The Effect of Moodstates: Continuous Versus Summative Responses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Metheny s popular music on perceived moodstates of listeners who use either continuous or summative methods of responding. Subjects listened to 8 excerpts. In Study 1 subjects (n = 30) responded using the Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) dial, while subjects in Study 2 (n = 40) indicated their responses using a pencil and paper. In the first study, subjects manipulated 2 CRDI dials while listening to the music: the dial on the left showed an arc divided into 8 sections/zones, each one labeled with a different group of mood adjectives while the dial on the right showed a negative/positive continuum on which subjects were to record their aesthetic response. In the second study, the modified Hevner adjective circle was again used, as were the same musical excerpts, presented in shorter versions-each lasting less than 2 minutes. Subjects were asked to circle word clusters representing their perceived moodstates after listening to each excerpt. A chi-square was performed on data for each excerpt in order to analyze both groups responses. Results of the second study indicated remarkable similarities to responses gathered from the first study. For all but one excerpt, subjects from both studies were in agreement with regard to perceived moodstates after listening to program music.