Hi there!

Hello everybody, I'm Abbi! This is my blog about my science experiment. I had a question kind of based from my personal experiences. Whenever my favorite song came on the radio I just felt like getting up and dancing, was that the same for everyone? Or was I just crazy? ;)

Alright so the following is all about my experiment and my results. Do we have a physical response to music we like?

Introduction- Backround Info and Hypothesis

You know whenever you hear your favorite song; you just get in a better mood? Well have you ever wondered if our body responds to the music? Do we physically react to a song we like? I wanted to find out.

All scientists agree that music embeds itself deep in our brains, starting with the ears and sending out electrical signals that create reactions in the brain that we haven’t quite figured out. Music hits our emotions, memories, and learning. Music psychologically gives us an outlet for our emotions and almost a rebellion against our classical origins at times. Music and brain activity have puzzled scientists for years but very little experimenting has followed. Playing Mozart while infants sleep seems to improve mental and emotional progress is a start but we really can’t prove it’s the music. Some doctors have prescribed music therapy to those with disorders involving over active mental or physical functions that seem to result in a more calm sense of being. Once again, it is very hard to prove.

Some things we can prove while listening to music is a change in physical reactions in pulse and GSR. GSR is your galvanic skin response which is more simply, a reading measuring how active your nerves are- calmed or hyped up. By using two pieces of equipment, these two changes can be found easily.

My hypothesis if that if I have people hooked up to a pulse and GSR reader while music is playing, then I will find a physical response to the song they like the most (a calming or a burst of energy).

My Procedure

Physical or Emotional-How do We Respond to Music

Procedure and Materials

Materials:

-My computer (music selections)

-GSR Instrument

-Pulse Reader

-Blindfold

-Over ear Head phones

-Data Chart for each subject (in my case six)

Song

Initial GSR

Initial Pulse

GSR During Song

Pulse During Song

GSR After

Pulse After

Favorite

The Songs I will be using-

~Suite Number 1 in G Major for Solo Cello preformed by Yo-Yo Ma (Classical)

~Enter Sandman by Metallica (Rock)

~Beat it by Michael Jackson (Pop)

~Feeling Good by Nina Simone (Jazz)

~One Tribe by the Black Eyed Peas (Hip Hop)

~Small Town Southern Man by Alan Jackson (Country)

1. Give participant questionnaire part one; a list of genres (Rock, Pop, Jazz, Hip Hop, Country, Classical, Blues, Techno, and Alternative) and ask them to number them from their favorite (1) and least favorite (9)

2. Sit subject down in chair, palms down on the table and cover eyes with blind fold and make sure they can see nothing. Make sure the room is completely silent.

3. Connect the pulse reader to right index finger and place your left hand on the GSR leads.

4. Take the initial pulse as indicated on the digital reader of the pulse meter.

5. Take the initial GSR reading once the meter has stopped moving and record in the data chart.

6. Place the over ear headphones securely over the ears and play the first selection for one minute.

7. Take the pulse and GSR readings while the music is playing and record in the data chart.

8. Take the pulse and GSR readings after the first selection has finished and record in the data chart.

9. Repeat steps 1-7 with each selection

10. Have participant fill out a short questionnaire with the following questions- What was your favorite selection? Did you know it? Why was it your favorite?

11. Repeat steps 1-9 with each of the six participants.

Results

	Subject 1	Subject 2	Subject 3	Subject 4	Subject 5	Subject 6
Initial GSR & Pulse (Pulse Beats ,degrees F)	79, 0.6 F	60, 0.2 F	57, 0.2 F	58, -0.2 F	75, 1 F	68, 0.6 F
Classical (During GSR, Pulse, After GSR, Pulse)	0 F, 77, 0.2 F, 75	0.6 F, 61, 0.4 F, 62	-0.4 F, 48, -0.6 F, 50	1.2 F, 57, 0.8 F, 58	1.2 F, 69, 1 F, 70	0.4 F, 75, 0.6 F, 74
Country	0.6 F, 81, 0.6 F, 81	0.4 F, 63, 0.6 F, 67	-1 F, 51, -1.2 F, 48	1.4 F, 61, 1 F, 59	1.4 F, 75, 1.2 F, 64	1 F, 78, 0.6 F, 73
Hip Hop	0.8 F, 93, 0.4 F, 86	0.8 F, 66, 0.6 F, 69	-1.2 F, 61, -1.2 F, 55	-1 F, 60, -2 F, 62	1.3 F, 76, 1.2 F, 73	0 F, 75, 0.6 F, 72
Rock	1 F, 88, 0.4 F, 86	0.6 F, 65, 0.8, 66	-1.6 F, 53, -1.6 F, 47	-1.4 F, 62, -1.6 F, 60	1 F, 74, 0.8 F, 82	1 F, 85, -0.2 F, 72
Pop	1.2 F, 92, 1.4 F, 85	0.6 F, 67, 0.6 F, 74	-1.6 F, 51, -1.4 F, 50	-1.8 F, 62, -1.6 F, 63	1.2 F, 81, 1 F, 72	1.4 F, 80, 0.8 F, 72
Jazz	0.8 F, 84, 0.6 F, 87	0.4 F, 63, 0.6 F, 67	-1.4 F, 53, -1.6 F, 49	-2 F, 64, -1.6 F, 65	1.4 F, 73, 1 F, 73	0.6 F, 80, 1 F, 77

Results (Continued) A Break Down

	Subject 1	Subject 2	Subject 3	Subject 4	Subject 5	Subject 6
Pre- Questionnaire Favorite	Pop	Rock	Rock	Country	Hip Hop	Country
Post Questionnaire favorite	Pop	Jazz	Country	Country	Pop	Country
Highest Pulse Reaction	Hip Hop	Pop	Hip Hop	Jazz	Rock	Rock
Highest GSR Reaction	Pop	Rock	Hip Hop	Country	Country	Pop
Lowest Pulse Reaction	Classical	Classical	Country	Classical	Classical	Pop
Lowest GSR Reaction	Classical	classical	Country	Jazz	Classical/Pop	Rock

Conclusion

In conclusion to this experiment; my hypothesis that if somebody is hooked up to a pulse and GSR reader that there will be a physical response to an expressed preference, was correct. Through my experiment of doing just that I found that participants would either become more upbeat or calmer when a song identified as their favorite at the end of the experiment. The pre-experiment questionnaire did not really yield answers cohesive to the whole group except for one or two.

On occasion there were a few margins for error in my experiment such as not waiting a set amount of time between songs or taking the readings at a certain time. One participant filled out both the pre and post questionnaires after the experiment. Other than that my data is solid, the readings were taken when the number leveled out and my conclusion is valid. We do react physically when a favorite song comes on.