The relationship between heart rate and jazz/classical music

Independent variable

The jazz/classical music played over a time span of 10 minutes

BEFORE PLAYING THE MUSIC: the heart rate will be considered a resting /base line heart rate and is what the independent variable influences.

AFTER PLAYING THE MUSIC: the highest heartrate will be recorded (either the 5 or 10 minute mark heart rate) and will be used in the experiment

THE TYPE OF MUSIC PREFERRED: there were two different types of music options, jazz/classical or rock/techno. In this case, the influence of the jazz/classical music is being measured.

Dependent variable

The heartrate in comparison to the baseline heartrate

HIGHER HEARTRATE: the hypothesis would not be supported if the heartrate was higher after listening to the music than before/the baseline heart rate. However this includes the influence of the different arousal levels of the participant and other extraneous variables

LOWER HEARTRATE: the hypothesis would be supported if the heartrate decreased after listening to the music, and is lower than the baseline heartrate.

MAINTAINED HEARTRATE: if the heartrate were to be the same after listening to the jazz/classical music as the baseline heartrate, the hypothesis would not be supported- however this includes the influence of the different arousal levels of the participant and other extraneous variables

extraneous variables

Extraneous variables impact the data, however are variables that cannot all be controlled at the same time

AROUSAL STATE: the Yerkes-Dodson law is referenced in the proposal and introduction of the investigation report, and this talks about the relationship between arousal and task performance. It is hypothesised for the music to decrease heartrate, however if the arousal state of the person was under-stimulated, it would be difficult to get their heartrate to decrease.

ENIVRONMENTAL CONDITIONS: each classroom condition would be different as each experiment was held on different days, under different environmental conditions. The weather, surrounding noise, time of the day and temperature would all affect the arousal state of participants. For example, rain could be relaxing, allowing some participants to feel more relaxed than others. The noise level of surrounding classes could affect the ability to hear the music, and the temperature of the room could also affect the participant's ability to remain still and calm. The time of the day could determine the participant's mood, if they're tired or stressed, calm or ready for the day.

MUSIC PREFERENCES: in this experiment, there were only two choices for music which were rock/techno or jazz/classical. If a participant liked neither, they would have to choose which music they preferred. If someone didn't like the jazz/classical music, it would be highly unlikely that their heartrate would decrease and they would feel less stressed than they were before

ADMINISTRATOR'S METHOD: the method of the experiment would be the same, however teachers would have different styles of administrating the experiment. For example, some teachers would set up timers for the 5 or 10 minute mark and participants would be notified by a loud alarm sounding in the classroom. Other teachers would let the class know by telling them with their own voice. This could affect someone's state of shock or arousal if they were notified in an alarming or a calming way.

MUSIC VOLUME: as there was no stated music volume the participants had to listen to the music to, this would affect their state as they listen to the music. If the music wasn't loud enough, they would be a chance they're not 'fully immersed' in the music and could hear background noises much better than others with a higher music volume.

Controlled variable

  • the sound track (listening to the same stimulus)
  • everyone listened to the music for 10 minutes
  • all wore the same smart watches
  • the same sample (age, participants, etc)

Sample

All Stage 1 Psychology Students at Glenunga International High School of 2022.

Between year 11 and 10

81 students/participants in total

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

ADVANTAGES: participants of different ages and genders are chosen, therefore wide generalisations to a certain extent can be made. Because of the extraneous variables, there are many different factors that could influence the data and yet the data still supported the hypothesis, therefore it can be shown that jazz/classical music does tend to decrease heartrate.

DISADVANTAGES: the sample size is not random, therefore all the participants have prior knowledge to the experiment being run, and this adds to the fact that generalisations can only be made on Stage 1 Psychology Students at Glenunga International High School in 2022. The sample is not representative of a greater population.

HYPOTHESIS: it is hypothesised that when listening to jazz/classical music, the heart rate will tend to decrease

investigation type

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION- objective quantitative data

This experiment is an experimental investigation as the independent variable was manipulated by the administrator. Objective quantitative data was collected through smart watches that measured the heart rate of the participants at the 0, 5 and 10 minute mark.

ADVANTAGES

  • the experiment was done on the same group, therefore the sample size does not change and the extraneous variables remain the same

DISADVANTAGES:

  • the experiment was run on different days for each classroom
  • the groups were aware of the experiment and the data being collected, which would make them conscious of their behaviour
  • people who like jazz/classical music would most likely feel more relaxed and their heart rate would most likely drop as they listen to it regularly to calm themselves down

METHOD

VALIDITY: did this measure what it was supposed to?

  • smart watches measured the heart rate, therefore the results should be accurate (unless there were technical difficulties)

RELIABILITY: consistency in measurement.

  • sample could have been familiar with some genres of music, affecting the consistency of data
  • measurement did not include personal feelings in the sense of measuring the results, however the measurement was based on some form of personal feelings
  • each participant would have started off with different emotional states, affecting their "base line heart rates"

ETHICS:
all ethics were adhered to in this experiment.

  • informed consent: consent forms were given out, outlining the general method of the experiment and the possible harm or benefit it could provide
  • voluntary participation: the consent forms stated that if the students did not want to participate, they did not have to and there would not be any negative consequences
  • confidentiality: the last 3 digits of the participant's student ID numbers were used in order to ensure confidentiality, making sure everything is anonymous and the only people who know their results are the participants
  • researcher's rights: this experiment did not have any potential harm or benefit towards the participants

ETHICS:
all ethics were adhered to in this experiment.

  • accurate reporting: the raw data that the participants put down were used in the experiment's write up.
  • debriefing: the experiment was went through before it was run, meaning all participants were aware of what was going to happen and what data will be recorded
  • deception: there was no need to hide any information from the participants as the placebo effect does not affect physical things such as heart rate

ADVANTAGES:

  • there was a preference of music given
  • the base line and aroused heart rate can be compared due to the fact that objective quantitative data was collected

DISADVANTAGES:

  • the arousal level could be influenced by the preference of music (if someone didn't like the music and was shocked, their heart rate rising, as it was not like their usual music taste, this could cause the average to change drastically)
  • the resting/base line heart rate would be different for everyone as their emotional states before starting the experiment would have been different
  • EITHER the 5 or 10 minute mark heart rate was used, meaning the data is a mix of 5 and 10 minute heart rates therefore there is no clear data showing the heartrate of participants after listening to the jazz/classical music for 10/5 minutes

ADVANTAGES:

  • the dependent variable was objective quantitative

DISADVANTAGE:

  • the dependent variable would have been influenced by the extraneous variables
  • it would be hard to compare heart rate in comparison to the baseline due to the each participant having different emotional states

STRENGTHS:

  • the controlled variables allow fair testing

WEAKNESSES:

  • because the some music was shorter than 10 minutes, participants had to stop listening, replay the music, and re-immerse themselves into the music again which can cause their heartrates to change
  • the participants were not wearing the same headphones, meaning there could be a difference in sound quality which would affect the data

ADVANTAGES:

  • even though there were many extraneous variables, the data still supported the hypothesis

DISADVANTAGES:

  • conclusions might not be accurate due to the influence the extraneous variables might have had on the data
  • impossible to remove all extraneous variables

ADVANTAGES:

  • the data collected was objective quantitative
  • the method had clear steps to follow

DISADVANTAGES:

  • there would have been different ways of carrying out the method as the method was to carry out the experiment over different days
  • extraneous variables would have led to impacted data