Swing Music Research Paper

Affective Response To Music As A Function Of Familiarity
Herbert E. Krugman
The College of the City Of New York

Abstract
Recordings of classical and of swing music, so chosen as to have initially very slight affective value, were played once per seek for eight weeks to seven subjects. Shifts in the directions of greater pleasantness preponderated over those in the direction of the unpleasantness; this was true both of classical and of swing music. A questionnaire on the music preference given before and after the experiment supported out tentative conclusion that positive affective shift can be produced by sheer repetition of musical experience, regardless of the classical or nonclassical character of music.

Affective Response
to Music As A Function of Familiarity Many acquired likes and dislikes appear to arise under circumstances differing greatly in their dynamics form those which obtain in conditioning. Whereas drive-satisfaction is obtained, there appear to be many acquired affective satisfaction value of the original stimulus; the process of undoubtedly very complexes has been studied clinically and experimentally, under various names, for a considerable period. Our purpose here is not to settle the whole theoretical question of a broad nonspecific craving progressively narrows down to a craving for that specific object that has repeatedly been the satisfier. Data might show a progressive increase in specificity in wants, so that one desires not “food in general,” but meatball and spaghetti; not “music in general,” xz but Marche Slave. The question is whether experimentally demonstrate the reality of this process which following Janet we may call canalization. As the process goes on, we should expect the positive affective tone of the stimulus to increase, and its fixation to become more difficult to break. The strength of such a fixation would appear to depend on three factors: (a) the intensity of the particular drive in action, (b) the satisfying value of the stimulus, (c)the number of reputations of the whole experience. One might easily fail to observe the phenomenon through overlooking some of those factors, e.g., by employing stimuli which, for an individual subject, are not reliable drive-satisfiers.

Method
There is, however, some experimental evidence in support of the hypothesis. A. H. Maslow (4), using vari-colored clerical materials and pictures, established among a group of clerical workers specific preferences through “familiarization.” The positive result may seem surprising because such materials usually have little or no affective intensity.
M. Lukomnik (3) undertook to canalize 18 adult to five strange food tastes. Her most significant results indication canalization were obtained when the subjects had fasted previous to the experiment. Though she did establish a strong hunger drive in her subjects, she erred by allowing them only to taste the food instead of eat it. In this manner she greatly reduced the consummator satisfying response, and her results, though significant, were not nearly as striking as they might well have been. Musical tastes represent a fertile field for such experimentation. H. T. Moore (5) employed a series of dissonant and consonant musical patterns varying in complexity. Progressive Mastery of complex patterns induced a positive shift in affective tone. If complexity of music is the key to affective quality, it is understandable that the life-span of the classics is so much greater. However, it is also true that popular selections are played more often in their limited life-span; ultimate rgrssion towards an indifferent point may therefore take place faster.
At a later date Moore and Gilliand (6) played a series of jazz and classical selections to an unslected group of students for 25 weekly periods.
Though the group liked the classical slelections better at the last seesion and no changes occurred for the jazz, the results lose significance in the light of the fact that ratings were changes in affective tone took pace during the interim.
The most pertinent studies of affective shift in response to music, which have come to our attention, are those of Washburn, Child, and Abel (8), and of Verveer, Barry, and Bousfield (7). The former reported a positive shift for three types of classical music and a negative shift for popular music during the course of five auditions. The latter found a marked negative shift for jazz in the course of eight auditions on one day; a week later the original hedonic value had been regained, but again fell rapidly in the course of eight auditions.
Data gathered by G. Wiebe (9) have been quoted as evidence against the change in affective quality of music with repetition. Wiebe studied the effect of radio plugging on ratings of popular songs. Though no change was demonstrated, the system of controls was inadequate and by Wiebe’s admission the data lose
relevance.

Subjects and Procedures
Nine Students were chosen as subjects on the basis of an attitude questionnaire and personal interview. The following is the questionnaire:
This questionnaire is presented to you in an effort to find a number of students who would be willing to serve as subjects in a psychological research project. The task of the subjects consists of listening to musical selections for approximately half an hour, once a week for the durations of the semester.
Directions: Read each item carefully and underline the phrase which best expresses your feeling about the statement. If in doubt underline the phrase most nearly to express your prevent feeling about the sentence.
I prefer classical music to any other kind of music
Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree I prefer swing music to any other kind of music
Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree
I listen to classical music approximately–1 hr.–3 hrs.–5 hrs.–7hrs.–9 hrs.–11 hrs.–13 hrs.–15 hrs. a week.
I listen to swing music approximately–1 hr.–3 hrs.–5 hrs.–7hrs.–9 hrs.–11 hrs.–13 hrs.–15 hrs. a week.
Would you be willing to serve as a subject.
If Yes please fill in the following:
Name
Address
Phone No.
Class
Free Hours Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri.
The subjects were students in the psychology courses at the College of the City of New York in the Spring Term, 1947. The age range was from 18 to 21.

Three subjects A, B, and C, were chosen for their extreme preference for “swing” music over classical. Their disdain for classical music was expressed in a very definite and prejudiced manner. Subjects X, Y, and Z were chosen for their similar preference for classical music. Three subjects were chosen for their indifference to all types of music, but since two of them were unable to complete the trails we shall consider only the record of the remaining subject K.
The trials were held in a small, semi-sound-proofed room. The subject was seated and listened to three musical recordings played by phonograph; pitch and volume were kept constant from week to week. During the first trial a number of recordings were play until three were found to which the subject was more of less indifferent. These were selected as the stimuli for canalization. All were presented in the same order (i.e., for this individual subject) at each weekly session over a period of eight weeks.
Affective ratings were made on a graphic rating-scale 14 centimeters in width. At the 1 centimeter line a small VP was explained as “very pleasant,” at the fourth line P was termed “pleasant”; I “indifference,” was located at the seventh line and the “unpleasant” and “very unpleasant” at the tenth and thirteenth lines respectively. The criterion of indifference was a rating within two centimeters of the seven centimeters line. Though this range may seem rather broad it had to be adopted in order to avoid a great expenditure of time in selecting the stimuli. However, a statement by J. G. Beebe-Center on this point lends additional support to this decision: “It follows that zero value of hedonic tone represents not a definite concept distinct from pleasantness and unpleasantness, but rather an ideal boundary between the two” (1, p. 7).
Classical selections were played for subjects A, B, and C, the “swing fans,” while swing music was played for X, Y, and Z, the “classicists”; the indifferent subject K also listened to classical music. In selecting each stimulus, we made certain that the subjects had never before heard the piece and that it remained them of no other. All information about the selections was withheld from the subjects. All of the subjects seemed much interested and were attentive to the music.
The selections played were as follows: Classical Music 1. Beethoven–Moonlight Sonata 2. Rimsky Korsakow–Hymn to the Sun 3. Debussy–Festivals, Part II 4. Mosolov–The Steel Foundry 5. Stravinsky–Fireworks 6. Anon–Havanese Sound Ensemble 7. Berlioz–Les Troyens Carthage 8. Berlioz–Benvenuto Cellini Overture, Part III

Swing Music 9. Charlie Barnett–Southern Fried 10. Duke Ellington–John Hardy’s Wife 11. Larry Clinton– A Study in Modernism 12. Larry Clinton–Missouri Scrambler 13. Gene Krupa–Apurksody 14. Gene Krupa–Jungle Madness

The selection of each subject and the order of their presentation are: Subject | Stimuli | A | 3, 6, 4 | B | 2, 1, 7 | C | 5, 2, 8 | K | 2, 4, 6 | X | 11, 10, 9 | Y | 9, 14, 13 | Z | 10, 12, 14 |

At the conclusion of the trials the subjects repeated their attitude questionnaires, and evidence was found that the was found that the experiment affected the ratings as described below.

Results Subjects B, C, K, Y, and Z show canalization trends and subjects B, Y, and Z shows transfer, i.e., changed attitude in response to the questionnaire; familiarity with the music had an influence in changing their attitudes as shown in the responses to the questionnaire when given a second time. A very rough quantitative summary may be given by plotting, week by week, the algebraic mean of affective response, using all subjects and all musical selections. This curve is to be regarded as a learning curve, i.e., a progressive trend toward enjoyment of the music. To test for the significance of the slop, i.e., genuineness of the increase in affective tone, we correlated the original position of the trails with degree of positiveness in affective tone. The Pearson product moment r=.91. The music became more satisfying from the first of the sixth trail; there is a slight downward trend there after. It must, however, be clearly emphasized that this trend, based on averages, greatly oversimplifies the picture; there are great individual differences and affective shift, the different types of shift in the individual subjects responses to different records. Through 18 out of 21 shifts are in the positive direction, much may have depended on our choice of records. The correlation of .91, based on so few subjects and so few records, is not offered as cogent evidence. By removing a simple subject from the total, and averaging the rest, we could produce various changes; for example, by removing one specific subject the drop in the seventh and eighth weeks is marked, necessitating a curvilinear graph, and indicating the “waxing and waning” of positive affective responses as found in some other studies, But taking the data as they stand, they suggest a canalization process for at least the first six weeks; if there is a satiation, boredom, or fatigue effect, it is slight, delayed, and could have acted only to decrease the degree of canalization.
The individual data indicated that this positive trend is at least as marked in the case of the swing as in the case of the classical music; and repetition of the questionnaire suggests that most of the subjects have developed to some degree a liking for the type of music to which they have been experimentally
exposed.

Discussion The evidence for canalization a somewhat strengthened by the definite transfer effects on subjects B, Y, and Z, as shown in response to the questionnaire. All S’s agreed that they could get to like some selections from a type of music against which they had previously felt a marked prejudice. Canalization requires definite drive-satisfaction. A real satisfaction is present in an experimental situation in which the subject leaves the tension and pressure of the classroom for half an hour of quiet relaxation with music. This is an important element; but it is by no means a determining influence as is shown by the appearance of positive and negative changes of affective tone in the same subject on the same day. In testing H. T. Moore’s (5) conception of progressive mastery of complex patterns as the key to affective changes in music, we have to make the assumption, as did Moore, that classical music is more complex then swing or jazz. If this assumption is correct, some of our data seem, as far as they go, to challenge the “progressive mastery” hypothesis, since the swing music not only has higher ratings, but also tends, in the present study, to have a longer life-span.