Multidimensional measurement of exposure to music in childhood: Beyond the musician/ non-musician dichotomy

Abstract

Much research in music psychology characterizes the music background of its participants in a dichotomous manner, labeling participants as “musicians” and “non-musicians” or professionals and non-professionals. However, this terminology is inconsistent from study to study, and even more sophisticated measures fail to accurately represent music experiences; moreover, there is no standardized measure suitable for use with younger participants. This article presents a new measure, the Exposure to Music in Childhood Inventory, for capturing the amount and type of exposure to music activities suitable for use with children. Children from public and private school, aged 5 to 13 years old (N = 1006; M = 8.36 years old, SD = 1.5 years) completed the inventory, and through a combination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis a two-factor solution was obtained. The first factor includes personal music listening activities, home musical environment and the influence of television and the internet; the second reflects more social, active and public elements of music-making, playing an instrument and performing. This scale is suitable for use in a wide range of future research to more accurately assess the kinds of music activities children have access to in a dimensional way, which can have a bearing on their understanding of music