This cross-cultural, experimental research aims to explore music-evoked nostalgia in relation to (1) prosocial behavior, (b) emotional responses, and (3) autobiographical memories among college students in the U.S. and Mexico. Beginning in January 2020, 140 undergraduate students at UC Riverside, along with 99 students in the Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores (ENES), The National Autonomous University in Mexico, voluntarily took part in a one-on-one experiment. Originally conducted in person at EARS (n = 55), the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic forced the experiment to go online before it resumed in August 2020. An additional 85 students from UC Riverside along with all participating students in Mexico completed the online version and data collection was completed in February 2021. Data is being analyzed in collaboration with the EARS Research Group.
This is a collaboration between EARS at UC Riverside and Centro Mexicano para la Música y las Artes Sonoras (CMMAS) in Morelia, Mexico, through a collaborative grant UC MEXUS-Conact (PI: Dr. Paulo C. Chagas).
Part of the study findings were presented at the following international conferences/symposiums/events:
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Chagas, P. C., Cho, E., Graham, O. J., Barreto, E., Morales, G. G., & Hwang, Y. J. (October 2021). 'Music-evoked nostalgia: Affect, behavior, and memory' Florence Bayz Music Series – Wednesday@Noon, UCR Department of Music.
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Cho, E. (September 2021). 'Music-evoked nostalgia: What is it and what does it do to us?' The 17th Visiones Sonoras, Morales, Mexico (virtual).
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Cho, E., Chagas, P. C., Morales, G. G. (September 2021). 'Music-evoked autobiographical memories of a young adult cohort: What can they tell music educators?' The 13th Asia-Pacific Symposium for Music Education and Research, Tokyo, Japan (virtual).
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Cho, E. & Hwang, Y. J. (September 2021). 'Music-evoked nostalgia: A recent craze of an old K-pop vocal group in South Korea'. International Conference of CIPEM/INET-md. Porto, Portugal (virtual).
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Barreto, E., Cho, E., & Chagas, P. C. (September 2021). 'Nostalgia evocada por música: respostas emocionais de ouvintes a repertório musical auto selecionado'. International Conference of CIPEM/INET-md. Porto, Portugal (virtual).
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Hwang, Y. J. & Morales, G. G. (September 2021). 'The meaning of music in young adults' autobiographical memories. Conference of CIPEM/INET-md. Porto, Portugal (virtual).
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Cho, E., Duarte-García, M. A., Sigal-Sefchovich, J. R., & Chagas, P. C. (July 2021). 'Music-evoked nostalgia and prosocial behavior: A cross-sectional study in the United States and Mexico'. The 16th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, Sheffield, UK (virtual)
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Cho, E., Chagas, P. C., & Graham, O. J. (July 2021). 'Music-evoked autobiographical memories and nostalgia: A study of a young adult cohort'. The 16th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, Sheffield, UK (virtual)
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Cho, E. & Chagas, P. C. (September 2020). 'Music-evoked nostalgia and prosocial behavior'. Affect, Personality, and Embodied Brain 2020 Conference, Mottingham, UK (virtual)
This study examines the short-term beneficial effects of music listening on psychological and behavioral parameters in young children (aged 0 to 5 years) using a modified version of the Experience Sampling Method. Extensive literature has shown a wide array of effects of music listening on the human body, mind, and mood. Based on the rich evidence of the power of music listening, this study looks at how children’s moods and behaviors are altered when parents strategically design the home sonic environment. This study is a collaborative work with Dr. Beatriz Ilari, an Associate Professor of Music Teaching and Learning at University of Southern California. The pilot study was completed in 2020 and published in Frontiers in Psychology. A follow-up study was conducted in October 2021, in partnership with Music Together®, with 1,911 families in the U.S. and Canada, and data analysis is underway.
Cho, E., & Ilari, B. (2021). Mothers as home DJs: Recorded music and young children's well-being during the Covid-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 637569. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.637569
Part of the study findings from the follow-up study have been presented at the following conferences:
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Cho, E., Pujol-Rovira, L., & Ilari, B. (June 2022). 'Effects of music listening on young children's psychological well-being'. The 16th International Research Symposium on Talent Education (virtual).
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Cho, E., Pujol-Rovira, L., & Ilari, B. (July 2022). 'Parents as Home DJs: Strategic use of music and young children's psychological well-being'. The 35th International Society for Music Education Conference (virtual).
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Cho, E., Pujol-Rovira, L., & Ilari, B. (August 2022). 'Parents as Home DJs: Effects of music listening on young children's psychological well-being'. Society for Music Perception and Cognition 2022 Conference. Portland, OR.
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Cho, E., Pujol-Rovira, L., & Ilari, B. (November 2022). 'Parents as Home DJs: Strategic use of music and young children's psychological well-being'. The 2022 National Association for Music Education National Conference. National Harbor, MD.