Influence of Genre and Musical Training on Continuous versus Summative Ratings of Listener Enjoyment and Response Times

The purpose of this study was to explore continuous and summative ratings of listener enjoyment across a variety of genres and to examine the roles of musical training and familiarity. A secondary purpose of the research was to explore possible relationships between musical training and enjoyment (preference) and estimations of excerpt duration. Specific research questions were 1) Does genre influence ratings of listener enjoyment? 2) Does genre influence initial listener response time? 3) Is there a difference between summative and continuous ratings of enjoyment based on genre? 4) Do patterns in the continuous rating of listening enjoyment emerge as a function of genre? 5) Does musical training influence preference ratings or response time? 6) Is there a relationship between familiarity and preference ratings or response time? 7) Does preference affect estimations of excerpt duration? Twelve musical excerpts were selected such that the genres of classical, popular, and world music were each represented by four unfamiliar and varied excerpts. Excerpts were edited to be 60 seconds in duration and were played for participants (N = 150) in a counterbalanced presentation order. Participants provided preference ratings using the Continuous Response Digital Interface in either a continuous or summative response condition. After each excerpt, participants provided a rating of their familiarity with the excerpt on a pencil-and-paper Likert-type scale and also provided a written estimate, in seconds, of each excerpt's duration. A mixed model analysis of variance revealed significant main effects for genre and major in preference ratings, as well as a significant interaction between genre and major. Participants most preferred the classical genre, followed by popular, and world music. Music majors also tended to rate excerpts significantly higher than nonmajors. The interaction occurred primarily in the popular music category, in which nonmajors rated the excerpts nearly as high as the majors. Majors also responded faster than nonmajors in the continuous response condition. Correlations between preference and familiarity were moderate and uniformly significant, whereas there appeared to be no association between familiarity and response times. Correlations between preference ratings and estimates of excerpt duration also indicated no association. The present study is situated amongst a large body of research on music preference. While some findings support previous research, other findings raise more questions and encourage further exploration. Implications of current results and suggestions for future research are discussed.