Noguchi LK University of the Pacific

Receiving vaccinations is a part of growing up; however, as necessary as vaccinations are, many children find them to be frightening and painful. Music has been examined as a potential distraction during pediatric medical procedures, but research findings have been mixed, due, in part, to the fact that children were primarily instructed to merely “listen to the music.” The present study sought to determine if a focus of attention activity involving music would affect levels of distress and perceptions of pain in pediatric injection patients. Sixty-four 4- to 6(1/2) -year old children receiving routine immunizations were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: musical story, spoken story, or standard care/control. Children in the two treatment conditions listened to a recorded story and pointed at corresponding pictures throughout the injection process. Observational data on distress and pain were collected, in addition to the child’s self-rating of pain. Participants in the musical story condition tended to be less distressed and report less pain than participants in the other two conditions, although these differences were not statistically significant. Subsequent analysis indicated that children who received more injections tended to benefit more from the music intervention, in terms of their perceived pain.

from… http://www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/16671836?queryText=music%20children

This month, most of my blogs usually focus on music therapy because I have just study about an advantage of music for children,and I think it will be useful for people interested in this field.

Cognition. 2001; 80(3):B1-10 (ISSN: 0010-0277) Dalla Bella S; Peretz I; Rousseau L; Gosselin N Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, C.P. 6128, succ. Centre-ville, Montr?al, Qu?bec, H3C 3J7, Canada.

Do children use the same properties as adults in determining whether music sounds happy or sad? We addressed this question with a set of 32 excerpts (16 happy and 16 sad) taken from pre-existing music. The tempo (i.e. the number of beats per minute) and the mode (i.e. the specific subset of pitches used to write a given musical excerpt) of these excerpts were modified independently and jointly in order to measure their effects on happy-sad judgments. Adults and children from 3 to 8 years old were required to judge whether the excerpts were happy or sad. The results show that as adults, 6–8-year-old children are affected by mode and tempo manipulations. In contrast, 5-year-olds’ responses are only affected by a change of tempo. The youngest children (3–4-year-olds) failed to distinguish the happy from the sad tone of the music above chance. The results indicate that tempo is mastered earlier than mode to infer the emotional tone conveyed by music.

from… http://www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/11274986?queryText=music%20children

Register D University of Kansas, USA.

Research suggests that music is beneficial in teaching both social and academic skills to young children. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a music therapy program designed to teach reading skills versus the “Between the Lions” television program on the early literacy behaviors of Kindergarten children from a low socioeconomic background. Subjects (n = 86) were children, aged 5-7 years, enrolled in one of four different Kindergarten classes at a public elementary school in Northwest Florida. Each class was assigned one of four treatment conditions: Music/Video (sequential presentation of each condition), Music-Only, Video-Only, and no contact Control group. Growth in early literacy skills was measured using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) and 3 subtests of the Test of Early reading Ability-3rd edition (TERA-3). Teachers’ perceptions of classroom literacy behaviors were measured using a pre and poststudy survey. This study also compared on- and off-task behavior of students during video versus music conditions. Results of the 7 subtests measuring early literacy were varied. The Music/Video and Music-Only groups achieved the highest increases in mean scores from pre to posttest on 4 of the 7 subtests. Students in the Video-Only group scored significantly better on the phonemic segmentation portion of the DIBELS than peers in the Music/Video condition. Furthermore, strong correlations were found between the Letter Naming, Initial Sounds Fluency tests, and total raw score of the TERA-3 tests for both pre and posttesting. Additionally, graphic analysis of mean off-task behavior per session indicated that students were more off-task during both video conditions (video alone and video portion of Music/Video condition) than during the music conditions. Off-task behavior was consistently lower during music sessions for the duration of the study. This study confirmed that music increases the on-task behavior of students. Additionally, the combination of music and video enrichment showed gains in 4 of the 8 tests used to measure students’ progress. This pattern supports the need for further investigation regarding benefits of enrichment programs specifically designed to enhance curricula for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, particularly programs that incorporate music activities.

from… http://www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/15157126?queryText=music%20children

By Susheewa Wichaikull

There are different kinds of jobs.Some jobs need a specialist.On the other hand,some jobs do not need an experienced worker.However,if I were an employer,I would prefer to hire an experienced worker to drive my business more than a new trainee even though I have to pay a higher salary.

There are a lot of things that an experienced worker can do better than a novice.For example, they have higher decision making because they have a lot of experiences, so they can solve problems better than an inexperienced worker.Furthermore,some experienced workers are also sophisticated.Therefore,they can use their abillities to drive my business successfully as well.

Not only can experienced worker do only their assigned jobs,but they also use their experiences to train new workers as a teacher or a preceptors.For example,new registered nurses are usually learned to practice in their career from a preceptor who have an experience in the hospital more than two years.

In conclusion, there are several benefits from an experienced worker not only high competency but also sharing experiece with other people.There were the reasons why I prefer to hire an experienced worker rather than an inexperienced worker.

Magne C; Sch?n D; Besson M Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives de la M?diterran?e, Universit? de la M?diterran?e. magne@ccs.fau.edu

The idea that extensive musical training can influence processing in cognitive domains other than music has received considerable attention from the educational system and the media. Here we analyzed behavioral data and recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs) from 8-year-old children to test the hypothesis that musical training facilitates pitch processing not only in music but also in language. We used a parametric manipulation of pitch so that the final notes or words of musical phrases or sentences were congruous, weakly incongruous, or strongly incongruous. Musician children outperformed nonmusician children in the detection of the weak incongruity in both music and language. Moreover, the greatest differences in the ERPs of musician and nonmusician children were also found for the weak incongruity: whereas for musician children, early negative components developed in music and late positive components in language, no such components were found for nonmusician children. Finally, comparison of these results with previous ones from adults suggests that some aspects of pitch processing are in effect earlier in music than in language. Thus, the present results reveal positive transfer effects between cognitive domains and shed light on the time course and neural basis of the development of prosodic and melodic processing.

from… http://www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/16494681?queryText=music%20children

By Susheewa Wichaikull

Some people usually use email or telephone to negotiate with other people because it is very accessible and fast.However, I strongly believe that face-to-face communication is better than others.

Face-to-face communication is one of the two-way communications with other people in real time. For example, I can know how my friend think about my question immeditely while with other communications such as letter and email I have to look forward to my friend’s replying back with uncertain time.

Furthermore, face-to-face communication is the best communication that can represent an emotion of speaker,so it will be advantageous to predict what a participant think or feel about our conversation.For instance, during a serious conversation between my friends, I can see her sad eyes clearly because we have an eye contact.On the other hand, I cannot identify clearly what my freind from internet feel distinctly during our conversation.

In conclusion, there are a lot of defferent kinds of communication,and they are appropriate with some tracts to connect each other.Howerver,face-to-face communication is the best way to connect with other people because it can identefy how participants think and feel at the same time.

Keen AW

Children and adolescents with emotional disorders may often be characterized by having problems in peer and adult relations and in display of inappropriate behaviours. These include suicide attempts, anger, withdrawal from family, social isolation from peers, aggression, school failure, running away, and alcohol and/or drug abuse. A lack of self-concept and self-esteem is often central to these difficulties. Traditional treatment methods with young people usually includes cognitive- behavioural approaches with psychotherapy. Unfortunately these children often lack a solid communication base, creating a block to successful treatment. In my private clinical practice, I have endeavoured to break through these communication barriers by using music as a therapy tool. This paper describes and discusses my use of music as a therapy tool with troubled adolescents. Pre- and post-testing of the effectiveness of this intervention technique by using the Psychosocial Functioning Inventory for Primary School Children (PFI-PSC) has yielded positive initial results, lending support to its continued use. Music has often been successful in helping these adolescents engage in the therapeutic process with minimised resistance as they relate to the music and the therapist becomes a safe and trusted adult. Various techniques such as song discussion, listening, writing lyrics, composing music, and performing music.

http://www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/15774401?queryText=music%20therapy

Register D Florida State University, USA.

This study evaluated the effects of music sessions using a curriculum designed to enhance the prereading and writing skills of 25 children aged 4 to 5 years who were enrolled in Early Intervention and Exceptional Student Education programs. This study was a replication of the work of Standley and Hughes (1997) and utilized a larger sample size (n = 50) in order to evaluate the efficacy of a music curriculum designed specifically to teach prereading and writing skills versus one that focuses on all developmental areas. Both the experimental (n = 25) and control (n = 25) groups received two 30-minute sessions each week for an entire school year for a minimum of 60 sessions per group. The differentiating factors between the two groups were the structure and components of the musical activities. The fall sessions for the experimental group were focused primarily on writing skills while the spring sessions taught reading/book concepts. Music sessions for the control group were based purely on the thematic material, as determined by the classroom teacher with purposeful exclusion of all preliteracy concepts. All participants were pretested at the beginning of the school year and posttested before the school year ended. Overall, results demonstrated that music sessions significantly enhanced both groups’ abilities to learn prewriting and print concepts. However, the experimental group showed significantly higher results on the logo identification posttest and the word recognition test. Implications for curriculum design and academic and social applications of music in Early Intervention programs are discussed.

from… http://www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/11570934?queryText=music%20therapy

Mozart versus new age music: relaxation states, stress, and ABC relaxation theory.

Smith JC; Joyce CA Roosevelt University Stress Institute, Roosevelt University, Chicago, IL 60605, USA. jsmith@roosevelt.edu

Smith’s (2001) Attentional Behavioral Cognitive (ABC) relaxation theory proposes that all approaches to relaxation (including music) have the potential for evoking one or more of 15 factor-analytically derived relaxation states, or “R-States” (Sleepiness, Disengagement, Rested / Refreshed, Energized, Physical Relaxation, At Ease/Peace, Joy, Mental Quiet, Childlike Innocence, Thankfulness and Love, Mystery, Awe and Wonder, Prayerfulness, Timeless/Boundless/Infinite, and Aware). The present study investigated R-States and stress symptom-patterns associated with listening to Mozart versus New Age music. Students (N = 63) were divided into three relaxation groups based on previously determined preferences. Fourteen listened to a 28-minute tape recording of Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and 14 listened to a 28-minute tape of Steven Halpern’s New Age Serenity Suite. Others (n = 35) did not want music and instead chose a set of popular recreational magazines. Participants engaged in their relaxation activity at home for three consecutive days for 28 minutes a session. Before and after each session, each person completed the Smith Relaxation States Inventory (Smith, 2001), a comprehensive questionnaire tapping 15 R-States as well as the stress states of somatic stress, worry, and negative emotion. Results revealed no differences at Session 1. At Session 2, those who listened to Mozart reported higher levels of At Ease/Peace and lower levels of Negative Emotion. Pronounced differences emerged at Session 3. Mozart listeners uniquely reported substantially higher levels of Mental Quiet, Awe and Wonder, and Mystery. Mozart listeners reported higher levels, and New Age listeners slightly elevated levels, of At Ease/Peace and Rested/Refreshed. Both Mozart and New Age listeners reported higher levels of Thankfulness and Love. In summary, those who listened to Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik reported more psychological relaxation and less stress than either those who listened to New Age music or read popular recreational magazines. Results suggest the usefulness of ABC relaxation theory in comparing the different effects of music and relaxation techniques.

from… http://www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/15327344?queryText=music%20therapy