Design a piece of experimental research to explore something about how young children learn, understand or respond to music.

Music and the Mind Assessment 3 – Real World Applications

Your task is to write a 1500 word response to one of the scenarios below. You should draw on material across the module and must make sure that your answer is evidence-based. It is important that you write your answer in clear English for the audience described. This means avoiding unnecessary jargon and ensuring that any tricky concepts are explained. You can and should reference other work, but this can be done relatively informally in the text itself, e.g. “John Smith from York University has been working on….”, or “A team of researchers from the University of Westminster have argued that….” You must however include full references on a separate page. You may format the work however you like so long as it responds to the brief. For example, you may use sub-headings, pictures, diagrams, or anything that you feel will enhance the work. However, please note that you will be marked strictly according to the criteria outlined below.
Please choose ONE of the following scenarios:
(1) A well-known shopping chain approaches you to ask for advice about whether they should use music in their stores and if so, which music and why. You are asked to write an evidenced-based report for the senior management team.

(2) A dementia charity runs a regular music group but wants to promote their activities to carers through an information booklet which explains why music can be useful in this context. You are asked to provide the material for the booklet (you may provide accompanying notes if you wish so long as you stay within the word limit).

(3) You have been asked to write a piece for a music magazine that explores and discusses the music psychology of either (a) a national anthem, (b) a religious piece of music, or (c) a culture-specific folk song.

(4) Design a piece of experimental research to explore something about how young children learn, understand or respond to music. You should make the experiment as specific as possible, stating your hypothesis and providing a rationale.

You will be marked on:
• Overall quality of content and apparent understanding of the material
• Strength of your evidence base and appropriate use of references
• Breadth of your answer, i.e. the ability to draw on material from across the module (we would expect to see reference to material covered in at least 3 lecture topics)
• Readability/expression: ability to convey scientific knowledge in an accessible manner; overall clarity of expression; presentation