“Rhythmic engagement with music in infancy” by Eerola and Zentner explores whether infants’ truly engage in rhythmic behavior in the presence of music. Previous developmental studies demonstrated that the youngest age for rhythmic movement emerges only around preschool age (4-8) (Eerola & Zentnera, 2010, p. 5768). This study dug deeper to see if rhythm affects humans at even younger ages.

I was impressed by this study’s methods and analysis because infants would seem to be difficult participant group. Errol and Zentner (2010) wrote, “Infants’ rhythmic movements were assessed by a multi-method approach, involving human coding from the video excerpts and innovative 3D motion-capture technology,” (p. 5768). These video segments of movement were then evaluated by professional ballet dancers for synchronization accuracy. The same video segments were further scrutinized by another set of coders to analyze the duration of infants’ smiles. The segments showed a strong correlation between infants’  synchronization accuracy and the duration of their smiles (Eerola & Zentnera, 2010, p. 5770-5771). 

Limitations included foreign music and laboratory settings effect on infants (Eerola & Zentnera, 2010, p. 5770-5771). Beyonds basic beats and speech, the chosen music showcased complex compositions from Mozart and Saint-Saens. Even with limitations in mind, the results of the study show that infants engage significantly more in rhythmic movement when exposed to music than with speech (Eerola & Zentnera, 2010, p. 5771). 

Eerola and Zentnera’s (2010) wrote, “The findings are suggestive of a predisposition for rhythmic movement in response to music and other metrically regular sounds,” (p. 5771).

The notion that humans have a predisposition to move rhythmically speaks to my literature review on musical engagement. I have been noticing a trend in emotional responses elicited by music, but “Rhythmic engagement with music in infancy” demonstrates an innate connection to rhythm. Perhaps these findings demonstrate a different aspect of identity formation. Rhythm may be shaping an individual even before speech develops. 

References

Zentner, M., & Eerola, T. (2010). Rhythmic engagement with music in infancy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(13), 5768-5773.

Photo Credit: http://www.ovomonster.com/

“Validation of the Individual and Community Empowerment Inventory: A Measure of Rap Music Engagement among First-Year College Students” by Bowman and Travis speaks to the emerging identity and community trends apparent in my literature review on music engagement. In a previous 2011 study, the authors developed a useful tool called the Individual and Community Empowerment (ICE) inventory. The ICE inventory originally consisted of three subscales: individual empowerment, community empowerment, and individual risk (Bowman & Travis, 2015, p. 99). There were two studies within the 2015 study. For the purposes of my literature review, I will focus on what the authors call “Study No. 1: Original Scale Validation,” (Bowman & Travis, 2015, p. 99). In this validation study, Bowman and Travis replicated the original ICE inventory study of 531 participants in order to replicate the reliability scores of the original sample and tool usage of 2011 (2015, p. 99).

In conducting a second study to test the validity and effectiveness of the ICE inventory, Bowman and Travis found, “the instrument’s utility were replicated, but results were divergent from original research on certain demographic trends with respect to gender, age, and ace/ethnicity (2015, p. 90). My study does not take into account demographics, but rather explores music engagement from a broader lens. From this lens, Bowman and Travis’s (2015) results demonstrated that rap music impacted individual empowerment (31.8) the most, followed by individual risk (16.6), and lastly by community empowerment (15.5) (p. 99). Rap seemed to have the biggest impact on individual empowerment.

Results offered valuable insights about individual empowerment and risky behavior. More than half the participants felt rap music helped them make it through tough times (Bowman & Travis, 2015, p. 104). Even if rap empowered a person, it did not prevent risky behavior such as doing drugs, committing crimes, and having sex. Results showed that rap music engagement can be simultaneously empowering and risky (Bowman & Travis, 2015, p. 104). Concluding that the ICE inventory opens up possibilities of empowerment and health, amidst risky behaviors.

Limitations included three items: limited participant pool, inability to measure behavioral outcomes, and unclear intent of musical engagement with rap. In my study on music engagement in a spiritual center, I can identify with a limited participant pool and unclear intent of musical engagement. These are good points to note in my literature review.

References

Travis, R., & Bowman, S. (2015). Validation of the Individual and Community Empowerment Inventory: A Measure of Rap Music Engagement among First-Year College Students. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 25(2), 90-108.

Photo Credit:

http://www.zazzle.ca/i_love_rap_music_smiley_with_headphones_speakers-166412397468349823