a high level of stress, burnout, and professional and personal role conflicts. There is a significant gap in the literature regarding how HBCU band directors maintain work-life balance (WLB) when dealing with administrative pressure, protecting the band program's reputation, and serving as a leader role-model, teacher, and mentor to their staff and students. Band directors commonly identify with or experience issues related to these research questions: …

A Schema-Theoretic Approach To Hierarchy In Eighteenth-Century Tonality, Simon K. S. Prosser

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Prevalent modern-day theories of tonal hierarchy for eighteenth-century music, especially those influenced by the ideas of Heinrich Schenker, have been called into question by schema theorists such as Robert Gjerdingen and Vasili Byros, who argue from both cognitive and historical evidence that eighteenth-century tonal cognition was sequential or “windowed” rather than hierarchical. This dissertation seeks to recuperate the concept of tonal hierarchy in eighteenth-century music, drawing on research that reconstructs the implicit tonal theories of the partimento and thoroughbass traditions, as well as concepts of hierarchy from schema theory itself, to formulate a historically and cognitively grounded theory of tonal …

Exploring The Relation Between Musical And Dance Sophistication And Musical Groove Perception, Samantha R. O'Connell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Listening to groovy music is an enjoyable experience and a ubiquitous human behavior in some cultures. Specifically, many listeners agree that high-groove songs are enjoyable, familiar, and likable compared to low-groove songs. While the pleasurable and dance-inducing effects of musical groove listening seem omnipresent, what is less known is how subjective feelings towards music, individual musical or dance experiences, or more objective musical perception abilities are correlated with the way we hear music with groove. Therefore, the present online study aimed to evaluate how musical and dance sophistication relates to musical groove perception. One-hundred and twenty-four participants completed an online …

How Music Awakens The Heart: An Experimental Study On Music, Emotions, And Connectedness, Rebecca N. H. De Leeuw, Sophie Janicke-Bowles, Qihao Ji

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Many studies in the field of positive media psychology have investigated the effects of meaningful film on viewer’s feelings and openness to others, all the while music is the number #1 media source for feeling moved, touched or inspired. Therefore, the current study examined the role of meaningful compared to pleasurable music on listeners emotional experiences, feelings of connectedness, and altruistic behaviors. In a pre-posttest experiment, 105 participants (M_age = 23.800; SD = 6.082; 77.3% female) listened to either their favorite meaningful music or their favorite pleasurable music. Findings revealed that listening to meaningful music leads to stronger …

Music Education, Child Development, And Academic Achievement: A Review Of Recent Literature, Connor M. Welsh

University Honors Theses

In this literature review, the effect of music education on child development and academic success was evaluated. The claim that music education is beneficial to both child development and academic success has grown as a popular idea in recent decades. One example of this is the popular practice of having children or infants listen to classical music. This literature review aimed to evaluate this claim by examining a sample of the past ten years of research articles. The literature review was divided into two main categories: music education and cognitive development and music education and social-emotional development. Initially, it was …

Student Perspectives On Interdisciplinary Skill Building, Equity And Empowerment Through Arts Education And Technology During A Pandemic, Joanne Osterberg

Education | Master's Theses

This qualitative research examined how the arts extend to serve as a tool for equity in supporting students of all backgrounds, language skills, and learning levels toward access and development of acumen for learning in all subjects and disciplines. This research is situated in a theoretical framework encompassing theories of learning styles (Dunn, 2000), art education and equity (Kalin, 2012), and pedagogical approaches to the use of technology (Strycker, 2020). Sixteen students participated in a peer focus group in which they developed, reflected upon, and then co-critiqued an art project that evolved through a six-phase process, and two faculty members …

Studio Expressive Arts Therapy: Towards A Classroom Method That Incorporates Art And Music, Michael Greenberg

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explored the ways in which expressive arts therapy (ExAT) could be incorporated into a small therapeutic high school’s visual arts program. Through the development and implementation of a method, intermodal exchange between visual art and music was integrated into both the school’s art program and its group counseling offerings. Informed by a literature review of studio art therapy (SAT) as related to ExAT, three different interventions were used to fit within the frameworks of the high school’s offerings. The first intervention focused on making music with a few students within art classes while the rest of the class …

"It's The Way You Sing It": Translating Music Therapy For Isolated Older Adults Affected By Covid-19 To The Television Screen, Eunice Wong

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The current Covid-19 pandemic has increased the likelihood of loneliness and social isolation among older adults due to the restrictions on movement and visitations in care facilities. Loneliness and social isolation have consistently been identified as risk factors for poor mental and physical health in older people. Meanwhile, a growing number of older adults are utilizing technological resources to enhance their interpersonal relationships and overall quality of life. In the winter of 2020/2021, an innovative music therapy-informed television program was designed and produced for isolated older adults in need of mental and emotional support. This project, produced jointly by a …

Exploring The Usefulness Of Mindfulness Practices Through Zoom Meetings In Reducing Anxiety And/Or Stress Of Adults With Learning And Developmental Disabilities During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Thatiane Abra

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explored which mindfulness meditations or mindfulness practices could be beneficial in the online sessions, the extent to which adults with learning and developmental disabilities could learn the practices remotely, and how stress and anxiety disorders could be reduced through online mindfulness interventions. Furthermore, it was also necessary to address the online sessions as the only mental health treatment possibility during the Coronavirus pandemic for the clients observed and the benefits and limitations of these interventions. Additionally, the importance of structure and routine for this population, the multi-modal structure of the interventions, and how attunement plays an important role …

Making Room: Addressing The Counter-Therapeutic Nature Of Psychiatric Hospitalization Through Containment- Based Group Expressive Therapy, Max Sandor Copans

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The process of hospitalization and the environment of a typical psychiatric hospital is often counter-therapeutic. To challenge this problem, clinicians may introduce the concept of psychological containment. To elaborate, being hospitalized anywhere can be disorienting, frightening and even traumatic. This problem is only further exacerbated in psychiatric hospitals where patients may be disorganized, manic, or struggling with psychosis. Furthermore, psychological containment is essentially the ability for psychiatric patients to prevent their intense emotions from effecting others negatively, and to act with resiliency when other patients are unable to contain their own disruptive behaviors. This paper utilizes both an initial literature …

The Therapeutic Benefits Of Attunement Through Lindy Hop, Sarah Trowbridge

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Dance/movement therapy (DMT) was developed as a tool to aide in therapeutic healing. A foundational aspect of DMT is attunement, the emotional/kinesthetic connection between two people that allows for meaningful and healing bonds to emerge. Lindy Hop is a partnered dance that fosters an environment of attunement, as it is accessed both subconsciously and consciously. This research explores Lindy Hop as a possible method of therapeutic treatment. The literature indicates the physiological need for attunement and how safety plays a key role in strengthening senses of self-identity, nervous system development, and worldview. Four experienced Lindy Hoppers were recruited to engage …

Best Practices For Preschool Music Education: Supporting Music‑Making Throughout The Day, Jentry Stoneman Barrett, Rachel E. Schachter, Danni Gilbert, Mathew Fuerst

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Active engagement in music has numerous academic and social benefits for young children and music-making is included in many early childhood standards and preschool curricula. The purpose of this article is to provide quality resources for classroom teachers to use in providing music-making activities for young children, ages 3–5. Although teachers may use music in their classrooms, we provide resources and suggestions for more intentional and extended integration of music-making. Specifically, we identify best practices for preschool music education based on key standards and research as well as with common music pedagogies. We then turn to concrete examples of how …

Review Of The Whatifs By Emily Kilgore, Katie E. Gosman

Library Intern Book Reviews

No abstract provided.

The Role Of A Polyrhythm’S Pitch Interval In Music-Dependent Memory, Hadley R. Parum

Senior Projects Spring 2021

When listening to music, humans can easily and often automatically assess the perceptual similarity of different moments in music. However, it is difficult to rigorously define the way in which we determine exactly how similar we find to moments to be. This problem has driven inquiry in music cognition, musicology, and music theory alike, but previous results have depended on behaviorally mediated responses and/or recursive analytic strategies by music scholars. The present work employs the context-dependent memory paradigm as a novel way to investigate the extent to which listeners consider two musical examples to be similar. After incidentally learning words …

Fostering Music Performers In The 21st Century: A Contemporary Professional Perspective Toward A New Curricular Agenda For Graduate Study In Music, Andre Januario

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

What if the core curriculum for graduate students in music performance were designed to prepare students to succeed in the world of the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

This dissertation offers a hypothetical answer: a structured and systematic academic curricular framework for music graduate students of performance of concert music (especially those in terminal degrees, such as doctoral students), along with music instructors, professional music performers, school administrators, and college professors, seeking to prepare such students for achieving and maintaining a music career more in keeping with the current work environment, especially those skills demanded by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the …