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Psychological Theories

Psychological Theories in Music Education

Linda K. Faner

Foundations of Music Education, History/Trends/ Psychology

MME 775

Dr. Van Gent

interaction in this environment creates learned behaviors which is what the scientific area of

Behavioral psychology is based on. (site) Behavioral psychology is one of several learning

theories simply put means it focuses on the concept that all behaviors are learned withing an

environment by means of an individual’s interactions. According to Sanford Encyclopedia of

Philosophy, Behaviorism is a Psychology of the science of behavior, the behavior is external not

internal, and it is not defined in terms of mental concepts. (cite)

There are three areas of behavioral studies which are Methodological Behaviorism,

Psychological Behaviorism, and Analytical Behaviorism. Behaviorism roots began in the twenty-

century with John Watson who established the field of behaviorism. His belief is that it should be

an observable behavior. (cite) The stages of development began with Watsonian in 1915-1930,

Neobehaviorism 1930-1960, and Sociobehaviorism 1960-1990. There are critics in the area of

behavioral theory which leaves out the aspects of free will and other internal areas as moods and

thoughts.

The theory of behavior can help educators to better understand the ‘why’ a student learns

better than another student. This area has influenced decisions on parenting skills, teaching

techniques and even based on learning standards. (cite) A learner’s role is actively be engaged in

learning then based on specific objectives demonstrate a particular level of knowledge or goal. A

students prior learning is believed to be based on a biological determinism or personality traits as

to their behavior. A learner change in behavior will occur when the relationship of a stimulus and

the response is believed by a behaviorist is when either a new behavior or a change in past

behaviors change.
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Psychological Theories
The area of behaviorism is one I find interesting especially when making the connection

between the stages of human development and environmental stimuli. The terms used in the area

of behaviorism is how it is based on the concept of reward and punishment. Life is based on

these concepts but can be renamed using a gentler connotation. The thought behind the concept

of ‘natural consequences or karma could bring about the same results. The one area of

behaviorism which limits its effectiveness is how it only looks at the external viewpoint. During

this research on behaviorism, I discovered another area which complements the missing area

which is called Cognitivism.

This is a theory was developed as a school of psychology in the twenty century to give a

modern foundation in the area of perception. The theory of structuralism sought to analyze a

defined total of experiences from birth to the present. The goals were to fit these experiences into

a complex form which fits together. The Gestalt theory in German means, the way things have

been “placed” or ‘put together’ in English we use, ‘patterns’ or ‘shapes.

1.Gestalt theory focuses on the perception of visual stimuli. There are four

perceptions the brain can perceive: proximity, similarity, continuation, and closure. Each of these

allow an individual to group or associate objects in to either a pattern or specific grouping. This

is one way a person cand gain meaningful perception from the chaotic stimuli from an

experience.

2. The theory which is associated to the Gestalt Theory uses resolution of conflict

and ambiguity to discover how to intergrade personality features. It allows individuals to become

aware of sensations in order to respond in a reasonable way in a situation.

proximity in regard to how we design our classroom into rows, squares, or circles. The law of

simplicity by give stimulus in the simplest form. The Law of organization is important to help

student understand the information in orderly way.

The first area is to understand how this is a theory based on several different

psychologies who studied way of perception. In music we seem to teach from the whole-part-

whole concept, however being able to present the information from a different perception could

help student engage in the learning process.

The age of a child and potential of cognitive ability is the difference which psychologies

Vygotsky developed called the Zone of Proximal Development. ZPD is defined simply as what

the student can do without assistance and what they could do with guidance from a more

knowledgeable person. Theis gap is what is the APD.

Vygotsky’s theory explained it as a conscious end product of socialization. The goal

being for the student to be more knowledgeable than the person assisting them therefore allowing

the student to complete the task independently.

The main concepts of the theory are related to cognitive development. They are culture

significance, understanding cult ureal language, and learning and developing within their role in

the community.

The method Lev Vygotsky developed a method call scaffolding. The students will achieve more

advanced skill and reach their learning goals by working with someone more advanced. One-way

teachers can instruct would be in small steps based on the task the child can do. The teacher

should assist when needed and support until the student can complete the task independently.

a. Behaviorism vs. MLT

view of a student’s actions. When developing skills of audiation teachers us body movement,

vocal sounds, and visual cues to aid younger children to begin to hear various tones and patterns.

The way a child moves or creates sounds could create the environment stimuli for understanding

how to ‘think in music’.

b. Gestalt Theory vs. MLT

Gestalt theory is based on the visual perception based on grouping or their association with other

visual stimuli. When students who have developed their internal music vocabulary a teacher

could begin to implement various visual and tactile sources.

c. Zone of proximal development vs. MLT.

The Zone of Proximal Development is based on creating an environment where a student can

gain knowledge or experience through various methods of scaffolding and mentoring. In MLT a

student should have basic ability to audiate or ‘think music’ by upper elementary. This could be

the point when using older student to join in during lessons or developing skills in Solfege or

rhythmic patterns on Orff instruments.

How do you plan on applying?

How will the information gain during this semester add to my current teaching? There are three

way the information will be used. The first will be in developing a curriculum which focuses on

internal listening skills. This would include doing more singing (more humming, band students

struggle with the singing) pitches before playing. The second is to focus on understanding how a

student’s behavior relates to their cognitive abilities and maturity. In my current teaching the age

range falls into the adolescent stage which creates continuous changes in behavior and maturity.

The third area would be to work more with my music colleague. They teach students in early
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Psychological Theories
childhood-adolescent where their focus is more on rote learning and projects to teach music

knowledge. This could be a great opportunity to share my new knowledge about MLT and to

discuss a long-range plan to teach audiation skill to our students