Elementary-aged children's aesthetic experiences with music

This study examined the perceived aesthetic experiences of elementary school children. Sixty 4th graders, from 3 intact public school classes that included students identified as gifted and with special needs, listened to 'Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43, Variation 18,' by Rachmaninoff and simultaneously indicated responses by manipulating a Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) dial. One week later, participants repeated the listening activity under identical experimental conditions. As in similar studies with adults, aggregated graphic analyses showed that many of the children's highest and lowest reactions tended to cluster at the same places, and test-retest reliability showed a high positive correspondence between the two listening sessions (r = .99). Although it is impossible to know if these 4th graders actually had aesthetic experiences, it seems clear that they did respond to this music. It was determined that 57 students, including most of those with special needs, successfully used the CRDI dial to indicate their reactions and 58 expressed comfort with the simplicity of its use. Additional analyses, which compared responses based on developmental statuses, found a wide range of correlations between children who were categorized as normally developing, gifted, or having special needs.