This study aimed to determine whether either increased engagement, or reduced cognitive capacity better explains the previously reported mixed effects of music on motor performance. Differences in...Show moreThis study aimed to determine whether either increased engagement, or reduced cognitive capacity better explains the previously reported mixed effects of music on motor performance. Differences in tapping performance under various auditory stimuli and task conditions were analysed. The experimental design was a within-subject repeated measures study, where participants were exposed to three auditory stimuli (metronome, self-selected music, and researcher-selected music) and two task conditions (rhythmic tapping with and without an additional cognitive task). Performance was measured using the coefficient of variation, which measures the consistency of participants’ tapping. The first hypothesis was that music would lead to better performance on the finger tapping task compared to metronome in the single task condition. Performance across metronome, self-selected music, and researcher-selected music conditions was compared. The second hypothesis posited that finger-tapping performance would decline when a working memory task was added for all auditory conditions, with the music conditions leading to more interference (meaning worse performance) than the metronome condition. This was tested by comparing the performance between the single and dual task, and between the metronome, self- selected and researcher-selected music conditions. The final hypothesis was that self-selected music will lead to better performance on both the single and dual-task than researcher-selected music, thus comparing self-selected and researcher-selected music for both single and dual-task conditions. The findings revealed no significant differences in performance between metronome and music conditions for either single or dual tasks. Additionally, no significant differences were found in performance between self-selected and researcher-selected music for both task types. Consequently, this study could not determine whether task engagement due to music or increased cognitive capacity due to music better explains the effects of music on task performance. Recommendations for future research are provided.Show less
The present study examined the relationship between arousal, enjoyment, and cognitive performance after musical tapping tasks. Participants performed a series of tapping tasks, followed by a few...Show moreThe present study examined the relationship between arousal, enjoyment, and cognitive performance after musical tapping tasks. Participants performed a series of tapping tasks, followed by a few questions about their arousal, enjoyment, and recall of background objects. We assessed the arousal level of each participant before and after the musical task to investigate music-induced arousal. The participants' memory of background items, as well as their enjoyment of the musical activity, were assessed. While arousal and enjoyment levels fluctuate during the musical activities, the arousal change had no significant effect on enjoyment levels. Levels of enjoyment had no significant effect on memory recall. These findings show evidence that refutes the idea that arousal and enjoyment have distinct effects on recall. Instead, the present findings support previous research that enjoyment of the musical experience and musical arousal interplay a critical role in the relationship between music induced arousal and memory.Show less
Music is a unique and key aspect of human life. It evokes arousal, emotions, and can also improve cognitive performance. The arousal-mood hypothesis forms the underlying theoretical basis for this...Show moreMusic is a unique and key aspect of human life. It evokes arousal, emotions, and can also improve cognitive performance. The arousal-mood hypothesis forms the underlying theoretical basis for this phenomenon. The current study builds on this theory and previous literature using a within-subject study on healthy elderly. Eighty elderly participants were presented with familiar or unfamiliar music and subsequently performed two cognitive tasks: digit span (DS) and letter fluency (LF), focusing on working memory and verbal fluency. Familiar music is expected to have a positive effect on both types of cognitive performance, as familiar music is expected to increase arousal more than unfamiliar music. Subsequently, it is hypothesized that arousal plays a mediating role between the level of familiarity in music and cognitive performance. Thus, it is expected that increasing familiarity music is associated with increased cognitive performance, with arousal as mediating factor. Using mediation modeling based on bootstrapping, the results found no significant total effect, and thus no conclusive support for the hypotheses. However, for the DS task, a significant (total) indirect effect was found, meaning familiar music indirectly affected cognitive performance on the DS through arousal. On the LF task, there was a non-significant indirect effect, but significant effects of familiarity on arousal, and of arousal on cognitive performance. This potentially suggests a latent effect of familiar music on cognitive performance for LF, but perhaps it was not strong enough to be measured directly due to limitations of the study. These limitations, such as complexity of tasks or the use of different cognitive domains, could be improved on in future research to better clarify the effect of familiarity of music on cognitive performance, and potential mediating effect of arousal. If a positive effect would be found, this could greatly benefit health care settings or daily life, not just for fun, but for an improvement of cognitive performance and well-being.Show less
The present study explored the effects of musical experience on the L2-pronunciation of English vowels by Dutch native speakers. It was expected that a higher degree of musical experience would...Show moreThe present study explored the effects of musical experience on the L2-pronunciation of English vowels by Dutch native speakers. It was expected that a higher degree of musical experience would produce a more native-like pronunciation. Native Dutch speakers (n=100) produced the North Wind and the Sun passage three times. From these recordings two selected vowels, /u:/ and /ʊ/ were compared to native English productions (n=6). Statistical analyses revealed no significant effects of musical experience, vowel type and the interaction between the two on the distance between the formant values produced by the L2 English production of Dutch natives and the production of English native speakers. The lack of significant effects can be attributed to the lack of participants with a high amount of musical experience. Further research is necessary to fully understand the effect of musical experience on the accuracy of vowel production in a second language.Show less
This paper focuses on paving new ways to analyze political agency and the re-molding of the concept of orthodoxy according to contingent needs in the two most relevant emperors of the Western Han...Show moreThis paper focuses on paving new ways to analyze political agency and the re-molding of the concept of orthodoxy according to contingent needs in the two most relevant emperors of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BCE-9 CE), namely Han Gaozu (256-195 BCE) and Han Wudi (156-87 BCE). Through a textual analysis, this researches will investigate music as a cultural artefact and in what terms it is talked about, finally shedding some light on the logical fragility of assuming orthodoxy and tradition as never changing.Show less
The Korean Wave is a cultural phenomenon that emerged in Northeast Asia during the late 20th century impacting the entire Asian region. The term was created to show the successful influence of...Show moreThe Korean Wave is a cultural phenomenon that emerged in Northeast Asia during the late 20th century impacting the entire Asian region. The term was created to show the successful influence of South Korean culture with the support of the South Korean government. For over 20 years, China and South Korea have had cultural communication and exchanges, further increasing both accessibility and popularity of South Korean culture and entertainment products in China. The success of the Korean Wave is associated with the spread of its products and the ability to influence the media environment and development of the cultural proximity. Korean drama (K-drama) and Korean Pop (K-pop) is strongly associated with soft masculinity, which has continued to inspire young Chinese males to exhibit their (inner) soft masculinity. The representation of soft masculinity as part of male gender, gives these young males a sense of belonging. The Chinese youth finds it easy to accept and emulate Korean idols and actors, for they feel empathy and cultural resemblances. However, the Chinese government is known for impeding the Korean Wave out of fear that the soft masculinity as portrayed through the Korean Wave will negatively influence Chinese teenagers and young adolescents.Show less
The present study examined the relationship between arousal, enjoyment, and cognitive performance after musical tapping tasks. Participants performed a series of tapping tasks, followed by a few...Show moreThe present study examined the relationship between arousal, enjoyment, and cognitive performance after musical tapping tasks. Participants performed a series of tapping tasks, followed by a few questions about their arousal, enjoyment, and recall of background objects. We assessed the arousal level of each participant before and after the musical task to investigate music-induced arousal. The participants' memory of background items, as well as their enjoyment of the musical activity, were assessed. While arousal and enjoyment levels fluctuate during the musical activities, the arousal change had no significant effect on enjoyment levels. Levels of enjoyment had no significant effect on memory recall. These findings show evidence that refutes the idea that arousal and enjoyment have distinct effects on recall. Instead, the present findings support previous research that enjoyment of the musical experience and musical arousal interplay a critical role in the relationship between music-induced arousal and memory.Show less
The concept of reification (from Latin res [‘thing’] and -fication, a suffix related to facere [‘to make’]) first played a prominent role in the thought of Georg Lukács and later in that of...Show moreThe concept of reification (from Latin res [‘thing’] and -fication, a suffix related to facere [‘to make’]) first played a prominent role in the thought of Georg Lukács and later in that of critical theorists such as Walter Benjamin and Theodor Adorno. For Adorno, reification is both a social phenomenon and a mode of thinking. This thesis seeks to provide a novel study of reification in synergy with Adorno’s writings on autonomous music, since music has outstanding capacities for critiquing reification. How does autonomous music offer for Adorno a possibility for knowledge and critique of reification?Show less
Burkina Faso is a West African state that continues to experience political troubles that stem from previous colonial rule. For four years in the 1980s there was a possibility that Burkina Faso...Show moreBurkina Faso is a West African state that continues to experience political troubles that stem from previous colonial rule. For four years in the 1980s there was a possibility that Burkina Faso could develop into a country capable of benefiting the majority of the population. However, following the assassination of Thomas Sankara, this hope did not extend beyond the four years he was in power. The recent uprisings, starting in 2014, have re-ignited past hopes of what Burkina Faso could have been and what it could yet be. The philosophies and actions of Frantz Fanon and Thomas Sankara remain relevant in understanding the reasons why Burkina Faso has not experienced the benefits that independence should have brought. They are also reference points for understanding how a favourable society might come about for the Burkinabé. Political social movements alone have had short term successes with regards to potentially changing the political governance of this West African State. What is important for the future of Burkina Faso is turning these short-term political gains into long-term political reality. It seems that governments, social movements and musicians combined will continue to have the most impact upon the future of Burkinabé civil society.Show less
In dit onderzoek is de rol van muziek in de Joegoslavische Burgeroorlog onderzocht. Dit is onderzocht aan de hand van een tekstuele analyse van verschillende Kroatische en Servische liederen die...Show moreIn dit onderzoek is de rol van muziek in de Joegoslavische Burgeroorlog onderzocht. Dit is onderzocht aan de hand van een tekstuele analyse van verschillende Kroatische en Servische liederen die tijdens de oorlog zijn uitgebracht. Ook zijn de visuele aspecten van de liederen, zoals de videoclip, in dit onderzoek meegenomen. In dit onderzoek licht de nadruk vooral op de natievormende rol van deze muziek.Show less
With at least 174 performances in 2017, it is fair to say that Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion enjoys unusual popularity in the Netherlands. Many scholars have wondered why, but without...Show moreWith at least 174 performances in 2017, it is fair to say that Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion enjoys unusual popularity in the Netherlands. Many scholars have wondered why, but without looking at the formative years of the Dutch Passion tradition: the interwar period between 1919 and 1939, when, as a result of economic distress, fear for moral breakdown and social fragmentation, the Dutch rediscovered an inward sense of nationality. First of all, this thesis shows that the tradition of yearly Passion performances, established by the conductor Willem Mengelberg, became a ritual through which citizens could profess this nationality. Subsequently, it analyses how a diverse group of intellectuals imbued Bach’s masterpiece with sublime properties. Finally, it turns its attention to peripheral regions, where locals took the initiative to organize their own Passion performances, enabling large swathes of the population to share and participate in a national musical culture. This thesis thus moves beyond musical, textual and dramaturgical aspects and integrates Dutch interwar Passion performance within its historical, social and cultural context. It regards Passion performances as civic rituals fostering emotional identification among both the active and passive participants. This approach aims to do justice to the ideological, religious and socio-economical heterogeneity of Dutch interwar society, as reflected in the vast array of primary sources under scrutiny. By investigating the origins of the Dutch passion for the Passion, this thesis seeks to elucidate the relations between music and national identity.Show less
Due to the neglect of linguistics proper to address the social component in linguistics, and sociolinguistics extensive focus on language variation and change during the 1970s, Critical Discourse...Show moreDue to the neglect of linguistics proper to address the social component in linguistics, and sociolinguistics extensive focus on language variation and change during the 1970s, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) emerged as an approach focusing on the relations between discourse and society, and how these are reproduced through text and music. As language is a powerful tool for identity construction, and its nature of being redefined within specific contexts, allows for CDA to observe how identities are constructed within discourses. Hence, by using Critical Discourse Analysis as an approach to analyzing music excerpts, this research will argue that the album Sobrevivendo no Inferno, by the Brazilian rap group Racionais MCs, uses specific structural and stylistic religious features as a semantic tool for Afro-Brazilian identity reconstruction. After presenting the Brazilian context of inequality and marginalization of peripheries, this research will apply the three stage model of analysis presented by Fairclough (1984): description, interpretation, and explanation of text. Although the primary focus of CDA has been on analyses of texts containing discourses produced by controlling groups, this research will apply the CDA approach to analyze discourse of resistance against dominating groups.Show less
