Effects of multiple interventions for reducing vocal stereotypy: Developing a sequential intervention model

Despite the availability of several interventions designed to reduce engagement in vocal stereotypy, few studies have compared two or more interventions together. Consequently, practitioners have limited amount of data to make informed decisions on whether an intervention may be more suitable than another to begin treating vocal stereotypy. The purpose of the study was to address this limitation by examining the direct and collateral effects of multiple interventions in 12 individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities in order to guide the development of a sequential intervention model. Using single-case experimental designs, we conducted a series of four experiments which showed that (a) noncontingent music generally produced more desirable outcomes than differential reinforcement of alternative behavior, (b) differential reinforcement of other behavior reduced vocal stereotypy in two participants for whom noncontingent music had failed to do so, (c) the addition of simple prompting procedures may enhance the effects of the interventions, and (d) the effects of noncontingent music may persist during sessions with extended durations. Based on these results, we propose a sequential intervention model to facilitate the initial and subsequent selection of an intervention most likely to reduce vocal stereotypy while producing desired collateral outcomes.     

Music therapy in children's hospices: An evaluative survey of provision

This paper presents the results of a survey of the range of music therapy practice in children's hospices in the UK. Music therapists are challenged to work with children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions during short periods of respite care over several years or at end of life. Flexibility is fundamental to working both individually and in small groups in response to the shifting needs of the children and their families. In the context of a children's hospice music therapists are called upon to work creatively with siblings and family members and members of the multidisciplinary team in addition to the children themselves. A questionnaire and focus group for music therapists working in the children's hospices provided evidence of the range of work, priorities and future plans for development. Telephone interviews with specialist staff at children's hospices where music therapists were not currently working provided evidence of how music and musical activities were perceived and utilised, with any plans for future provision for a music therapy service and some of the practical and resource issues being itemised.     

Persons with moderate Alzheimer's disease use simple technology aids to manage daily activities and leisure occupation

Two studies assessed technology-aided programs to support performance of daily activities and selection/activation of music items with patients with moderate Alzheimer's disease. In Study I, four patients were presented with activity-related pictorial instructions via a computer fitted with inexpensive, commercial software. In Study II, four patients were (a) presented with different music options and (b) allowed to select and activate the preferred option via a microswitch response. Study I showed that each patient learned to perform the two activities available with percentages of correct responses exceeding 85 by the end of the intervention. Study II showed that all patients learned to choose and activate music options. Psychology students, employed in a social validation check, scored the patients’ behavior within the program better than their behavior in a control situation. The relevance and usability of simplified pictorial-instruction programs and music choice programs for patients with moderate Alzheimer's disease were discussed.     

Two Challenges in Cognitive Musicology

Two themes in music cognition research are highlighted—inspired by the contributions in this volume: (a) statistical learning and (b) evolutionary theorizing. Our ability to test alternatives to statistical learning is threatened by the rapidly diminishing opportunities for cross‐cultural studies unconfounded by bimusicalism. Our ability to infer possible evolutionary origins for music is confounded by the “hedonic plenitude” of modern music‐making—where multiple pleasure channels are activated simultaneously. Cognitively inspired music research will benefit by studying a wider range of musical cultures. Evolutionary theorizing will benefit by further work involving comparative animal behavior.     

Music Cognition and the Cognitive Sciences

Why should music be of interest to cognitive scientists, and what role does it play in human cognition? We review three factors that make music an important topic for cognitive scientific research. First, music is a universal human trait fulfilling crucial roles in everyday life. Second, music has an important part to play in ontogenetic development and human evolution. Third, appreciating and producing music simultaneously engage many complex perceptual, cognitive, and emotional processes, rendering music an ideal object for studying the mind. We propose an integrated status for music cognition in the Cognitive Sciences and conclude by reviewing challenges and big questions in the field and the way in which these reflect recent developments.     

Music Cognition: A Developmental Perspective

Although music is universal, there is a great deal of cultural variability in music structures. Nevertheless, some aspects of music processing generalize across cultures, whereas others rely heavily on the listening environment. Here, we discuss the development of musical knowledge, focusing on four themes: (a) capabilities that are present early in development; (b) culture‐general and culture‐specific aspects of pitch and rhythm processing; (c) age‐related changes in pitch perception; and (d) developmental changes in how listeners perceive emotion in music.     

Learning and Liking of Melody and Harmony: Further Studies in Artificial Grammar Learning

Much of what we know and love about music is based on implicitly acquired mental representations of musical pitches and the relationships between them. While previous studies have shown that these mental representations of music can be acquired rapidly and can influence preference, it is still unclear which aspects of music influence learning and preference formation. This article reports two experiments that use an artificial musical system to examine two questions: (1) which aspects of music matter most for learning, and (2) which aspects of music matter most for preference formation. Two aspects of music are tested: melody and harmony. In Experiment 1 we tested the learning and liking of a new musical system that is manipulated melodically so that only some of the possible conditional probabilities between successive notes are presented. In Experiment 2 we administered the same tests for learning and liking, but we used a musical system that is manipulated harmonically to eliminate the property of harmonic whole‐integer ratios between pitches. Results show that disrupting melody (Experiment 1) disabled the learning of music without disrupting preference formation, whereas disrupting harmony (Experiment 2) does not affect learning and memory but disrupts preference formation. Results point to a possible dissociation between learning and preference in musical knowledge.     

The neuroscience of musical improvisation

Researchers have recently begun to examine the neural basis of musical improvisation, one of the most complex forms of creative behavior. The emerging field of improvisation neuroscience has implications not only for the study of artistic expertise, but also for understanding the neural underpinnings of domain-general processes such as motor control and language production. This review synthesizes functional magnetic resonance imagining (fMRI) studies of musical improvisation, including vocal and instrumental improvisation, with samples of jazz pianists, classical musicians, freestyle rap artists, and non-musicians. A network of prefrontal brain regions commonly linked to improvisatory behavior is highlighted, including the pre-supplementary motor area, medial prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and dorsal premotor cortex. Activation of premotor and lateral prefrontal regions suggests that a seemingly unconstrained behavior may actually benefit from motor planning and cognitive control. Yet activation of cortical midline regions points to a role of spontaneous cognition characteristic of the default network. Together, such results may reflect cooperation between large-scale brain networks associated with cognitive control and spontaneous thought. The improvisation literature is integrated with Pressing's theoretical model, and discussed within the broader context of research on the brain basis of creative cognition.     

Music as a memory enhancer in patients with Alzheimer's disease

Musical mnemonics have a long and diverse history of popular use. In addition, music processing in general is often considered spared by the neurodegenerative effects of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Research examining these two phenomena is limited, and no work to our knowledge has explored the effectiveness of musical mnemonics in AD. The present study sought to investigate the effect of music at encoding on the subsequent recognition of associated verbal information. Lyrics of unfamiliar children's songs were presented bimodally at encoding, and visual stimuli were accompanied by either a sung or a spoken recording. Patients with AD demonstrated better recognition accuracy for the sung lyrics than the spoken lyrics, while healthy older adults showed no significant difference between the two conditions. We propose two possible explanations for these findings: first, that the brain areas subserving music processing may be preferentially spared by AD, allowing a more holistic encoding that facilitates recognition, and second, that music heightens arousal in patients with AD, allowing better attention and improved memory.     

Arts therapies for young offenders in secure care—A practice-based research

This article describes the results of the first phase of a research project to develop, implement, evaluate, and improve arts therapies interventions for young offenders in secure care. By means of a naturalistic/constructivistic research methodology in combination with grounded therapy methodology, practice-based evidence has been generated. Core problems of young offenders that are connected to delinquency have been described and arts therapies interventions have been developed that can be used to change these core problems. Core problems are problems with self-image, with expressing and discharging emotions, the inability to resolve interpersonal problems and finally, negative cognitions. In co-creation with practitioners, interventions have been developed for drama therapy, music therapy, art therapy and dance-movement therapy. A treatment theory has been developed that explains the working of arts therapies by means of the first author's theory of analogy. This theory explains arts therapies by means of the equality between forms of expression in art and the core self consciousness as described by Damasio and the vitality affects within the core self as described by Stern.