Conveying emotion through music!!
The ability to perceive emotion in music develops early in childhood and improves significantly throughout development. The capacity to perceive emotion in music is also subject to cultural influences, and both similarities and differences in emotion perception have been observed in cross-cultural studies. Empirical research has looked at which emotions can be conveyed and what structural factors in music help contribute to the perceived emotional expression. There are two schools of thought on how we interpret emotion in music. The cognitivists' approach argues that music simply displays emotion but does not allow for the personal experience of emotion in the listener. Emotivists argue that music elicits real emotional responses in the listener.
Eliciting emotion through music♥
Along with the research that music conveys emotion to its listener(s), it has also been shown that music can produce emotion in the listener(s). This view often causes debate because the emotion is produced within the listener and is consequently hard to measure. Despite the controversy, studies have shown observable responses to elicited emotions, which reinforces the Emotivists' view that music does elicit real emotional responses.
Emotional memories and actions…
Music may not only elicit new emotions but connect listeners with other emotional sources. Music serves as a powerful cue to recall emotional memories back into awareness. Because music is such a pervasive part of social life, present in weddings, funerals, and religious ceremonies, it brings back emotional memories that are often already associated with it. Music is also processed by the lower sensory levels of the brain, making it impervious to later memory distortions. Therefore creating a strong connection between emotion and music within memory makes it easier to recall one when prompted by the other. Music can also tap into empathy, inducing emotions assumed to be felt by the performer or composer. Listeners can become sad because they recognize that the composer must have felt those emotions, much as the viewer of a play can empathize with the actors.
Music as a therapeutic tool ♦
Music therapy as a therapeutic tool is an effective treatment for various ailments. Therapeutic techniques involve eliciting emotions by listening to music, composing music or lyrics, and performing music.
Music therapy sessions may have the ability to help drug users who are attempting to break a drug habit, with users reporting feeling better able to feel emotions without the aid of drug use. Music therapy may also be a viable option for people experiencing extended stays in a hospital due to illness. In one study, music therapy provided child oncology patients with enhanced environmental support elements and elicited more engaging behaviors from the child. When treating troubled teenagers, a study by Keen revealed that music therapy has allowed therapists to interact with teenagers with less resistance, thus facilitating self-expression in the teenager.[citation needed]
Music therapy has also shown great promise in individuals with autism, serving as an emotional outlet for these patients. While other avenues of emotional expression and understanding may be difficult for people with autism, music may provide those with limited understanding of socio-emotional cues a way of accessing emotion.
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