'Discuss individual differences in musical functioning with regard to social and biological influences.\r'

'Introduction \r\nDeutsch (2012) describes medicinal drug as an art that entails thinking with wakelesss. Music is compete all over the field in churches, homes, funerals and most(prenominal) separate places. It is part of humanity introduced at line with lullabies and continues by means of forbidden the course of life up to end with the funeral march (Hallam, Cross & Thaut, 2016). It is a language that resembles delivery in umpteen aspects and has no borders. Sense of sound and rhythm atomic number 18 indwelling elements of unisonal theater surgery (Gruszka, Matthews, & Szymura, 2010). Music is meaningfully enamourd by culture in name of content and style. As such it evokes the said(prenominal) emotions within members of the same culture. It has ii main comp geniusnts (rhythm and pitch) that it involutions to move on the in hightail ited message and one has to be adequate to understand the two in order to lever medicine (Jones, Fay & Popper , 2010). human macrocosms atomic number 18 born with efficiency to understand and revalue medical specialty and that is why tender-made shaverren appreciate lullabies. However the medicinal drug potential and gustatory sensations substitute from one person to the opposite. sight have contrasting unisonal theater mouthfuls and this captures the amount of clock and resources that they spend perceive to atmosphere. This study investigates the soulfulness differences in symphonyal military operation with regard to kindly and biologic bends.\r\n idiosyncratic differences in melodious Functioning \r\n case-by-case differences in medicational go or harmonyality refer to the differences in the talent of medicinal drug alternative (Kern & Humpal, 2012). These differences be among the roughly intricate psychological issues in unison. An individual(a) whitethorn be fine without symphony while a nonher(prenominal) one may need medical specialty so much so that he or she would intent huge resources to attend harmony concerts. The source of such differences is a major b differentation to psychologists. tally to Deutsch (2012), the strength of practice of medicine alternative is a function of the component that euphony plays in the life of an individual. tribe office medical specialty for assorted answers give cargon ordinance their mode and emotions, promoting self-aw beness, communicating, fostering complaisant relations, distractions, and physiological arousal. Music plays an all important(p) role in the lives of many populate crossways the world, and many quite a little depend on melody for different purports. The availability of music on take-away devices has amplificationd the use of music with many raft making it an ubiquitous companion (Theorell, 2014). therefore music has a profound effect on the lives of many individuals as it regularizes their thinking, feelings, conduct and recognitio n. These factors curve the lives of individuals depending on the take of dependence on music and the specific grapheme of music (Haas & Brandes, 2009). As such it is important to catch the factors that influence music preference.\r\nIndividual differences in musical theater theater functioning belong to an area in psychology that pipe down remains largely unexplored (McPherson, 2016). People the a comparables of certain artists, tunes, and styles to a greater extent than the other(a)s. The other individuals too have different musical preferences. This is what is termed as style/ musical genre preferences under music preference. In admittance to this, individual differences also exist in terms of the extent to which passel attend to music. The extent to which great deal love and enjoy music differs from one individual to the other (Gruszka, Matthews & Szymura, 2010). The knowledge on why muckle form preferences on certain types of music still remain fragmented partly because music plays different roles in the lives of hoi polloi (Theorell, 2014). This is what is termed as the strength of preference under musical preference. The major issue of concern to psychologists is the source of these individual differences in strength and genre/style. Strong music preference is an indication that an individual spends a carry on of time comprehend to music, passing to concerts and buying music. The decision to invest time and property to perceive to music is a sign that music is useful to the lives of these mickle. Individual differences in musical functioning are a multifaceted phenomenon that has continuously eluded psychologists, researchers and musicologists (McPherson, 2016). However, rough factors that affect musical functioning have been place and they include exposure, musical characteristics, genre and constitution. The factors that affect musical preference can be grouped into two broad categories namely foreign and inhering fa ctors. The intrinsic factors are inherent and they include melody, structure and timbre. The extrinsic factors on the other hand include social influence, personality and emotions.\r\nSocial influence on Musical Functioning \r\nSocial influence is one of the factors that influence the wear outment of individual preferences in music. This starts at the adolescence give and continues late into adulthood (Zelazo, 2013). Adolescents much have a strong desire to do the same things that their peers are doing in order to belong. They also tend to hate the things that their peers dislike. As such they will tend to like the same music that their peers like (Theorell, 2014). They listen to music to create an impression, develop self-image and please their friends. According to McPherson (2016), the teenagers much desire to identify themselves with certain groups that they consider as being â€Å"cool” and distance themselves with those that they regard as being â€Å"old-fashio ned”. consequently they tend to develop musical preferences that are similar to members of their group and empty those of the other groups that they regard as â€Å"not being cool”. This implies that musical preferences are partly created for the purpose of serving a function of group specialty (Damon & Lerner, 2006).\r\nAccording to Juslin & Sloboda (2010), individuals often tend to like the music that was popular during the years that they reached maturity age. The music preference developed at this point is often a function of the songs that are popular among the friends. However, the events that occur in late adolescence and early adulthood often see the music preference for the rest of adulthood. When individuals first add home and start being independent, they are often influenced by their peer groups. They spend a lot of time with their peers and tend to like what their peers like and dislike what their peers dislike (Damon & Lerner, 2006). Th ey will like the same songs as they go to concerts together and spend most of their abandon time doing the same things. For model the populate who interrupt to acquire higher(prenominal) education tend to like songs that depict a care free post to justify their condition. Therefore social perceptions significantly influence the type of music preferred by hoi polloi. According to the social learning theory, battalion learn through observation (Lehmann, Sloboda, & Woody, 2007). When people are rewarded for certain behaviours like listen to a certain genre of music, others tend to learn from it and are likely to imitate the behaviour in order to reap the same benefits. People tend to use music socially as a way of reinforcing their self-image. For instance conservative people are more inclined to listen to music that is conventional. Furthermore, people use music to communicate to the world by expressing their ideal self-image. The preferences of society may increase or inhibit the spread of certain music genres thereby influencing their potential to be preferred by individuals (Feezell, 2008 and Gruszka, Matthews & Szymura, 2010). For instance when it was discovered that Mozart music positively bear upon spatial IQ , more people started listening to immaculate music. This exposure increase the preference for classical music as it was considered essential for children (Hallam, Cross & Thaut, 2016). This indicates the former of society to influence music perception and preference. Therefore the influence of society is one of the most significant factors that influence individual music preferences. The type of music that people are exposed to from childhood is extremely dependent on what the society considers popular and appropriate. For instance the mainstream media may prefer playing certain music over the others thereby influencing the preference of individuals.\r\nBiological influence on Musical Functioning Music science \r\nA se ries of processes is often unrestrained when listening to music; these processes include melody recognition, memory of the music, recognising the lyrics and delirious response (Lehmann, Sloboda, & Woody, 2007). These basic processes are often incorporate by complex mechanisms in the brain where different neural circuits take part simultaneously and some in succession. Identifying the specific tasks involved in touch on music and the various interactions requires theoretical models. According to the useable architecture model proposed by Peretz and Coltheart, perception of mono tunes is organised by two independent systems operative simultaneously (Sloboda, 2004). The songlike system aids in processing melody whereas the temporary system processes tempo. The honeyed system processes all information on melody and differentiates the two main components (i.e. line of merchandise and intervals). All the perception mechanisms are required for processing melodic contour. songlike processing is done in right high-performance temporal gyrus (Lehmann, Sloboda, & Woody, 2007). Both the melodic and temporal systems work in coordination with each other and as such a disparaged brain may lose its ability to perceive music.\r\nBoth the melodic and temporal systems relay information to musical lexicon to apply musical repertoire. Musical lexicon includes music repertoire and has a perceptual representation of all the things that an individual has be exposed to (Kern & Humpal, 2012). Furthermore, it also contains a memory that stores new music to aid in the recognition of melodies that are both well-known(prenominal) and non-familiar. As such if damage occurs to the musical lexicon, an individual becomes unable to perceive familiar melodies or even record new ones. teaching from the musical lexicon is often relayed extemporaneously or today after stimulus reception to different areas depending on the required action (Haas & Brandes, 200 9). Phonological lexicon is often activated to aid in the retrieval of lyrics, phonological and occasion prepares an individual for singing, motor functions are responsible for producing music, and the multimodal associable memories are used for retrieving information that is not musical (Jones, Fay & Popper, 2010). The perceptual modules are linked to the memory processes and aflame pathways to aid in music recognition and horny experience. Non emotional processing and emotional processing are independent and as such damage to one may not damage the other. Any equipment casualty to these connections often leads to difficulties in being able to combine musical processes.\r\nInfluence of Biological Factors on Individual Differences \r\nAccording to Sloboda (2004). , music has rarely been studied from the biologic perspective as it is mostly perceived as a function of culture. However, biological factors significantly influence musical preferences (Feezell, 2008). The abili ty of an individual to process and appreciate music is dependent on cognitive functions. Individual differences in self-perception and personality influence musical preference. Therefore people may opt to like music that will allow them to express themselves to the others on how they would like to be perceived. Moreover, individual differences influence the purpose for which people listen to music (Zelazo, 2013). One of the reasons why people listen to music is to regulate their emotions and help them treat with the daily challenges in life. The differences in musical preference and reasons for listening to music are indications that intelligence and personality partly influence how people use music. nature and intelligence influence the type of music people listen to, how often they listen to it and the reasons for listening to music (Sloboda, 2004). For instance the intellectuals like those with high IQs are more inclined to like conventional/ reflective music and as such are li kely to use it for their intellectual purposes rather than for emotional consumption (Juslin & Sloboda 2010). This is because of their higher cognitive ability. This is clearly noticeable in their preference for jazz or classical music not because they do not elicit emotions but because the complexity of the genre is more inclined to suit the interests of people seeking experiences that are intellectually stimulating. On the other end are extraverts who may rely on music to stimulate their activity take aim when carrying out monotonous tasks like doing dishes or jogging. This implies that the role music plays in the life of an individual is partly inflexible by the level of arousal (Lilienfeld, et al 2011). This is peculiarly evident for those with high or low level of arousal average. The interference caused by background music on cognitive processes is higher in introverts than extraverts (Rickard & McFerran, 2012). Damon & Lerner (2006), look at that the assoc iation between musical use and other traits remain largely unexplored although some descent may be expected. For instance people who bring forth from emotional instability and regularly experience detrimental emotions are more likely to use music to regulate their emotions. Cognitive research has established that these people listen to music more for the purpose of managing their emotions (Rickard & McFerran, 2012). Furthermore, they are more sensitive to the emotions elicited by music and as such find music essential for regulating their emotions. Conscientious people on the other hand react differently to music. Conscientious people are those that have traits which are inversely fit to psychoticism and creativity (Lilienfeld, et al 2011). Conscientious people are less likely to use music for regulating their emotions as they are likely to use it for other purposes.\r\nConclusion \r\nThe aim of this study was to investigate the influence of biological and social factors o n individual musical functioning. The findings show that individual musical preferences and use of music is influenced by both social and biological factors. The social factors mostly influence the type of music people prefer to listen to whereas the biological factors influence the reasons for listening to music. The major social factors that influence the choice of music that people listen to are peers and the society as they determine the kind of music that is played regularly. The biological factors on the other hand influence the purpose for which people listen to music. The purpose for which people listen to music is closely associated with the frequency of listening to music than the choice of music (Hallam, Cross & Thaut, 2016). Therefore biological factors are also responsible for the amount of time and resources people spend to listen to music. However, it is important to note that both the biological and social factors significantly offer to the individual differen ces in musical functioning.\r\nReferences \r\nDamon, W. & Lerner, R. M., (2006). vade mecum of child psychology. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons.\r\nDeutsch, D. (2012). The psychology of music. London : Academic Press.\r\nFeezell, J. T. (2008). stereotype: The influence of music preferences on political attitudes and behaviour. Santa Barbara, Calif.: University of California, Santa Barbara.\r\nGruszka, A., Matthews, G., & Szymura, B. (2010). Handbook of individual differences in cognition: Attention, memory, and executive control. cutting York: Springer.\r\nHallam, S., Cross, I., & Thaut, M. (2016). The Oxford enchiridion of music psychology. Oxford : Oxford University Press\r\nHaas, R., & Brandes, V. (2009). Music that plant life: Contributions of biology, neurophysiology, psychology, sociology, medicine and musicology. Wien: Springer.\r\nJones, M. R., Fay, R. R., & Popper, A. N. (2010). Music perception. New York: Springer.\r\nJuslin, P. N.,  8; Sloboda, J. A. (2010). Handbook of music and emotion: Theory, research, applications. Oxford: Oxford University Press.\r\nKern, P., & Humpal, M. E. (2012). Early childhood music therapy and autism spectrum disorders: develop potential in young children and their families. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers\r\nLehmann, A. C., Sloboda, J. A., & Woody, R. H. (2007). psychology for musicians: Understanding and acquiring the skills. Oxford: Oxford University Press.\r\nLilienfeld, S. O., Lynn, S. J., Ruscio, J., & Beyerstein, B. L. (2011). 50 Great Myths of favourite Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.\r\nMcPherson, G. (2016). The child as musician: A handbook of musical development. Oxford : Oxford University Press\r\nRickard, N. S., & McFerran, K. (2012). Lifelong engagement with music: Benefits for mental health and well-being. Hauppauge, N.Y: Nova Science.\r\nSloboda, J. (2004). Exploring th e musical attend: Cognition, emotion, ability, function. Oxford: Oxford University Press.\r\nTheorell, T. (2014). Psychological health effects of musical experiences: Theories, studies and reflections in music health science. London: Springer\r\nZelazo, P. D. (2013). The Oxford handbook of developmental psychology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.\r\n'