Modules

Core Module Information
Module title: Music Psychology
SCQF level: 10:
SCQF credit value: 20.00
ECTS credit value: 10
Module code: MUS10108
Module leader: John Hails
School School of Arts and Creative Industries
Subject area group: Screen and Performance
Prerequisites

There are no pre-requisites for this module to be added
Description of module content:

This module explores the psychology of musical experience from a variety of perspectives: from that of trained and untrained listeners; from that of the performer, improviser, or composer; and from that of the educator. We discuss how we use music to construct meaning and social validation, and explore motivations for and implications of the inclusion of music in everyday life.
The lecture content addresses a number of different topics including the expression of emotion and the construction of meaning through music, the basics of musical acoustics and their application in an empirical context, the developmental psychology of musical education, and the use of music to act as mood regulator, and structuring function both within personal and commercial contexts. You will reflect on your own musical background and preferences, and relate these to the topics and literature under discussion, and you will devise an experimental protocol to explore an element of the module with which you feel you connect.
Learning Outcomes for module:

LO1: Critically reflect on your own and others' musical experience;

LO2: Extract core issues regarding the psychological effects of music in everyday life from relevant literature, discussion, and your own experience;

LO3: Analyse and anticipate the methodological implications of different forms of research method;

LO4: Analyse data and devise hypotheses in an experimental setting.
Full Details of Teaching and Assessment
2022/3, Trimester 2, FACE-TO-FACE, Edinburgh Napier University
VIEW FULL DETAILS
Occurrence: 001
Primary mode of delivery: FACE-TO-FACE
Location of delivery: MERCHISTON
Partner: Edinburgh Napier University
Member of staff responsible for delivering module: John Hails
Module Organiser:


Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LTA) Approach:
Lectures will address topics in turn to build a cumulative knowledge and skill set regarding music psychology. In the first four weeks, students will intensively study a total of eight topics and will be encouraged to participate in class discussions which will encourage and empower them to explore and reflect upon their musical experience from a psychological perspective (LO1), as well as to engage with opposing views on music and experience both from their peers and from the literature they have studied (LO2). Discussion of the scientific method and around experimental protocols will give students the ability to gather data (LO3) and make conclusions on the basis of that data (LO4).
Seminars explicitly focusing on the assessed content of the module will bring lecture content into focus in the context of the individual student and support them to become an effective independent researcher.

Formative Assessment:
Before each assessment seminar (weeks 6-7; 11-12), the student will prepare a short (2 minute) presentation of their proposed topic. Feedback on this both from the lecturer and from peers will directly inform the student's work on their assessments.
There will be a formative submission (week 9) where the student will propose a topic for investigation through primary research. This proposal will include a short literature review, a rationale for this topic, proposed methods and experimental design, and any hypotheses that they have. Feedback from this will directly inform the student's work on their final experimental protocol submission.

Summative Assessment:
A report, submitted in week 11, that investigates a case study of music censorship and evaluates the rationale for and the strategies adopted to enforce this censorship will directly demonstrate the student's ability to assess how music can influence people in every day life, and in some cases cause harm (LO2), and to weigh up evidence and draw conclusions on this basis (LO4).
A reflective essay submitted in week 13 will use one of the topics of the lectures as a starting point in order to demonstrate their research on the topic (LO2), and their critical reaction to their own empirical experience (LO1).
Finally, a write-up of an experimental protocol devised by the student to investigate a topic of their choosing will be submitted in week 15. This will demonstrate their ability to evaluate methods and select one appropriate for the data they are aiming to gather (LO3), as well as to discuss and draw conclusions from this data in order to enhance their understanding of the topic that they have chosen to explore (LO4).
Student Activity (Notional Equivalent Study Hours (NESH))
Mode of activityLearning & Teaching ActivityNESH (Study Hours)
Face To Face Lecture 22
Face To Face Seminar 4
Independent Learning Guided independent study 174
Total Study Hours200
Expected Total Study Hours for Module200


Assessment
Type of Assessment Weighting % LOs covered Week due Length in Hours/Words
Report 30 2,4 11 HOURS= 00.00, WORDS= 1500
Essay 30 1,2 13 HOURS= 00.00, WORDS= 1500
Project - Written 40 3,4 14/15 HOURS= 00.00, WORDS= 2000
Component 1 subtotal: 60
Component 2 subtotal: 40
Module subtotal: 100

Indicative References and Reading List - URL:
Contact your module leader
 

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