PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY OF STRONG EXPERIENCES IN LISTENING TO MUSIC: A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARTIAL AND OVERALL EVALUATIONS OF PHYSICAL REACTIONS

Previous studies have shown that ratings of SEM (Strong Experiences of Music) strongly relate to ratings of physical reactions at the conclusion of the music. As physical reactions are aroused by fluctuating acoustical features of the music, it has been suggested that ratings of physical reactions for each music passage differ. In this light this study makes an attempt to clarify the relationship between overall and partial evaluations of physical reactions in listening to music. Four representatives of partial evaluations of physical reactions were calculated and it was hypothesized that one of them corresponded to overall evaluations of physical reactions. The four representatives considered were the mean, the median, the maximum, and the upper values of cumulative relative frequency distribution of partial evaluations. Absolute values of differences between overall evaluations and partial representatives of physical reactions were calculated, and then averaged to indicate degrees of correspondence. As a result, R80, the 80 % value of cumulative relative frequency distribution, strongly corresponded to overall evaluations. This suggests that an overall evaluation is determined rather based on high partial evaluations than by averaging all partial evaluations. This study is expected to contribute to the quantitative clarification of SEM in the future. 1