Summary Of A Blind Experiment

A blind experiment was conducted by Nikki Rickard (2004) to determine whether there was a difference in physiological arousal between more and less emotionally powerful music (EPM). Twenty-one “healthy” participants (12 males, 9 females) (mean age of participant was 25.5 years) were given “music treatments” of 3 different types of music, and 1 EPM of the individuals choice. The participants were exposed to relaxing music, stimulating but not emotionally powerful music, an emotional/powerful scene from a film, and a piece of music that the participants selected by themselves that they classified as “emotionally powerful”. Each individuals gender, personality, and level of musical experience was noted, but was found that none of these factors