Problem Statement and Literature Review

Problem Statement

Music has been noted to strongly impact human emotions and physiological states. Still, the concrete effects of music on physiological markers, such as heart rate, skin conductance, and blood pressure, are still not well explored. While many believe that different styles of music, such as classical, rock, and jazz, elicit different responses, it is debatable if this perception reflects a real phenomenon or is simply an attitude: Problem Statement and Literature Review.

Knowing these effects has strong real-world implications, given that music is often used in therapeutic settings to regulate stress, improve mood, and improve physical and cognitive performance. This study aims to fill this gap by systematically exploring the physiological effects of these music genres to contribute to the fields of psychology, healthcare, and music therapy, where music is now well-established as a powerful tool to enhance emotional and physical well-being.

Literature Review: Existing Research

Several studies have reported the physiological effects of music, particularly on the autonomic nervous system. Kulinski et al. (2021) conducted an in-depth study on the influence of different genres of music on cardiovascular activities. They observed lower heart rate and blood pressure rates, which proved that classical music was indeed relaxing.

On the other hand, the loudness and efficiency of the rock style affected the arousal factors, including the rising rate of beats per minute and the amount of skin conductivity. Jazz music produced intermediate effects, and at times, the extreme effects of the classical and rock types were neutralized.

Lin et al. (2023) extended this with tempo, which is one of the most vital aspects of music influencing arousal and attention. They concluded that a fast tempo enhanced both tasks and arousal; negatively, a slow tempo resulted in people’s relaxation and low arousal. This aligns with the report by Patania et al. (2020), which showed that fast-tempo music increased motivation and arousal in high-intensity physical activities and slower music supported endurance by reducing perceived effort and promoting a steady pace.

Tervaniemi et al. (2021) took this a notch higher by focusing on the moderating role of environmental context on the effects of music. This ruled out that a larger calming effect was realized when listening to slow music and that this was neutralized by stimulation-high environments. This offered robust support to the contextual influence argument, demonstrating that the same musical piece could cause different effects depending on gender and arousal condition.

Literature Review: Research Designs

These studies investigated the physiological effects using designs that range from experimental designs (Kulinski et al., 2021; Lin et al., 2023), which involve controlled manipulations of variables like music genre or tempo while measuring physiological responses, to cross-sectional, quasi-experimental, and longitudinal designs. Descriptive designs are superior at making causal inferences because they allow the researcher to control the variables.

For instance, the study by Kulinski et al. (2021) exposed participants to classical, rock, and jazz music under controlled conditions in order to solely attribute the observed changes in physiological markers to the music itself. On the other hand, correlational designs can be regarded as naturalistic relations among variables without any interference. For instance, the studies that focus on the correlation between music preference and stress use self-reports and physiological assessments.

Although helpful for characterizing real-world dynamics, these designs cannot demonstrate cause and effect and thus offer limited guidance in response to questions about the precise impacts of varying genres. Moreover, mixed-methods designs combine the quantitative and qualitative approaches in the study of the effects of music, incorporating objective physiological measurements with subjective reports of emotional and cognitive experiences.

Literature Review: Advantages and Disadvantages

Experimental designs are powerful in that they provide control over confounding variables; hence, one can draw causal conclusions. However, the artificial environment contradicts actual circumstances and might jeopardize the ecological fit (Miller et al., 2020). However, correlational designs are much more natural, and they may capture a significant interaction between music and physiology in the real world.

Nonetheless, they cannot establish causation because one such design is less effective in testing specific hypotheses. Mixed-methods designs are holistic in approach and combine the strengths of experimental and correlational methods (Wasti et al., 2022). However, they are resource-intensive and require careful integration of quantitative and qualitative data to ensure validity.

Literature Review: Appropriateness

Given the research question, an experimental design is most appropriate. It allows for exact manipulation of the independent variable music genre and precise measurements of the dependent variables: heart rate, skin conductance, and blood pressure.

Further, a within-subjects design, where each participant is exposed to all three genres, minimizes individual differences and hence allows more robust comparisons (Miller et al., 2020). This design is consistent with the goal of the study: to establish causal relationships between music genres and physiological responses while keeping high methodological rigor.

Literature Review: Unknown

While much progress has been made, many gaps remain. One major source of uncertainty in the facilitation of responses to music is that of individual differences: personal preferences, familiarity with specific genres, and emotional states, which may restrain how music affects physiological markers (Rebecchini, 2021). Additionally, the possible influence of some contextual factors, such as the listening environment or activities performed while listening, remains largely unexplored.

Literature Review: Principles and Standards

The literature reviewed, to a large extent, observes the principles and standards of the American Psychological Association (APA) in terms of conducting ethical research and analyzing data. For example, most of the studies that have used inferential statistics, such as ANOVA or regression analyses, greatly provide transparent methods of testing hypotheses (Kim et al., 2024). Some of the studies reviewed do not report effect sizes in detail and do not discuss biased errors in relation to selection or measurement.

Research Question and Hypothesis: Research Question

Accordingly, the research question for this study is: Can different types of music, classical, rock, and jazz, produce different physiological responses in terms of heart rate, skin conductance, and blood pressure? This is a well-posed question because it is testable and addresses the literature gaps in terms of genre effects and precisely measured physiological responses.

Research Question and Hypothesis: Hypothesis

Different genres of music provoke different physiological responses. More specifically, classical music will lower heart rate and blood pressure, proving its soothing nature. On the other hand, rock music, through its fast tempo and dynamic intensity, will increase measures of arousal, evidenced by heart rate and skin conductance. Similarly, jazz will also bring about intermediate effects, balancing both states of arousal and relaxation. This hypothesis gives a clear framework for testing the research question, given the existing research findings.

Research Question and Hypothesis: Variables

The independent variable is the music genre, which has three levels: classical, rock, and jazz (Darki et al., 2022). The reason for choosing specific genres with their distinct features, such as tempo, rhythm, and dynamics, is that they will, as hypothesized, be associated with differential physiological responses.

The dependent variables will include measures of heart rate, skin conductance, and blood pressure (Debnath et al., 2021). Heart rate will be recorded using a portable monitor, skin conductance through galvanic skin response sensors, and blood pressure will be measured using an automated sphygmomanometer.

Conclusion

Conclusively, this study attempts to investigate whether different genres of music elicit distinct physiological responses in relation to heart rate, skin conductance, and blood pressure. The research, through an experimental design, takes up from where the literature has left off to offer more valuable insights into the relationship between music and physiological states. The findings are likely to reveal genre-specific effects that could be applicable in building theoretical understanding and finding practical applications for psychology, music therapy, and healthcare.

References

Darki, C., Riley, J., Dadabhoy, D. P., Darki, A., & Garetto, J. (2022). The effect of classical music on heart rate, blood pressure, and mood. Cureus, 14(7). https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.27348

Debnath, S., Levy, T. J., Bellehsen, M., Schwartz, R. M., Barnaby, D. P., Zanos, S., Volpe, B. T., & Zanos, T. P. (2021). A method to quantify autonomic nervous system function in healthy, able-bodied individuals. Bioelectronic Medicine, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42234-021-00075-7

Kim, J., Kim, D. H., & Kwak, S. G. (2024). Comprehensive guidelines for appropriate statistical analysis methods in research. Korean Journal of Anesthesiology. https://doi.org/10.4097/kja.24016

Kulinski, J., Ofori, E. K., Visotcky, A., Smith, A., Sparapani, R., & Fleg, J. L. (2021). Effects of music on the cardiovascular system. Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine, 32(6). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tcm.2021.06.004

Lin, H.-M., Kuo, S.-H., & Mai, T. P. (2023). Slower tempo makes worse performance? The effect of musical tempo on cognitive processing speed. Frontiers in Psychology, 14(14). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.998460

Miller, C. J., Smith, S. N., & Pugatch, M. (2020). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs in implementation research. Psychiatry Research, 283(112452). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165178119306833

Patania, V. M., Padulo, J., Iuliano, E., Ardigò, L. P., Čular, D., Miletić, A., & De Giorgio, A. (2020). The psychophysiological effects of different tempo music on endurance versus high-intensity performances. Frontiers in Psychology, 11(74). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00074

Rebecchini, L. (2021). Music, mental health, and immunity. Brain, Behavior, & Immunity – Health, 18(100374), 100374. National Library of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbih.2021.100374

Tervaniemi, M., Makkonen, T., & Nie, P. (2021). Psychological and physiological signatures of music listening in different listening environments—An exploratory study. Brain Sciences, 11(5), 593. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11050593

Wasti, S. P., Simkhada, P., Teijlingen, E. van, Sathian, B., & Banerjee, I. (2022). The growing importance of mixed-methods research in health. Nepal Journal of Epidemiology, 12(1), 1175–1178. NCBI. https://doi.org/10.3126/nje.v12i1.43633

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PSY 510 Milestone Three Guidelines and Rubric

Problem Statement and Literature Review

Overview
This assignment is another building block for the final project. Before you begin, please review the Required Resources to support your success with this milestone assignment.

Keep in mind the differences between research papers and literature reviews. Research papers take a topic and describe all aspects of that topic. They use current articles and books to support the statements in the paper. A literature review is literally a review of current articles designed to support the topic. This milestone assignment will have you focus on writing a literature review.

For example, if you want to investigate color preference among adult men and women, you first need to review current studies on the topic. Your paper needs to begin with an introduction and an explanation of the topic. You need to find peer-reviewed journal articles, like the six in your annotated bibliography.

You need to summarize each article, including what the researcher found, a brief description of the research design, the advantages and disadvantages of the design, and how the article compares to other articles in the literature review. These details are essentially your annotations in your annotated bibliography. You need to add more information to each annotation, but they are a great start.

Then, you describe the gaps or pieces that are missing in the research (if any), ethical considerations (if any), and validity issues (if any). Each article becomes its own paragraph or two (or three) and then leads into the next article. Once you describe each of the articles in the literature review individually, you collectively include a discussion of any gaps in the current body of research. This is where your research comes in.

You are going to be investigating an area with a gap. So, by discussing the gaps, you lead on to your research question and finally to your hypothesis and the proposed study’s key variable. Now you have a literature review that contains an introduction to the topic, a review of each current article, a discussion of where there are gaps in the current literature, your research question and how that fits into the gaps, and a concluding hypothesis. Your literature review becomes the beginning of your research report.

Prompt
In Module Six, you will submit your problem statement and literature review. In addition, you will revise your previously submitted research question and hypothesis based on the feed back from your instructor in Milestone Two.

Your work should include the following critical elements:

I. Problem Statement: This is a short description of the problem to be improved upon. Your introduction to the problem statement will provide your reader with the general topic of the proposal and its importance and relevance to real–world issues.

II. Literature Review: Include an overview of previously published work on your selected topic. This should include scholarly resources. Your literature review should consist of the following elements:

a. Existing Research: Summarize existing, applicable research, utilizing peer–reviewed sources, and attempts to do so in an integrated way.
b. Research Designs: Identify different research designs used to generate knowledge on the topic and describe how they differ.

c. Advantages and Disadvantages: Differentiate between research designs for their advantages and disadvantages in addressing the research question.
d. Appropriateness: Evaluate the appropriateness of the research designs to the research questions and determine the most appropriate design, providing justification for each.
e. Unknown: Summarize what is unknown or uncertain about the topic, utilizing applicable research.

f.  Principles and Standards: Discuss the appropriateness of the data analysis procedures used in the literature as they relate to the APA’s principles and standards.

III. Research Question and Hypothesis

a. Research Question: Include the testable research question written in Milestone Two. This should be a revised research question based on your instructor’s previous feedback.
b. Hypothesis: Include the testable hypothesis written in Milestone Two. This should be a revised testable hypothesis based on your instructor’s previous feedback.
c. Variables: Describe the variables that will be measured and manipulated in the study, explaining the selection of the variables.

What to Submit
Your paper must be submitted as an APA–formatted Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12–point Times New Roman font, and one–inch margins. This paper should be a minimum of 4 pages in length (not including the cover page and references), and it should cite at least six peer-reviewed sources