Musical sound perception in normal children and children with Down's syndrome.

Journal/Book: Journal of Music Therapy. 1984; 21: Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. National Association for Music Therapy. 146-154.

Abstract: This study sought to determine whether significant differences in musical perception exist between normal and Down's syndrome children, as indicated as their preferences for the variables of pitch register, dynamic level, and rhythmic variety. A group of ten normal and ten Down's syndrome children participated in the study. An attempt was made to pair subjects according to similarity of age, economic background, and family size. Results indicated no significant differences between boys and girls within the same group or between girls in the two groups. With range held constant, however, the normal children preferred music at the forte level, while the Down's children preferred music at the piano level, with a significant difference between groups. A significant difference was also found in normal boys' preference for a dynamic level of forte while range was held constant.

Keyword(s): music-perception, preferred-music, pitch-perception, rhythmic-perception, dynamics, mental-retardation, developmental-disabilities, Down's-syndrome.

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