Quotes From a G7 E-mail DiscussionMr. Sasabe (G7) wrote:
I got caught speeding wice in my life and both of the times it was because I was listening to the music in my car and did not realize how fast I was going. Maybe it's all about the "training" that Dr. James has been talking about, but when my favorite music comes out, I just lose myself!
On a different day, I was driving and realized that music was off. It was a bit of surprise because I was so calm and relaxed that it was almost like I was meditating. So I recommend that you guys sometimes stop listening to the music in your car. It's really different!
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Mr. Miyoshi (G7) wrote:
This is also something that I have been thinking about while taking this class. Does rock music make us more aggressive and slow methodical music make us a better driver. It is interesting because rock music makes our hearts beat faster and that might get our adrenaline flowing and made us lose some of our senses. Just a thought for everyone to think about.
I know what Akira is talking about. Once in a while someone turns off the music in my car before I get in and when I realize that it is off it suprises me. I find myself almost in a meditative state when the radio is off. I am more calm and am able to control my feelings more!
I think that this could work both ways. I think that if you listen to a station that you don't like but doesn't show views that you are strongly against or go totally against your values then this will work. If you just don't like the Dj's or music then thats fine. However if you listen to a station that gets you upset and deals with touchy situations or points then you could get more agressive on the road and other things that drivers do may upset you more. I think I will have to try this before I give a difinite answer.
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Mr. Shintani (G7) wrote:
I really think that music has an effect on the way a person drives. When I want to drive fast I play a CD that has a powerful or past beat. My favorite is the Top Gun sound track. If I want to relax while driving I would put in a mellow CD like Kalapana or some type of soft rock. I dont listen to rap so I dont know the effects of listening to this type of music.
I really think that some music causes bad driving behavior than others. I can see people being more aggressive after listening to heavy metal then to classical music. I has been proven in studies that playing of classical music in malls helps to reduce the amount to violence in metal than to clasical music. I has been proven in studies that playing of classical music in malls helps to reduce the amount to violence in these malls. I do this in two ways by mellowing or relaxing people and by staying away from a certain section of the community that causes a lot of the crimes.
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See this student's report from G8
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Web visitor Brian Haimerman wrote by e-mail: (November 1997)
I want to thank Dr. James & Mr. Shintani for the feedback. At this time I am taking a History of Rock and Roll class and am learning of the effect that rock music has in our psyche. We are basically talking about how we listen to music. The Affective, Cognitive, Psycho-motor, and Transpersonal. It is almost like a psychology class. So far like I said in my last message, music does affect our psycho-physical. The loudness and the beat play the biggest part. It has a direct effect on our hearts. Notice why younger people like loud beating music. It is because it causes our heart beats to go faster and our blood pressure to rise. For us it is enjoyable but for older people it is a big no no! The more I learn the more I'll tell you about it!
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Kristin Evert (G7) wrote:
After reading the little excerp about music and driving behavior I really started to think about myself and my own driving. If all of this is right, I should technically be a VERY aggressive, speeding maniac on the road, because when I drive I like my music loud and usually fast-paced and "singable" (meaning I can sing along). Although I am no Ms. Perfection, I am more often times getting passed than doing the passing, as I usually try to stay no more than 10 mph over the speed limit.
On the other hand, however, I could see how slow sappy music could make me sleepy, even if I like the song. Hmmm...
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Web visitor Mary Ford wrote by e-mail (November 1997):
After reading your site, I've realized that I've become much more aggressive in my personality as I've gotten older. Is this a normal phenomena? By more aggressive, I mean I speak up and assert myself; and in the car -- well I've never got a ticket, but I do admit, I swear -- not good. I was aware of my tension in the car, so for several years now, I've used a melodious tape to mellow myself out when I'm driving -- Rain Melody, beautiful flute music, Ghandharva Veda music (supposed to bring harmony into the atmosphere). It seems to work for me.
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Tami Hshimoto (G7) wrote:
I just wanted to respond to marshall's message on how music affects my driving. When I'm driving, music makes me relaxed and clam. Ifeel that when I'm driving in traffic the music that I listen to helps me to feel less anxious and fustrated. I'm able to tolerate more unsafe drivers by letting them get a head of me. Music is an awesome way to relax when I'm driving.
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Cris Burlem (G7) wrote:
I have been in the drivers frustration seat many a time as many of us have. My solution to claming down is actually the opposite. I find that by turning off the radio I am able to relax when I am in an uptight mood to begin with. I find that turning off the radio helps me concentrate on the road and what is going on. It is at these times that I think music actually irritates me?!?
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Wilfred Lee (G7) wrote last semester:
I definitely agree that music has a role in how you drive. Fast music, and loud music, makes you more excited, and makes your heart pump faster. In turn making you drive faster. Slow music relaxes you and you get more mellow. If you dont believe it, then ever tried driving really fast with classical music. It just doesn't work. maybe the solution is to make everyone listen to classical music. I did hear an interesting fact, babies in the womb become calm children when mothers listen to classical music. Maybe classical music is our solution????
I'm a townie so I consider myself fortunate. I live in Kahala so I drive for 5 minutes and get to school. I often ask my friend that has to drive from Pearl City to get to school by 8 how he does it. He just says he has to deal with it and has accepted it as part of his life. What i did to try to alleviate his road rage is make a tape of his favorite songs. My theory is when he listens to his favorite songs then he doesn't notice the traffic as much, and time passes by more quickly. I sing (sometimes) in the car. That makes the time fly by faster. I also enjoy it and it takes my mind off the congested road. Could this be a possible solution for the commuters to school?
What are they Talking About? (A summary of the discussion topics)On the other hand, Ms. Hashimoto writes that music acts as a calming agent for her as she drives. She says that music makes her feel less anxious and frustrated. She does not comment on what type of music she listens to, but it would be interesting to know whether or not fast-paced music also helps to make her calm. It sounds as if she is just trying to say that listening to music in general is a way to avoid hostile feelings toward other drivers. I personally would like to know if fast music helps calm her down
Music affects the speed of your driving
Most of the discussion participants felt that music did have an effect on their driving. In particular, they felt that music and speeding were highly correlated. Mr. Sasabe wrote that he was caught speeding twice in his life. He attributes both of his speeding incidents to the music that he was listening to in his car at the time. However, the issue of the affect of music upon drivers is quite complicated.
The type of music makes a difference
Mr. Miyoshi introduced two issues. He asked if rock music made drivers more aggressive, and conversely, if slow music caused better driving. Mr Shintani said that he thought that some music causes bad driving behavior. He said that he was more inclined to think that heavy metal would cause aggression in drivers rather than classical music. He reported that it has been proven that playing classical music in malls has helped to decrease the levels of violence that takes place within the malls. How about playing some heavy metal in the same malls? I think this would be quite interesting. This would be absolutely necessary to do in order to make a true comparison of the effects of both types of music upon violence levels within the malls. There is no way that you can prove that heavy metal causes aggression because simply because its musical opposite (classical music) seems to cause calming in malls.
Mary Ford, a web visitor, wrote that she noticed that her personality has become more aggressive as she has gotten older. These days she speaks up and asserts herself, and in the car she has caught herself swearing. Due to the cognitive dissonance she experienced because of the swearing, she has been driving with a melodious tape playing through her car stereo for several years now. She claims that this tends to do the trick for her.
Kristin Evert of G7 failed to observe a correlation between the music she listens to and her driving. She said that she likes to drive to fast-paced music that is loud and singable. She thought that if this were the case, she should be a maniac on the road. However, she said she consciously tries to stay within ten miles of the speed limit when she drives. Although she does not feel that music causes her to speed up, she does not deny the possibility that slow music could affect her by making her sleepy.
Music has a physiological effect on drivers
Mr. Lee says that music definitely has an effect on the way a person drives. He says that music played fast and loud produces an increase in heart rate, which in turn makes someone more excited, causing that person to drive faster. Likewise, he says that slow music makes a person more relaxed and mellow. He brings up the idea that classical music could be therapy for aggressive drivers.
Web visitor Brian Haimerman said that he was taking a History of Rock and Roll class at the time of this e-mail discussion. He said the class had a lot of reference to psychology and how music affects the psyche. It affects various parts of or psychological being; our affective, cognitive, motor, and transpersonal. In addition, he said that music affects our physical being, mainly our hearts. Volume and beat are the two things that he said had the most effect on our hearts. Younger people like loud music because it causes our blood pressure to rise and our heartbeat to increase. Younger people have more resistance for this, but older people are at more risk of heart failure.
Choose the music in accordance to how you feel (before you go driving)
Finally, the last issue raised was that people choose the music they listen to before they go driving. Mr. Shintani wrote that he selects what CD to listen to before he drives. He picks something fast when he wants to drive fast, and he picks something slow when he wants to relax. I thought that this was the most troubling comment for me. He knows when he wants to drive fast, and he chooses a certain type of music to accomplish that. I will give him the benefit of the doubt and trust that he is not talking about driving at insanely fast speeds. However it is scary to think that there may be others out there who pick fast music to drive to when they plan to go about 90 mph or so.
The meaning of music for me (from past to present)
I have many happy memories of car rides with my family where we would play guessing games with the oldies. My parents would ask the kids as songs came on the radio, "Who's this?" We would all take a crack at it, and after a while, we became pretty good with matching names and voices. Now that I think about it, the car rides were always more enjoyable that way. I guess from that early age in elementary school, I enjoyed music in the car.
As I moved on to intermediate school I had to catch the school bus. The ride wasn't very long, it took about 10-15 minutes total. The bus ride always passed quickly because I was riding with all my friends, but I also enjoyed bringing my walkman. I had to walk to the bus stop in the morning, and after school I would walk home. I used to listen to my walkman while walking to and from the bus stop as well. I remember being exposed to so many different types of music when I was in intermediate school, everything seemed so new to me then. However, there were times that I didn't turn my walkman on because I did not want to miss out on the fun things that my friends were doing on the bus. At this age being highly social was a priority for me as well as listening to my favorite music.
When I got to high school, I began driving my own car. Car stereos were a big thing for everyone. I tried to keep up with the latest audio gadgets by buying all the stereos, equalizers, and amplifiers I could afford. On top of that I was buying all my favorite music too.
Now that I'm in college I still love to listen to music as I go driving. As I observe my driving habits in relation to music, I can not say whether or not music makes me drive faster or more aggressively. I shall have to make more observations. I do choose what music I want to listen to before I get in the car, but not for the purpose of driving at certain speeds. I also try to stay within 10 miles of the speed limit at all times, no matter what type of music I am listening to.
My Search for the Meaning of Music on the Web
Message 15 of 1488
for search affectRe: Favorite song
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Sandra/Sandy <sandraf9@mail.idt.net> |
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1999/04/01 |
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alt.music.luis-miguel |
>It blows my mind that someone who's so distant and who doesn't even know I > exist can have the power to make me empathize the way I do with him, that he > can make me care so much for him and that every misfortune and sadness in his > life can affect my heart the way it does and every joy can unlift me so. Melissa - when he sings, he opens all his feelings to us, so it is possible for us to actually bond with him on an emotional level. No wonder that we hurt where he hurts. Besos, Sandy
Message 1 of 13
in this threadSarah at the shrink today
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David Dalton <dalton@public.nfld.com> |
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1999/03/26 |
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When I was called in to my psychiatrist's inner office from the waiting room today the strains of Angel were coming out of the radio in the waiting room! But luckily things are looking up for me lately, earlier in the week things improved some, then yesterday things slipped back a bit, but I'm doing better than I have been for a while. If anyone wants to offer me a job, my CV is at http://www.nfld.com/~dalton/cv.html . My main page is at http://www.nfld.com/~dalton and has subpages, other than the CV, that include one on Newfoundland and Labrador Music and Travel ( http://www.nfld.com/~dalton/nf.html ) and some music reviews, including one I thought I had on there on the Nettwerk 10th Anniversary Concert which I just put on my home page today. David Dalton dalton@nfld.com http://www.nfld.com/~dalton
I first tried a search on Lycos using the words "music and driving", but that proved to be futile. I finally got results by typing in the words "research/on/music". Most of the sites this search produced pertained to research done on music education; however, my search produced one worthwhile link to a site called The Music & Science Information Computer Archive (MuSICA). All of the following links contained in this section are results of searches that I have done on the Musica database.
Note: To save space on this report, I have not pasted the articles/abstracts within the text of this document. The links provide the abstracts to the articles that I found. Please click on them in order to see the actual abstracts of the articles on which I have based my comments.
physiological effects of pop music
This article provides evidence for the argument that music does affect the physical being by means of blood pressure and heart rate. Psychologically, the music was said to help reduce monotony and fatigue. The researcher reported that there was a good correlation between the psychological effects of music and its apparent physiological effects on the study participants. The study concludes that attitude toward music is not the only factor that influences people's physiological reactions.
Affect of music upon low birth weight infants in neonatal intensive care unit
This study was designed to observe several physiological responses made by low birthweight infants while listening to music during the first week of life. The study included 20 infants. Ten listened to music and the other ten did not. The results showed that music had significant effects on oxygen saturation levels, heart rate, and respiratory rate. There was also no increase in apnea/bradycardia episodes after music treatment was induced. Being that these infants have no concept of what music is, the physiological effects they experienced have nothing to do with their biases toward music. They have none. This study provides evidence that music itself apart from biases has physiological effects on humans.
Music and respiratory rate
This experiment shows the results of soothing and exciting music on respiratory function. In particular, minute ventilation, minute oxygen consumption, and basal metabolic rate were observed. 30 patients were subject to the experiment conditions. The results were then processed through statistical analysis. The conclusion reached was that soothing music had a calming effect, and exciting music increased all three respiratory functions.
Background music and test performance
The results of this study implied that music aided 30 college undergraduates in the taking of cognitive tests. The analysis of the results showed that more questions were answered and that more items were correct when the tests were taken with music versus the control setting with no music. Heart rate was also measured during the two conditions, and there was no difference. The researchers were inclined to believe that the results may have been influenced by the type of music that was used in the study.
Music and the cognition of identity
This article states that the music an individual listens to is directly related to that person's belief system. Also, people who listen to the same radio station make up subcultures that use music to gain a sense of identity. In other words, music plays a part in a larger social context in which we live. This article illustrates the affective role that music plays in our lives. Music is a means to belonging.
Searching Through the Generations Using the CSS EngineSome of the links in her report provide good insights to the study of music as it affects drivers. By clicking on a few of them, I was able to find out how music affects our moods. Mood is also correlated to the lyrics that we process and remember as we are exposed to music of different kinds. Positive music influences us to remember positive words, and sad sounding music influences us to remember negative words. For links to the articles visit her Web Search on Music section. She also found the MuSICA database very informative.
What Does Mr. Rothe Have to Say?
Quote from Rothe Chapter 3 "Responsibility and Driver Conduct"
"Virtual intention is one that was once made continues to influence the driving act. But it is not present in the motorists' consciousness at the moment of performing diving acts (Fagothey, 1976). For example, a motorist plans a trip to a specific destination. Although there is a plan for the overall trip when starting out, after driving awhile circumstances present themselves that although linked to the original plan of the trip become features in and of themselves. Making a right-hand turn at a busy intersection while the mind wanders or turning on the radio and tuning into the music for enjoyment illustrate such situations" (Rothe, 1993).
Rothe chapter 6 "Becoming a Driver and Ex-Driver"
This idea is in relation to youths becoming drivers. When children reach their teenage years, their social activities and locations of those activities change. They make friends with teens from other neighborhoods, and their social functions are in many instances out of their walking vicinity. Young teens need to ask their parents for a ride. Older teens can get their licenses and drive themselves wherever they wish to go, provided that their parents permit it. People have thought about providing safe and fun hangouts for teens within walking distance from their homes in order to reduce the number of teenage traffic fatalities and accidents, but many times, these hangouts don't provide a way for teens to meet all their social needs. It was thought that many of the adults who run these hangouts are not in tune with teenagers' ideas of a good time. For instance they often overlook the high value that youngsters place on socializing, listening to music, and hanging out (Rothe, 1993).
Quote from Rothe chapter 12 "Claim Making and the Drive for Greater Control"
"Human factors do not encompass many human actions. They only represent recognized and accepted empirical categories of behavior. For example, speeding is an official category included in the official accident report form upon which information is collected and fault is attributed. Momentary inattention or pauses of natural driving action created by smoking, eating, daydreaming, music, or interaction with passengers are a few factors relevant to accidents that are not designated categories on accident report forms (Rothe, 1991c.)."
ERIC and Uncover SearchBagato, J. The Perfect Disaster. Option, 1991, 38, 50.
Summary: A Band to Renew Your Faith in Intelligent, Progressive
Guitar Pop-Rock, Making "Driving Music" Totally Unlike
Screamin' Jay Hawkins.
North, A.C. and Hargreaves, D.J. Can Music Move People? The Effects of Musical Complexity and Silence on Waiting Time, Environment and Behavior, 1999, 31, 136.
Blanchard, B.E. The Effect of Music on Pulse Rate, Blood Pressure and Final Exam Scores of University Students. Journal of School Health, 1979, 49, 470-71.
Davies, D. R.; And Others. The effects of music and task difficulty on performance ataa visual vigilance task. british Journal of Psychology, 1973, 64, 383-89.
Iversen J. And Others. The Effect of Music on the Personal Relevance of Lyrics. A Journal of Human Behavior, 1989, 26, 15-22.
Anshel, M.H., Marisi, D.Q. Effect of Music and Rhythm on Physical Performance. Research Quarterly, 1978, 42, 109-13.
Finnas, L. How Can Musical Preferences Be Modified? A Research Review. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 1989, 102, 1-58.
Arnett, J.Heavy Metal Music and Reckless Behavior among Adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence., 1991, 20,573-92. L
Lester, D., Whipple, M. Music Preference, Depression, Suicidal Preoccupation, and Personality: Comment on Stack and Gundlach's Papers. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 1996, 26, 68-70.
Wolfe, D. E. Effects of Music Loudness on Task Performance and Self-Report of College-Aged Students. Journal of Research in Music Education, 1983, 31, 191-201.
How's Everyone Else Doing?
Some Concluding Remarks...For future generations, I would suggest making use of other students' homepages. When I say this I mean that prior students have already done most of the work: they have already paved the way. I saved myself some time by creating links to other pages for people who stumble across my report. My philosophy is that people need to access the information, but they don't have to read it directly off of my report. They can read it straight from the source. I have provided links to sources of information, instead of pasting so much information on my report. I should think that students of future generations will do the same with my report, maybe they will even link to my report (that would be an honor). However, every report needs to contain new bits of evidence and fresh ideas. Everyone needs to make some sort of contribution. It is not fair to compose a report solely of the information that other students have taken the time to gather. Maybe someday someone will finally find an article or document that is specifically about the affect of music on drivers.
ike@hawaii.edu