Barros, CG;
Swardfager, W;
Moreno, S;
Bortz, G;
Ilari, B;
Jackowski, AP;
Ploubidis, G;
... Cogo-Moreira, H; + view all
(2017)
Assessing Music Perception in Young Children: Evidence for and Psychometric Features of the M-Factor.
Frontiers in Neuroscience
, 11
, Article 18. 10.3389/fnins.2017.00018.
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Abstract
Given the relationship between language acquisition and music processing, musical perception (MP) skills have been proposed as a tool for early diagnosis of speech and language difficulties; therefore, a psychometric instrument is needed to assess music perception in children under 10 years of age, a crucial period in neurodevelopment. We created a set of 80 musical stimuli encompassing seven domains of music perception to inform perception of tonal, atonal, and modal stimuli, in a random sample of 1006 children, 6-13 years of age, equally distributed from first to fifth grades, from 14 schools (38% private schools) in So Paulo State. The underlying model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. A model encompassing seven orthogonal specific domains (contour, loudness, scale, timbre, duration, pitch, and meter) and one general music perception factor, the "m-factor," showed excellent fit indices. The m-factor, previously hypothesized in the literature but never formally tested, explains 93% of the reliable variance in measurement, while only 3.9% of the reliable variance could be attributed to the multidimensionality caused by the specific domains. The 80 items showed no differential item functioning based on sex, age, or enrolment in public vs. private school, demonstrating the important psychometric feature of invariance. Like Charles Spearman's g-factor of intelligence, the m-factor is robust and reliable. It provides a convenient measure of auditory stimulus apprehension that does not rely on verbal information, offering a new opportunity to probe biological and psychological relationships with music perception phenomena and the etiologies of speech and language disorders.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Assessing Music Perception in Young Children: Evidence for and Psychometric Features of the M-Factor |
| Location: | Switzerland |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3389/fnins.2017.00018 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2017.00018 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2017 Barros, Swardfager, Moreno, Bortz, Ilari, Jackowski, Ploubidis, Little, Lamont and Cogo-Moreira. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
| Keywords: | assessment, bifactor model, children, hearing, music perception, psychometrics |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1541064 |
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