14: Reflecting on What You Learned

During this semester's english class, I learned that there are 100's of search engines that can be used to find reliable information and that Google and Wikipedia are not the only sources for information. I can look at other search engines such as ask.com, citizendium, and 100's more, and find the same information or maybe even more links and facts, then just going to Google or Wikipedia. I also got to learn about how to blog. Though I do not enjoy it, atleast I know how to set up an account and use it if I ever have a job that requires us to have one. I also learned how to properly citate information in a paper. Before this class I had no idea what was suppose to go in the paranethesis if someone was referencing a source they used and whether it went at the beginning or the end of the sentence. Now that I have done so much research and learned how to reference the right way, I was able to successfully do so in my research paper. Lastly, I found out about delicious.com and believe that it is a great website to bookmark and keep all your favorite websites. Though you can bookmark and keep websites and links on your computer itself, I really liked using delicious.com because it organized your bookmarks by different keywords or in sections that were most important. I plan to use delicious.com in the future for all my important websites that I want to keep.

13: Reporting on the Application Project

After debating what type of format I could make my Application project look like, I chose to make it look it like an article from a magazine. I researched different magazine companies and am stuck between two types of magazine issues I want to create my magazine article in. The two magazine issues are called "Psychology Today" and the "Rolling Stone" magazine. However, I found that my paper was more factual and formal than would a article would be in the "Rolling Stone" magazine so I chose that the "Psychology Today" magazine to place my psychology of music article in.
I haven't gotten too far on my project yet because of other projects and take home tests I have had to work on for other classes. So far I have printed out my magazine cover and plan to create a small section on the cover to tell the readers what my article is about and what page they can find it and read about my topic. I have also been working on what information I should and should not include in my article so that the reader gets the idea of my topic but is not bored because I provide too much information.
There is still quite alot I need to get done to finish my application project. I plan to retrieve a magazine so I can paste my "Psychology Today" cover over it, so it the magazine looks related to my topic. I also need to start writing my application project and include a couple sample pictures that the reader can look at and get my meaning of what I am discussing in my article. Lastly, I also need to write the 300 word summary at the end and include any references that I used during my article. Though I have alot to do, I know I'll be able to finish in time and have it look like an actual magazine article you would see out of a real magazine.

12: Creating a Word Cloud

Wordle URL:

http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/782841/Music_psychology

11b: Planning Your Application Project

Similar to what I said in my 10b post, I plan to create a Music or Science magazine article about my research topic "Psychology of Music". The tone of the article will either be casual and talk more about the emotional and memory state of the psychology of music if I choose to create a Music magazine piece or the tone will be more formal and include detailed information about studies and experiments to create a scientific magazine article. I am still unsure which article I am going to choose to work on but I think a magazine article would be the best way to explain my application project.

11a: Reporting on Your Progress

My rearch paper is almost fully completed. I have included all my visual aids, my bibliography page, and have almost 12 pages written. Some details I still need to work out before my paper is finished are proof reading through the entire paper to make sure it all sounds ok and that my punctuation/grammar is correct. I also need to add a few more references to my bibliography because I added a couple new paragraphs to my paper to make it longer so I need to cite my sources. I unfortunatly do not have 4,500 words yet, so I'll probably need to look into more studies and list more information to reach that goal. Other than those few items that I need to work on, my paper is almost complete.

10b: Brainstorming Ideas for the Application Project

For the application project I think I'm going to do a either a Magazine or Journal article. I'll make the article look like it belongs in a music magazine since my research topic is the "Psychology of Music". However, I could create the article as more of a scientific piece, since all my information includes data and charts. I think I'll just see how I feel about writing the application project when the time comes and if I feel like making it more casual, I'll create a Music magazine article and if I want to include more scientific details about the psychology of music, then I'll make it look like it belongs in a Science magazine.

10a: Reporting on Your Field Research

Field Research: Emailed Interviews

1st-Emailed interview questions to my Psych professor:

1) What is your psychological perspective of how music affects people’s emotions? Memories? Learning abilities?

I think that music is one of the most fundamental neurological phenomena of the human mind. To our knowledge, no other creature has anything akin to music (maybe whales?). It has been demonstrated by researchers that music involves nearly every neural structure and deeply affects all faculties of the brain.

2) How do you believe people are able to connect a particular song to a memory so that when that song is played, that memory is recalled?

This is a very deep question that is still being researched – I would direct you to “This Is Your Brain On Music” by Daniel Leviton for a more up to date and in depth discussion of this topic.

3) Do you believe music can increase learning ability in infants and children?
-What about adults?

While it probably cannot hurt, except as a distraction, there is little evidence that simply listening to music can enhance learning, however, there is strong evidence that formal music education can enhance learning strategies overall. Again, refer to Leviton or Oliver Sachs “Musicphilia.”

4) Why do you think emotions can be triggered through music?
-How do you think they are triggered?

Music strongly interacts with the limbic system, the emotional part of the brain, when being encoded into long term memory. Memory of actual percepts is a two-way street, with re-experience of either the actual percept triggering the emotions felt at the time of the original experience or, conversely, similar emotional experiences triggering the memory of the musical persept.

4) Do you believe the Mozart Theory is effective? Explain.

The research has shown there to be no Mozart effect.

6) Why do you think music is so powerful?
-Is it a form of hypnosis?

Music is so powerful (meaningful? moving?) precisely because it involves so many brain functions in such a pervasive way. I believe that the human response to music is inextricably related to the very neural structures that make us human, although research has yet to establish how all of this works.

No, as I don’t believe in hypnosis, I certainly do not believe that music is a form of hypnosis. Can music “transport” you or be “hypnotic,” in other words, foster a different state of consciousness? Well, yeah, but I wouldn’t call that hypnosis.


7) One research study found that older people who listened to music often were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease because they were able to link memories to different songs. Do you agree with this study? Explain.

I really can’t explain, however, both Leviton and Sachs discuss several hypotheses to explain such phenomenon. It is my understanding, however, that Alzheimer’s is not stopped by musical memories, just that people with Alz. are often able to remember musical memories better for longer periods of time as opposed to other crystallized memories. This is probably due to the pervasive nature of musical memory, in other words, music’s tendency to involve so many brain areas in both perception, storage, and recall.

8) Can music, like television, trigger negative emotions that over time influence violent behavior? Or the opposite, does it relieve stress and negative emotions?

I would suppose that music is not exclusively positive. I’ve certainly witnessed plenty of antisocial behavior in response to musical input. I think, depending on the music, it can do both.

2nd-Emailed interview questions to my H.S Music teacher:

1) What is your psychological perspective of how music affects people's emotions? Memories? Learning Abilities?I think that music can serve as a shortcut to certain memories and emotional states. Somewhere in our brain, pathways are forged and a particular song or kind of song will trigger a past experience. I also think that culturally, we have been trained to associate certain sounds with certain emotions. In the Western music culture, we tend to associate music in minor with sadness or grief. Major music sounds "happier" to us. This association is not universal, because it does not hold true in other cultures. However, in our culture, this association has been cemented by centuries of common composition practices.2) How do you believe people are able to connect a song to a particular memory so when that song is played, that particular memory is recalled?I think our most vivid memories, and the ones we can recall the best, capture all of our senses. If we can remember what we smelled, tasted, felt and heard, in addition to what we saw, the memory will be much more potent. That's why certain songs can take you back to a specific moment. Also, because songs have certain emotions engrained in them, a song can take you back to a certain emotional state and a time period when you felt that way. Music from high school will always make me feel carefree and happy, because those are the feelings I associate with hs.3) Do you believe music can increase learning ability in infants and children? Why?-What about Adults?For both, I think there are researchers that are far better qualified to answer, but I certainly hope so. The research I have read, indicates that playing an instrument can help with brain development. In one particular study, brain scans for children who played instruments showed more activity than non-instrumentalists. Music playing can also help strenghten the connection between the left and right hemispheres of the brain.4) Why do you think emotions can be triggered through music? How do you think they are triggered?I really don't know for this one.5) Do you believe the Mozart Effect is in fact effective? Explain.I think that study is flawed, because they only used one specific passage of music with a very specific kind of logic exercise. I certainly think that there is the possibility that music makes you "smarter" but more research is needed. 6) Why do you think music is so powerful? -Is it a form of hypnosis?I'm not sure of the psychological reasons, but I believe that music and the arts in general are what give humans humanity. This is how we are different from animals. Humans have a need to express themselves through the creation of beauty. Music and the arts are not required for life, but they make life bearable and something worth living. Also, humans have a need to create something lasting. You can see it all around us in our monuments, buildings, literature, even our families. We all want to leave a legacy. The arts allow us to do this. There is a latin expression that says it best... Ars longa, vita brevis: art is long, life is short.7) One research study found that older people who listened to music were less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease because they were able to link memories to particular songs. Do you agree/disagree with this study? Explain.I agree, only because I had a professor who did music therapy with Alzheimer's patients. She told us many stories about patients who were not lucid at all, but she would play music from the 40s and for a brief time, they would be able to recall memories and seem more like themselves.Maybe our memories associated with music are stored somewhere else and remain intact longer?8) Can music, like TV, trigger negative emotions that over time influence violent behavior? OR does it do the opposite and act as a stress reliever?I think it depends entirely on the person and the music. Personal preference plays a huge part. That's the beauty of music... it's personal and it has a profound ability to affect each person differently.