Since the advent of children's educational television, there has been much speculation but little research conducted on the possible effect of such programming on children's music learning. The present investigation was undertaken to determine if third-grade children could identify songs from the show Barney & Friends. Results indicated that (a) there was not a positive relationship between students' self-reported frequency of watching Barney & Friends and song recognition; (b) taken as a whole, the group of popular songs was identified significantly more often than not, whereas the group of “Barney ” songs tended not to be recognized by the group of frequent viewers; (c) when songs had their lyrical content altered on the show, students did not tend to remember those songs in the new formats; and (d) boys tended to say that they watched the show significantly less often than did girls.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bogatz, G. A., & Ball, S. (1971). The second year of Sesame Street: A continuing evaluation. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
2.
Bryant, J., Zillman, D., & Brown, D. (1983). Entertainment features in children's educational television: Effects on attention and information acquisition. In J. Bryant & D. R. Anderson (Eds.), Children's understanding of television: Research on attention and comprehension (pp. 221–240). New York: Academic Press.
3.
Cassidy, J. W., & Geringer, J. M. (1999). Effects of animated videos on preschool children's music preferences. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 17 (2), 3–7.
4.
Clark, H., & Clark, E. (1977). Psychology and language. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
5.
Cook, T. D., Appleton, H., Conner, R. E., Shaffer, A., Tamkin, G., & Webber, S.J. (1975). Sesame Street revisited. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
6.
Davidson, L. (1985). Tonal structures of children's early songs. Music Perception, 2 (3), 361–374.
7.
Dowling, W.J. (1982). Melodic information processing and its development. In D. Deutsch (Ed.), The psychology of music (pp. 69–88). New York: Academic Press.
8.
Elmer, S. S. (1997). Approaching the song acquisition process. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, no. 133, 129–135.
9.
Feierabend, J. M., Saunders, T. C., Holahan, J. M., & Getnick, P. E. (1998). Song recognition among preschool-age children: An investigation of words and music. Journal of Research in Music Education, 46, 351–359.
10.
Gardner, H., Davidson, L., & Mc Kernon, P. (1981). The acquisition of song: A developmental approach. In Documentary report of the Ann Arbor Symposium. Res ton, VA: MENC.
11.
Gates, J. T. (2000). Why study music? In C. K. Madsen (Ed.), Vision 2020: The Housewright Symposium on the Future of Music Education (pp. 57–82). Reston, VA: MENC.
12.
Gfeller, K. E. (1983). Musical mnemonics as an aid to retention with normal and learning disabled students. Journal of Music Therapy, 20 (4), 179–189.
13.
Hair, H. I. (1981). Verbal identification of music concepts. Journal of Research in Music Education, 29, 11–21.
14.
Hair, H. I. (1987). Descriptive vocabulary and visual choices: Children's responses to conceptual changes in music. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, no. 91, 59–64.
15.
Harwood, E. E. (1987). The memorized song repertoire of children in grades four and five in Champaign, Illinois (Doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1987). Dissertation Abstracts International, 8721651.
16.
Hoff-Ginsberg, E., & Shatz, M. (1982). Linguistic input and the child's acquisition of language. Psychological Bulletin, 92, 3–26.
17.
Huston, A. C., & Wright, J. C. (1998). Television and the informational and educational needs of children. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 557, 9–23.
18.
Killian, J. (1996). Definitions of “knowing:” Comparison of verbal report versus performance of children's songs. Journal of Research in Music Education, 44, 215–228.
19.
Killian, J. (1993). A comparison of knowledge of children's songs among older adults, college students, and children. Missouri Journal of Research in Music Education, 30, 8–17.
20.
Le Blanc, A. (1982). An interactive theory of music preference. Journal of Music Therapy, 19, 28–45.
21.
Mc Guire, K. M. (1999). A content analysis of the use of music on Barney & Friends. Doctoral dissertation, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.
22.
Mc Guire, K. M. (2000). Common songs of the cultural heritage of the United States: A compilation of songs that most people “know” and “should know.”Journal of Research in Music Education, 48, 310–322.
23.
Mc Guire, K. M. (2001). The use of music on Barney & Friends: Implications for music therapy practice and research. Journal of Music Therapy, 38 (2), 114–148.
24.
Mc Mahon, O. (1985). Young children's perceptions of the dimension of sound. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, no. 85, 131–139.
25.
Minton, J. H. (1972). The impact of Sesame Street on reading readiness of kindergarten children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Fordham University, New York, NY.
26.
Moog, H. (1976). The musical experience of the preschool child (C. Clarke, Trans.). London: Schott.
27.
Morrongiello, B. A., & Roes, C. L. (1990). Children's memory for new songs: Integration or independent storage of words and tunes?Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 50 (1), 25–38.
28.
National Audience Report. (1997). PBS Research. January-April.
29.
National Audience Report. (1992). PBS Research. January-April.
30.
Park, C. W., & Young, S. M. (1986). Consumer response to television commercials: The impact of involvement and background music on brand attitude formation. Journal of Marketing Research, 23, 11–24.
31.
Prickett, C., & Bridges, M. (1998). Familiarity with basic song repertoire: Music education/therapy majors versus elementary education majors. Journal of Research in Music Education, 46, 461–468.
32.
Radocy, R. E., & Boyle, J. D. (1988). Psychological foundations of musical behavior (2nd ed.). Springfield, IL.: Charles C Thomas.
33.
Reeves, B. R. (1970). The first year of Sesame Street: The formative researchNew York: Children's Television Workshop.
34.
Rice, M. L., Huston, A. C., Truglio, R. T., & Wright, J. C. (1990). Words from Sesame Street: Learning vocabulary while viewing. Developmental Psychology, 26, 421–428.
35.
Shehan-Campbell, P. (1998). Songs in their heads. New York: Oxford University Press.
36.
Shehan-Campbell, P., & Scott-Kassner, C. (2002). Music in childhood. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
37.
Sloboda, J. A. (1996). The musical mind. New York: Oxford University Press.
38.
Spearman, C. E. (2000). How will societal and technological changes affect the teaching of music? In C. K. Madsen (Ed.), Vision 2020: The Housewright Symposium on the Future of Music Education (pp. 153–184). Reston, VA: MENC.
39.
Stanger, J. D. (1997). Television in the home: The 1997 survey of parents and children. Annenberg Public Policy Center Survey Series, no. 2. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg Public Policy Center.
40.
Welch, G. E., Sergeant, D. C., & White, P.J. (1995). The singing competencies of five-year-old developing singers. Bulletin for the Council for Research in Music Education, no. 127, 154–162.
41.
Wolfe, D. E., & Jellison, J. (1995). Interviews with preschool children about music videos. Journal of Music Therapy, 32 (4), 265–285.
42.
Wolfe, D. E., & Stambaugh, S. (1993). Musical analysis of Sesame Street: Implications for music therapy practice and research. Journal of Music Therapy, 30, 224–235.
43.
Yalch, R. F. (1991). Memory in a jingle jungle: Music as a mnemonic device in communicating advertising slogans. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 268–275.
44.
Yankelvich, S., & White-Clancy, S. (1989). The role of Sesame Street among children in povertyNew York: Author.
45.
Yarbrough, C. (2000). What should be the relationship between schools and other sources of music learning? In C. K. Madsen (Ed.), Vision 2020: The Housewright Symposium on the Future of Music Education (pp. 193–208). Reston, VA: MENC.
