Journal of Research in Music Education

The purpose of this study was to determine if music lessons presented via television could effect a subject matter music score gain while also functioning as reinforcement for correct academic responses. An entire first grade served as subjects divided in four groups: (1) Televised music lessons contingent upon correct math responses; (2) Partial contingency of televised music lessons for correct math responses; (3) Contact control; and (4) No-contact control. Results indicated that correct math scores increased as a function of the televised contingency for subjects who were reinforced for correct academic responses, while correct responses did not increase for the control groups. More importantly, subjects evidenced a significant music subject matter gain in direct relationship to their music lesson viewing participation. This study suggests that learning contingencies can be designed that offer a learning gain in both the subject matter used as reward and the subject matter that it is intended to reinforce.

The purpose of this study was the development and validation of a graduate level listening test in music history and analysis. Nine exploratory test forms were sequentially developed and tried. The resulting Listening Test of Musical Style is uniquely different from other tests predicting graduate school success because of its complete reliance upon music listening as the basis of measurement. The test was found sufficiently reliable and valid for its intended use, and potentially useful for institutions subscribing to the test' s design of content sampling.

Very few published instruments are available for the measurement of attitude of elementary school children toward music. An attitude instrument was developed and administered to fifth grade low socioeconomic inner-city minority children and to fifth grade upper middle-class suburban white children. A Likert-type scaling procedure was used, and the responses were interpreted using factor analysis. The rotated factor matrix for the final revision indicated 14 factors, several of which were independent, leading to the conclusion that the instrument measures several aspects of music attitude. Attitudes of children in two groups were compared. A significant difference (.01 level) was found between these groups.