Books by Kirk N Olsen
Few activities fully engage the brain. Listening to music is one of them. Hearing your favorite s... more Few activities fully engage the brain. Listening to music is one of them. Hearing your favorite song activates sensory, emotional, motor, and creative areas of the brain simultaneously. This book provides a broad introduction to the scientiUc and psychological study of music, exploring how music is processed by our brains, affects us emotionally, shapes our personal and cultural identities, and can be used in therapeutic and educational contexts. Why are some people tone deaf and others musical savants? What do our musical preferences say about our personality and the culture in which we were raised? Why do certain songs remind us so strongly of particular people, places, or events? How can music be therapeutically used to help those with autism, Parkinson's, and other medical conditions? The Science and Psychology of Music: From Beethoven at the O<ce to Beyoncé at the Gym answers these and other questions. This book provides a broad and accessible introduction to the fascinating Yeld of music psychology. Despite its name, music psychology includes a number of Yelds, including neuroscience, psychology, social psychology, sociology, and health. Through a collection of thematically organized chapters, readers will discover how our brains recognize elements of music, how music can affect us and shape our identities, and the many real-world applications for such information. Features Explores a topic that is of great interest to both psychology students and the general public through accessible and engaging content Provides a conceptual framework for readers and through a multi-part format allows them to focus their attention on their particular areas of interest Furthers readers' understanding of how music can affect our wellbeing as it includes both our physical and psychological health Re?ects the subject knowledge of contributing experts in a wide variety of academic disciplines Other Titles of Interest © 2020 ABC-CLIO, LLC.
Music and Violence by Kirk N Olsen
Physics of life reviews, Jan 29, 2018
Psychology of Popular Media Culture
Musicae Scientiae
Concerns have been raised that persistent exposure to violent media can lead to negative outcomes... more Concerns have been raised that persistent exposure to violent media can lead to negative outcomes such as reduced empathy for the plight of others. The present study investigated whether fans of aggressive heavy or death metal music show reduced empathic reactions to aggression, relative to fans of non-aggressive music. 108 participants who self-identified as fans of heavy or death metal, classical or jazz music ( n=36 per group) were presented with vignettes that described a primary character’s reaction (the ‘aggressor’) in response to a secondary character’s irritating action (the ‘instigator’). The aggressor’s reaction was either non-aggressive, mildly aggressive or strongly aggressive. After each vignette, participants provided ratings of state empathic concern (other-oriented empathy) and personal distress (self-oriented distress). They also completed measures of trait empathy, passion for music and its psychosocial functions. Fans of heavy or death metal exhibited lower trait ...
Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal
Death Metal music with violent themes is characterized by vocalizations with unnaturally low fund... more Death Metal music with violent themes is characterized by vocalizations with unnaturally low fundamental frequencies and high levels of distortion and roughness. These attributes decrease the signal to noise ratio, rendering linguistic content difficult to understand and leaving the impression of growling, screaming, or other non-linguistic vocalizations associated with aggression and fear. Here, we compared the ability of fans and non-fans of Death Metal to accurately perceive sung words extracted from Death Metal music. We also examined whether music training confers an additional benefit to intelligibility. In a 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial design (fans/non-fans, musicians/nonmusicians), four groups of participants (n = 16 per group) were presented with 24 sung words (one per trial), extracted from the popular American Death Metal band Cannibal Corpse. On each trial, participants completed a four-alternative forced-choice word recognition task. Intelligibility (word recogniti...
Musicae Scientiae, 2022
Extreme metal and rap music with violent themes are sometimes blamed for eliciting antisocial beh... more Extreme metal and rap music with violent themes are sometimes blamed for eliciting antisocial behaviours, but growing evidence suggests that music with violent themes can have positive emotional, cognitive, and social consequences for fans. We addressed this apparent paradox by comparing how fans of violent and non-violent music respond emotionally to music. We also characterised the psychosocial functions of music for fans of violent and non-violent music, and their passion for music. Fans of violent extreme metal (n=46), violent rap (n=49), and non-violent classical music (n=50) responded to questionnaires evaluating the cognitive (self-reflection, selfregulation) and social (social bonding) functions of their preferred music and the nature of their passion for it. They then listened to four one-minute excerpts of music and rated ten emotional descriptors for each excerpt. The top five emotions reported by the three groups of fans were positive, with empowerment and joy the emotions rated highest. However, compared with classical music fans, fans of violent music assigned significantly lower ratings to positive emotions and higher ratings to negative emotions. Fans of violent music also utilised their preferred music for positive psychosocial functions to a similar or sometimes greater extent than classical fans. Harmonious passion for music predicted positive emotional outcomes for all three groups of fans, whereas obsessive passion predicted negative emotional outcomes. Those high in harmonious passion also tended to use music for cognitive and social functions. We propose that fans of violent music use their preferred music to induce an equal balance of positive and negative emotions.
Psychology of Music, 2021
Fans of extreme metal and rap music with violent themes, hereafter termed “violently themed music... more Fans of extreme metal and rap music with violent themes, hereafter termed “violently themed music,” predominantly experience positive emotional and psychosocial outcomes in response to this music. However, negative emotional responses to preferred music are reported to a greater extent by such fans than by fans of non-violently themed music. We investigated negative emotional responses to violently themed music among fans by assessing their experience of depressive symptoms, and whether violently themed music functions to regulate negative moods through two common mood regulation strategies: discharge and diversion. Fans of violent rap ( n = 49), violent extreme metal ( n = 46), and non-violent classical music ( n = 50) reported depressive symptoms and use of music to regulate moods. Participants listened to four one-minute excerpts of music in their preferred genres and rated negative emotional responses to each excerpt (sadness, tension, anger, fear). There were no significant dif...
Supplemental material, OnlineSupp for An investigation of empathy in male and female fans of aggr... more Supplemental material, OnlineSupp for An investigation of empathy in male and female fans of aggressive music by Aimy Slade, Kirk N. Olsen and William Forde Thompson in Musicae Scientiae
Personality and Individual Differences, 2022
Research suggests that engagement with music containing violent themes (e.g., extreme metal, rap)... more Research suggests that engagement with music containing violent themes (e.g., extreme metal, rap) often results in positive psychosocial outcomes for fans. However, it is not clear why fans are attracted to 'violent' music in the first place. Experiment 1 (N = 146) examined whether trait morbid curiosity is associated with fans' selfreported consumption of music containing violent themes. Experiment 2 (N = 96) presented short excerpts of extreme metal and rap music with/without violent themes to investigate whether individual differences in morbid curiosity predict listeners' curiosity towards, enjoyment of, and desire to further engage with novel music with violent themes. Both experiments supported predictions: (1) fans of violently themed music exhibited greater morbid curiosity than fans of non-violently themed music; (2) morbid curiosity significantly predicted the consumption and enjoyment of music containing violent themes; (3) fans and non-fans' intentions to further engage with novel music containing violent themes were significantly predicted by individual differences in the prevalence and magnitude of morbid curiosity. Findings suggest that trait morbid curiosity is an important factor in fans' initial motivation to listen to and subsequently enjoy music containing violent themes. Implications for theories describing how fans derive positive psychosocial outcomes from media violence are discussed.
Loudness and Auditory Looming by Kirk N Olsen
Acta Psychologica, 2014
The aim of this work was to investigate perceived loudness change in response to melodies that in... more The aim of this work was to investigate perceived loudness change in response to melodies that increase (up-ramp) or decrease (down-ramp) in acoustic intensity, and the interaction with other musical factors such as melodic contour, tempo, and tonality (tonal/atonal). A within-subjects design manipulated direction of linear intensity change (up-ramp, down-ramp), melodic contour (ascending, descending), tempo, and tonality, using single ramp trials and paired ramp trials, where single up-ramps and down-ramps were assembled to create continuous up-ramp/down-ramp or down-ramp/up-ramp pairs. Twenty-nine (Exp 1) and thirty-six (Exp 2) participants rated loudness continuously in response to trials with monophonic 13-note piano melodies lasting either 6.4 s or 12 s. Linear correlation coefficients >.89 between loudness and time show that time-series loudness responses to dynamic up-ramp and down-ramp melodies are essentially linear across all melodies. Therefore, 'indirect' loudness change derived from the difference in loudness at the beginning and end points of the continuous response was calculated. Down-ramps were perceived to change significantly more in loudness than up-ramps in both tonalities and at a relatively slow tempo. Loudness change was also greater for down-ramps presented with a congruent descending melodic contour, relative to an incongruent pairing (down-ramp and ascending melodic contour). No differential effect of intensity ramp/melodic contour congruency was observed for up-ramps. In paired ramp trials assessing the possible impact of ramp context, loudness change in response to up-ramps was significantly greater when preceded by down-ramps, than when not preceded by another ramp. Ramp context did not affect down-ramp perception. The contribution to the fields of music perception and psychoacoustics are discussed in the context of real-time perception of music, principles of music composition, and performance of musical dynamics.
Acoustics Australia, 2014
In real-world listening domains such as speech and music, acoustic intensity and perceived loudne... more In real-world listening domains such as speech and music, acoustic intensity and perceived loudness are dynamic and continuously changing through time. The percept of loudness change in response to continuous increases (up-ramps) and decreases (down-ramps) of intensity has received ongoing empirical and theoretical interest, the result of which has led to conflicting findings from a range of key paradigms. Therefore, the aim of this brief review is to: (a) describe key paradigms used to measure changes in loudness in response to continuous intensity change; (b) identify methodological issues associated with each paradigm; and (c) discuss the mechanisms proposed to explain differences in loudness change when methodological constraints and response biases are controlled. It is concluded that direct and indirect measures of loudness change reflect two distinct aspects of auditory perception. Specifically, magnitude estimation and continuous loudness paradigms reflect changes in perception associated with a ramp's direction and magnitude of intensity change, and empirical evidence supports the conclusion that greater loudness change in response to down-ramps relative to up-ramps is the real-time perceptual outcome. On the other hand, retrospective global judgements of loudness change are disproportionally weighted on end-level intensity rather than magnitude of intensity change. However, an up-ramp-specific effect of duration on global loudness change is evident when end-level response bias is controlled, and this may be associated with end-point time-of-arrival responses to real and apparent looming auditory motion.
Journal of Psychophysiology, 2013
This paper investigates psychological and psychophysiological components of arousal and emotional... more This paper investigates psychological and psychophysiological components of arousal and emotional response to a violin chord stimulus comprised of continuous increases (up-ramp) or decreases (down-ramp) of intensity. A factorial experiment manipulated direction of intensity change (60-90dB SPL up-ramp, 90-60dB SPL down-ramp) and duration (1.8 s, 3.6 s) within-subjects (N = 45). Dependent variables were ratings of emotional arousal, valence, and loudness change, and a fine-grained analysis of event-related skin conductance response (SCR). As hypothesised, relative to down-ramps, musical up-ramps elicited significantly higher ratings of emotional arousal and loudness change, with marginally longer SCR rise times. However, SCR magnitude was greater in response to musical down-ramps. The implications of acoustic intensity change for music-induced emotion and auditory warning perception are discussed.
Perception, 2012
Overestimation of loudness change typically occurs in response to up-ramp auditory stimuli (incre... more Overestimation of loudness change typically occurs in response to up-ramp auditory stimuli (increasing intensity) relative to down-ramps (decreasing intensity) matched on frequency, duration, and end-level. In the experiment reported, forward masking is used to investigate a sensory component of up-ramp overestimation: persistence of excitation after stimulus presentation. White-noise and synthetic vowel 3.6 s up-ramp and down-ramp maskers were presented over two regions of intensity change (40-60 dB SPL, 60-80 dB SPL). Three participants detected 10 ms 1.5 kHz pure tone signals presented at masker-offset to signal-offset delays of 10, 20, 30, 50, 90, 170 ms. Masking magnitude was significantly greater in response to up-ramps compared with down-ramps for masker-signal delays up to and including 50 ms. When controlling for an end-level recency bias (40-60 dB SPL up-ramp vs. 80-60 dB SPL down-ramp), the difference in masking magnitude between up-ramps and down-ramps was not significant at each masker-signal delay. Greater sensory persistence in response to up-ramps is argued to have minimal effect on perceptual overestimation of loudness change when response biases are controlled. An explanation based on sensory adaptation is discussed.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 2010
Three experiments investigate psychological, methodological and domain-specific characteristics o... more Three experiments investigate psychological, methodological and domain-specific characteristics of loudness change in response to sounds that continuously increase in intensity (up-ramps), relative to sounds that decrease (down-ramps). Timbre (vowel, violin), layer (monotone, chord) and duration (1.8 s, 3.6 s) were manipulated in Experiment 1. Participants judged global loudness change between pairs of spectrally identical up-ramps and down-ramps. It was hypothesised that loudness change is overestimated in up-ramps, relative to down-ramps, using simple speech and musical stimuli. The hypothesis was supported and the proportion of up-ramp overestimation increased with stimulus duration. Experiment 2 investigated recency and a bias for end-levels by presenting paired dynamic stimuli with equivalent end-levels and steady-state controls. Experiment 3 used single stimulus presentations, removing artefacts associated with paired stimuli. Perceptual overestimation of loudness change is influenced by (1) intensity region of the dynamic stimulus; (2) differences in stimulus end-level; (3) order in which paired items are presented; and (4) duration of each item. When methodological artefacts are controlled, overestimation of loudness change in response to up-ramps remains. The relative influence of cognitive and sensory mechanisms is discussed.
Perception, 2012
A 'perceptual bias for rising intensity' (Neuhoff 1998) is not dependent on the continuous change... more A 'perceptual bias for rising intensity' (Neuhoff 1998) is not dependent on the continuous change of a dynamic, looming sound source. This study presented pairs of 500 ms steady-state sounds corresponding to onset and offset levels of previously used dynamic up-ramp and down-ramp stimuli (Neuhoff 1998; Olsen et al in press). Independent variables, intensity change direction (increasing, decreasing), intensity region (high 70-90dB SPL, low 50-70dB SPL), interstimulus interval (ISI) (0 s, 1.8 s, 3.6 s), and timbre (vowel, violin) were manipulated as a fully within-subjects design. The dependent variable was perceived loudness change between each stimulus item in a pair. It was hypothesised that (a) non-continuous increases in intensity are overestimated in loudness change, relative to decreases, in both low and high intensity regions; and (b) that perceptual overestimation does not occur when end-levels are balanced. The hypotheses were partially supported. At the high intensity region, increasing stimuli were perceived to change more in loudness than decreasing stimuli. At the low intensity region and under balanced end-level conditions, decreasing stimuli were perceived to change more in loudness than increasing stimuli. A significant direction x region interaction varied as a function of ISI. Methodological, sensory and cognitive explanations for overestimation in certain circumstances are discussed.
Music in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: An Encyclopedia, 2014
ABSTRACT The relationship between the physical and the psychological is one of the fundamental is... more ABSTRACT The relationship between the physical and the psychological is one of the fundamental issues in psychophysics. In psychological terms, the subjective perception or experience of loudness is closely related to a sound’s physical intensity and is broadly defined as the magnitude of auditory sensation. However, as Harvey Fletcher and Wilden Munson noted over 70 years ago, the relationship between the physical intensity of auditory stimuli and the experience of loudness is not straightforward. For example, additional acoustic parameters such as frequency play a significant role in loudness perception, as evident by frequency-dependent equal-loudness contours. Mapping loudness across the frequency spectrum is an outcome made possible from the experimental control inherent in using psychoacoustic steady-state stimuli; stimuli with intensity profiles that do not vary through time. However, almost all real-world sounds are dynamic, with constant time-varying changes in acoustic parameters such as intensity. As a result, research in the behavioural sciences has begun to investigate perceived changes of intensity in conjunction with stimuli from increasingly complex and dynamic real-world listening contexts such as music.
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Books by Kirk N Olsen
Music and Violence by Kirk N Olsen
Loudness and Auditory Looming by Kirk N Olsen