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PhD defense: Stine Derdau Sørensen

The title of the project is: How musical are children? A nationwide cross-sectional study of individual differences in musical competence and working memory in Danish school children.

22.10.2020 | Hella Kastbjerg

Dato tor 29 okt
Tid 14:00 16:30
Sted Online on Zoom

A new PhD project from Aarhus University, Health, in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Music, investigates musical activities, musical competence, and working memory in Danish school children from 5 to 20 years of age.

The project was carried out by Stine Derdau Sørensen, who is defending her dissertation on 29/10-2020.

A long tradition exists of measuring the 'musicality' of children which is most often based on the assumption that degree of aptitude for music differ. Today, studies of the individual differences in musical competence - i.e. the ability to perceive, remember and discriminate subtle deviants in melodies and rhythms - are primarily relevant for reseach. For instance, numerous studies investigate how music training may benefit children's development and cognitive functions, such as language acquisition and working memory. The PhD project investigates the relationships between musical activities, musical competence and working memory in a mass experiment involving several Danish schools. Furthermore, the project involves the development of a new musical ear test for children.

The title of the project is "How musical are children? A nationwide cross-sectional study of individual differences in musical competence and working memory in Danish school children".

The defence is public and takes place online on Zoom. If you want to join, please email hella.kastbjerg@clin.au.dk.

Assessment committee

Professor Morten Storm Overgaard (chairman). Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University 

Professor Frank Russo. Science of Music Auditory Research and Technology (SMART) Lab, Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
 
Associate Professor Martin Nørgaard. School of Music, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA

Contact

PhD student Stine Derdau Sørensen
Mail: stinederdau@clin.au.dk 
Tel.: (+45) 29445903

Ph.d.-forsvar, Forskning, Alle grupper, Musicinthebrain, Musicinthebrain, Arrangement