Preprint

Montreal Evaluation of Musical Abilities on tablet for 4 to 6-year-old children

This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review [What does this mean?].

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Peretz, Isabelle
Bolduc, Jonathan
Couvignou, Manon

Abstract / Description

The present study introduces a novel tool — The Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Musical Abilities (MBEMA) on tablet — for assessing musical abilities in 4 to 6-year-old children. The battery contains three tests: melody discrimination, rhythm discrimination and memory recognition of unfamiliar tonal melodies. Each test comprises two examples followed by 12 trials and is presented in a different picturesque format for an average duration of 15 minutes. As of July 2021, the battery has been administered to 191 5-to-6-year-old children, of whom 181 were tested twice (89 three months apart; 92 eight months apart). The battery was sensitive to individual differences and music training, with the amount of music training predicting performance. Despite high interindividual variability, the three-month follow-up showed good test-retest reliability, with significant improvements from test to retest that may reflect a familiarization effect. Longitudinal follow-up after eight months also showed an increase in performance, which may reflect either a maturation effect or be related to literacy. Overall, the MBEMA on a tablet can serve as an objective, short and up-to-date test for assessing musical ability in early childhood.

Keyword(s)

assessment tool music perception early childhood

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2021-09-17

Publisher

PsychArchives

Citation

Peretz, I., Bolduc, J., & Couvignou, M. (2021). Montreal Evaluation of Musical Abilities on tablet for 4 to 6-year-old children. PsychArchives. https://doi.org/10.23668/PSYCHARCHIVES.5112
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Peretz, Isabelle
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Bolduc, Jonathan
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Couvignou, Manon
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2021-09-17T20:13:22Z
  • Made available on
    2021-09-17T20:13:22Z
  • Date of first publication
    2021-09-17
  • Abstract / Description
    The present study introduces a novel tool — The Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Musical Abilities (MBEMA) on tablet — for assessing musical abilities in 4 to 6-year-old children. The battery contains three tests: melody discrimination, rhythm discrimination and memory recognition of unfamiliar tonal melodies. Each test comprises two examples followed by 12 trials and is presented in a different picturesque format for an average duration of 15 minutes. As of July 2021, the battery has been administered to 191 5-to-6-year-old children, of whom 181 were tested twice (89 three months apart; 92 eight months apart). The battery was sensitive to individual differences and music training, with the amount of music training predicting performance. Despite high interindividual variability, the three-month follow-up showed good test-retest reliability, with significant improvements from test to retest that may reflect a familiarization effect. Longitudinal follow-up after eight months also showed an increase in performance, which may reflect either a maturation effect or be related to literacy. Overall, the MBEMA on a tablet can serve as an objective, short and up-to-date test for assessing musical ability in early childhood.
    en
  • Publication status
    other
    en
  • Review status
    notReviewed
    en
  • Citation
    Peretz, I., Bolduc, J., & Couvignou, M. (2021). Montreal Evaluation of Musical Abilities on tablet for 4 to 6-year-old children. PsychArchives. https://doi.org/10.23668/PSYCHARCHIVES.5112
    en
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/4535
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.5112
  • Language of content
    eng
  • Publisher
    PsychArchives
    en
  • Keyword(s)
    assessment tool
    en
  • Keyword(s)
    music perception
    en
  • Keyword(s)
    early childhood
    en
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    150
  • Title
    Montreal Evaluation of Musical Abilities on tablet for 4 to 6-year-old children
    en
  • DRO type
    preprint
    en
  • Visible tag(s)
    assessment tool
    en
  • Visible tag(s)
    music perception
    en
  • Visible tag(s)
    early childhood
    en