An empirical study concerning terminology relating to aesthetic response to music.

摘要

This study was designed to determine if a relationship exists among the terms "aesthetic response," "felt emotional response," and "perceived tension" when used by individuals to describe their personal response to music. Subject groups, Music Majors (n = 128) and Non-Music Majors (n = 128), were each randomly divided into three experimental groups, one for each term, and one control group for free response.;Data were gathered as subjects manipulated the dial of the Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) indicating the magnitude of their response to the music heard during four taped listening segments. In addition to demographic data, written responses were collected following each segment in a packet provided to each subject. The four pieces heard were "Nessun dorma" from Turandot by Giacomo Puccini, "Fugue" from Toccata and Fugue in d minor by J. S. Bach, "Scherzo" from Symphony No. 3 ("Eroica") by Ludwig van Beethoven, and The Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa. These selections were presented in four different orders in an attempt to control for a possible order effect. Test/re-test reliability was.95.;An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) indicated no significant difference among Music Majors and Non-Music Majors. However, a significant difference was found among the terms. A qualitative analysis of the individual graphs indicated that each subject's response and dial movement was unique throughout each musical selection. Analysis of group graphs indicated a strong similarity between aesthetic and felt emotional response conditions. Surprisingly, the free response condition, where subjects were given no instructions except to move the dial, demonstrated a remarkable similarity to the aesthetic and felt emotional response conditions. The perceived tension condition showed marked differences to the other three conditions.