music

Effects of Music on Physiological Arousal: Explorations into Genre and TempoFrancesca Dillman Carpentier & Robert F. Potter : 

Effects of Music on Physiological Arousal: Explorations into Genre and Tempo Francesca Dillman Carpentier & Robert F. Potter Music can have a profound effect on our perceptions of ourselves, of others and of our surrounding environment. One way it influences us is by elevating perceived arousal. However, very few studies test whether music can increase physiological arousal, which would have applications for excitation transfer, information recall and the like. This investigation provides a systematic test of musical features on physiological arousal. Experiment 1 H1: Music is more physiologically arousing than silence. H2: Fast tempos are more arousing than slow tempos. H3: Rock is more arousing than classical music. Skin conductance level and response data were collected from 18 undergrads in a within-subjects design. Stimuli were 50-sec. instrumental excerpts consisting of fast rock, slow rock, fast classical, slow classical, and two periods of silence. Order was rotated. Results H1 and H2 were supported. H3 was not supported. (See paper for additional results, including Skin Conductance Response data) Note. Cells are means from 3 (silence, slow, fast) x 6 (presentation order) mixed-measures ANOVA (F(2, 24) = 3.0, p = .07). Means with different lowercase superscripts differ significantly at p < .05. Note. Cells are means from 3 (silence, slow, fast) x 6 (presentation order) mixed-measures ANOVA (F(2, 24) = 3.5, p < .05). Means with different uppercase superscripts differ marginally at p < .10. Experiment 2 H1: Fast tempos are more arousing than slow tempos. H2: Rock is more arousing than classical music. RQ: How does swing music behave? Skin conductance level and response data were collected from 24 undergrads in a within-subjects design. Stimuli were 50-sec. instrumental excerpts consisting of fast rock, slow rock, fast classical, slow classical, fast swing, and slow swing. Order was rotated. Results H1 was partially supported with skin conductance response data. Swing, regardless of tempo, was more arousing than the other genres. (See paper for additional results, including Skin Conductance Response data) F(78,1092) = 1.4, p < .05 Note. Cells are means from 2 (slow, fast) x 3 (rock, classical, swing) x 6 (presentation order) mixed-measures ANOVA (F(2, 36) = 5.6, p < .01). Means with different lowercase superscripts differ significantly at p < .05. Comparisons are made within genre only.