Module MUSI2721: Psychology of Music

Department: Music

MUSI2721: Psychology of Music

Prerequisites

• A Level Music.

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• By learning the central research findings and concepts of music psychology, students will gain an understanding of how music influences listeners and performers in everyday contexts, and what are the essential mechanisms and processes involved in different kinds of music-related activities. Students will formulate their own well-reasoned opinions regarding the advantages and limitations of current approaches within music psychology. The students will also learn to recognize the interdisciplinary nature of the field since the areas have different emphases on biological, psychological, neural, cognitive, emotional, social, and cultural factors that require different sets of approaches, methods, and disciplinary backgrounds.

Content

• The course is organised thematically, with each lecture, seminar, and assignment focussing on specific research areas that are well established in music psychology. The following are examples of the kind of themes that will be covered: musical abilities, origins of music, emotions induced by music and expressed by music, music as a mood regulation, assumed transfer effects of music, music and consumer psychology, social psychology of music, music and well-being, and psychology of performance. Throughout the course, methodological issues involved in these themes are highlighted and students are encouraged to interpret the evidence offered within the themes critically. In addition to identifying central processes and mechanisms involved in each area of focus, students are actively encouraged to evaluate, compare, and summarize various theoretical propositions and empirical findings that contribute to wide range of psychological and social aspects of musical behaviours. Finally, in assessments and presentations, students critically assess theories and methods by carrying out a small-scale empirical research on the topic, or by weighting the evidence from separate sources and methods, or by formulating empirically falsifiable ways to solve paradoxes and debates within the themes.

Learning Outcomes

• Students should acquire broad knowledge about central issues of music psychology, deeper knowledge about abilities required and functions of music, and working knowledge of theories and methods proposed within music psychology.

• Students should learn how to appraise existing scholarship in the field of music psychology, critically empirical studies, and be able to argue how the theoretical and empirical issues are connected. They should also develop the ability to locate their own research projects within this framework.

• The module will establish a critical approach to the study of music psychology and provide opportunities to developing skills in appraising, collecting and analysing relevant empirical data on the chosen topic.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• This course will involve a combination of lectures and seminars. Complex ideas, central themes, and pertinent key studies will be introduced in the lectures, which will also incorporate time for group discussion. In the seminars, which will be interspersed throughout, students will have a chance to discuss set readings and empirical studies that have explored the theoretical issues – thereby continuously consolidating and refining ideas as the course progresses. The assignments then go on to encourage the students to design their own data collection exercises that will focus on relevant music psychology topic of their own choice, promoting a deeper working knowledge of mechanisms and concepts invoked in music psychology.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Short written assignments involving commentary and seminar presentations, serving as preparation for the summative assignment.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University