The Study on the Identification of Musical Passages for an Emotion Perception Scale for People With Developmental...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Music Therapy
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Emotion recognition is crucial for social adjustment in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs).
• Music effectively conveys human emotions, making it a potential tool for emotion perception interventions.
• A music-based scale could enhance emotion recognition abilities in IDDs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify musical passages representing happiness, sadness, and anger.
• To establish a foundation for a music-based emotion perception scale tailored for individuals with IDDs.
• To investigate the reliability and validity of music in conveying basic emotions.

Main Methods:

• 100 musical passages were evaluated by 20 certified music therapists to select 60 pieces with high agreement for emotion categories.
• 300 neurotypical participants rated the 60 selected passages for perceived emotion type and intensity.
• Statistical analyses, including k-means cluster analysis and hierarchical logistic regression, were employed.

Main Results:

• The 60 musical passages reliably represented happiness, sadness, and anger.
• Cluster analysis confirmed three distinct emotional factors.
• A cut-off score of 41 identified a low emotion perception group, with musical passages being significantly associated with this classification.

Conclusions:

• Selected musical passages reliably convey happiness, sadness, and anger.
• The findings support the development of a music-based emotion perception scale for IDDs.
• Psychological status and demographics did not influence emotion perception from music in this study.