MacDonald, R., Byrne, C., & Carlton, L. (2006). Creativity and flow in musical composition: An empirical investigation. Psychology of Music, 34(3), 292–306. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735606064838
Former artistic director and reader of psychology at Glasgow Caledonian University Raymond Macdonald, Senior lecturer in the department of Creative and Aesthetic Studies at University of Strathclyde Charles Byrne and PHD student at Glasgow Caledonian University’s Psychology Department Lana Carlton, investigate Csikszentmihalyi’s concept on flow and its relationship with the quality of music composition and creativity. Undergraduate students in Byrnes Applied Music class were asked to complete a small group composing task that would then lead to a survey where students would assess their own concentration during the task, and each of the group’s outcomes were assessed on creativity and quality by music educators. The aspects to Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow that are focused on in this study included removing the worry of failure, providing clear goals each step of the way and providing a balance between the perceived challenge and the control the individual has in the duration of the task. I personally found this to be something of a contradiction considering that sometimes the worry of failure is the very thing that allows us to perceive a challenge as a challenge. I also think that the complex nature of the individual makes it incredibly difficult to assign the correct level of challenge to each individual student as to keep them engaged. The result of the study suggests positive outcomes to incorporating methods from Csikszentmihalyi’s flow theory, but I’m not completely certain that flow state was achieved by the students. By providing students with exciting and achievable challenges, they are going to motivated to improve, and by providing instant feedback on their work they are given the opportunity to improve their work more efficiently. I question whether all the students were able to enter a state of flow. By leaving it up to the individual to assess, they can only compare their concentration level compared to what they know, and flow state as the ultimate form of focus and concentration may not be familiar to some of the students. They conclude by reporting that higher levels of flow lead to higher quality compositions and higher levels of creativity.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorMy name is Daniel Ohm and this section will include my research into music theory, experimental ideas, Mixing techniques and lessons learned from creative forums and musical endeavors. Archives
September 2022
Categories |