Matching 'The Carnival of the Animals' to Drawings with Children 6-9 years Old in England, Japan, Korea, Spain and the United States

Abstract

This research study investigated how accurately children could match eight animal drawings to corresponding excerpts of Saint-Saens' 'The Carnival of the Animals'. With no instruction concerning the composer's intentions. 660 children listened for 12 minutes and marked their responses with pencils on paper forms. Subjects were 6-9 year olds from England, Japan, Korea, Spain, and the United States. Results indicated that subjects attained a mean correct response of 40% in matching animal drawings to musical excerpts without instruction. Scores across five nationalities ranged from 21%-55% in accuracy. Older subjects responded more accurately than younger ones. Music describing the swan and lion were more easily matched than that of the kangaroo, fish, and donkey. Tempo and timbre did not influence matching. Excerpts 90 seconds or longer were related to more accurate matches than excerpts less than 75 seconds. Replication with university students showed that adults could perform the matching task with 60% accuracy. In another replication when seven year olds were taught the composer's intended associations, matching ability improved from 42% to 60%. Findings imply that children perceive less than 50% of a composer's intentions, and music educators can make a significant difference in what children learn to hear.