The Effect of Jazz Improvisation Instruction on Measures of Executive Function in Middle School Band Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-354
Author(s):  
Martin Norgaard ◽  
Laura A. Stambaugh ◽  
Heston McCranie
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Sorting Task ◽  
Eighth Grade ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Band Students ◽  
Before And After ◽  
School Band ◽  
Experimental Group

Research investigating links between academic achievement and active music instruction has not previously differentiated between different types of instruction. In the current study, 155 seventh- and eighth-grade middle school band students were divided into two groups. Both groups received 2 months of instruction in jazz phrasing, scales, and vocabulary, but only the experimental group was taught to improvise. All instruction was part of the warm-up routine in regular band classes. All students were tested before and after instruction on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (cognitive flexibility) and the classic Stroop task (inhibitory control). At posttest, eighth-grade students in the experimental group scored significantly better on cognitive flexibility with a smaller percentage of perseverative errors, whereas the treatment had no effect on seventh-grade students on this outcome. Seventh graders, but not eighth graders, in the experimental group increased their posttest scores for inhibitory control, though this result was only marginally significant. In relation to previous research, the current results strongly suggest that far-transfer effects of active music participation depend on the nature of the instruction. Results of prior and future studies should therefore be interpreted in light of the type of music-making engaged by participants.

scholarly journals Aerobic Exercise with Superimposed Virtual Reality Improves Cognitive Flexibility and Selective Attention in Young Males

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (22) ◽  
pp. 8029
Author(s):  
Borja Sañudo ◽  
Ellie Abdi ◽  
Mario Bernardo-Filho ◽  
Redha Taiar
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Sorting Task ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Exercise Protocol ◽  
Significant Interaction Effect ◽  
Young Males ◽  
Card Sorting Task ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Task ◽  
Before And After

The literature to date is limited regarding the implantation of VR in healthy young individuals with a focus on cognitive function. Thirty healthy males aged between 22.8 and 24.3 years volunteered to participate in the study randomly and were assigned to one of two groups with alike exercises: an experimental group (GE, n = 15) that performed an exercise protocol with a VR game and a controlled group that performed the exercise protocol without the VR (CON, n = 15). A 128-card computerized version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) and the Stroop test were completed before and after the exercise protocol. There was a significant interaction effect between time and condition for WCST preservation errors (F1,30 = 4.59, p = 0.041, η2p = 0.141) and a significant time effect for all WCST and Stroop outcomes in GE. Results of preliminary findings suggest that the use of a VR platform offers effective benefits with respect to cognitive flexibility and selective attention. In addition, participants can achieve additional benefits in cognitive flexibility by engaging in a traditional exercise protocol of a similar volume.

The Impact of Music Practice Instruction on Middle School Band Students’ Independent Practice Behaviors

2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-435
Author(s):  
Stephanie Prichard
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Video Data ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Warm Up ◽  
Music Practice ◽  
Band Students ◽  
School Band ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of music practice instruction on middle school band students’ ability to articulate and incorporate practice strategies. Participants were middle school band students at a large suburban middle school ( N = 105). Using a pretest–posttest quasi-experimental design, participants were divided into control ( n = 53) and experimental ( n = 52) groups. Participants in the experimental group received 3 weeks of practice strategy instruction during ensemble warm-up time, and the control group continued with their typical warm-up routine. Pretest and posttest data included self-reported practice strategy lists ( N = 105) and video of individual practice sessions ( n = 20). Both self-reported and video data were coded and analyzed using descriptive statistics as well as pretest–posttest within-groups comparisons. Thirteen hours of video data were further analyzed using an observational measure of self-regulation. Analyses revealed that experimental group participants identified and utilized significantly more practice strategies following the instructional intervention. Posttest experimental group practice sessions also revealed a more mature approach to practicing, including more strategic behaviors, greater variety in musical objectives, and longer periods spent focused on short excerpts of music. Implications for future research and middle school instrumental classroom practice are discussed.

Self-Efficacy, Self-Evaluation, and Music Performance of Secondary-Level Band Students

2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 298-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Hewitt
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Middle School ◽  
Gender Differences ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
School Level ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Band Students ◽  
School Band

In the present study, relationships between two components of self-regulation (self-efficacy and self-evaluation) and gender, school level, instrument family, and music performance were examined. Participants were 340 middle and high school band students who participated in one of two summer music camps or who were members of a private middle school band program. Students indicated their level of self-efficacy for playing a musical excerpt before performing it and then self-evaluated their performance immediately afterward. Findings suggest that there is a strong and positive relationship between self-efficacy and both music performance and self-evaluation. There was also a strong negative relationship between self-evaluation calibration bias and music performance, indicating that as music performance ability increased, students were more underconfident in their self-evaluations. Gender differences were found for self-evaluation calibration accuracy, as female students were more accurate than males at evaluating their performances. Middle school males were more inclined than females to overrate their self-efficacy and self-evaluation as compared to their actual music performance scores. These gender differences were reversed for high school students. There were no other statistically significant findings.

scholarly journals An examination of perseverative errors and cognitive flexibility in autism

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0223160
Author(s):  
Oriane Landry ◽  
Peter Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Sorting Task ◽  
Unexpected Result ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Card Sorting Task ◽  
Explicit Condition ◽  
Perseverative Errors ◽  
Implicit Condition

Perseveration is a well-replicated finding in autism. The aim of this study was to examine how the context of the task influences performance with respect to this phenomenon. We randomly assigned 137 children aged 6–12 with and without autism to complete a modified card-sorting task under one of two conditions: Children were either told the sorting rules on each trial (Explicit), or were given feedback to formulate the rules themselves (Implicit). While performance was enhanced on the Explicit condition for participants without autism, the participants with autism were disadvantaged by this manipulation. In contrast, there were few differences in performance between groups on the Implicit condition. Exploratory analyses were used to examine this unexpected result; increased autism symptomology was associated with poorer performance.

Exercise for Cognitive Improvement and Rehabilitation (EXCIR) Improves Attention and Executive Functions in Children with ADHD

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vahid Nejati
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Cognitive Rehabilitation ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Children With Adhd ◽  
Cognitive Improvement ◽  
Experimental Group

Abstract Background: Physical activities improves cognitive functioning. The purpose of the present study is to effect of physical activity with progressive cognitive demands on attention and executive functions in children with ADHD. Methods: Thirty children with ADHD were randomly assigned into two equal experimental and control groups. The experimental group received 12 sessions of exercise for cognitive improvement and rehabilitation (EXCIR). Working memory, selective attention, sustained attention, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility were administered pre- and post-intervention through 1-back test, Stroop test, attention registration test, go no go test and trial making test in order. The repeated measure ANOVAs were used for analysis.Results: The results showed that experimental group has a greater performance in selective attention, sustained attention, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility compared to control group. Conclusions: These findings implicate that the cognitive rehabilitation program is advantageous for improvement of attention and executive functions in children with ADHD.

scholarly journals Transfer of learned cognitive flexibility to novel stimuli and task sets

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanya Wen ◽  
Raphael M Geddert ◽  
Seth Madlon-Kay ◽  
Tobias Egner
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Sorting Task ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Task Rule ◽  
Card Sorting Task ◽  
Abstract Knowledge ◽  
Rule Changes ◽  
High Volatility ◽  
Structure Knowledge

Adaptive behavior requires learning about the structure of the environment to derive optimal action policies, and previous studies have documented transfer of such structural knowledge to bias choices in new environments. Here, we asked whether people could also acquire and transfer more abstract knowledge across different task environments, in particular, expectations about demands on cognitive control. Over three experiments, participants performed a probabilistic card-sorting task in environments of either a low or high volatility of task rule changes (requiring low or high cognitive flexibility) before transitioning to a medium-volatility environment. Using reinforcement learning modeling, we consistently found that previous exposure to high task rule volatility led to faster adaptation to rule changes in the subsequent transfer phase. This transfer of expectations about demands on cognitive flexibility was both task- (Experiment 2) and stimulus- (Experiment 3) independent, thus demonstrating the formation and generalization of environmental structure knowledge to guide cognitive control.

scholarly journals Poor Cognitive Flexibility in Eating Disorders: Examining the Evidence using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task

PLoS ONE ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. e28331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Tchanturia ◽  
Helen Davies ◽  
Marion Roberts ◽  
Amy Harrison ◽  
Michiko Nakazato ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Sorting Task ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Card Sorting Task ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Task ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document