Measuring musicality in childhood

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• Franziska Degé (Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics)
• Tuesday 25 November 2025, 17:00-18:00
• CMS computer room, Faculty of Music (11 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DP).

If you have a question about this talk, please contact jbf43.

Abstract

Musicality in children is inherently rich and diverse. However, it is often reduced to receptive abilities and its structure and measurement remain debated. In this talk, I will first discuss the structure of musicality and outline what could be key components. I will then review how musicality has been measured in children to date, drawing on findings from a systematic review of existing assessment tasks. Building on our recent research on the underlying structure of musicality, I will propose a refined measurement framework that captures relevant tasks to assess musicality in children comprehensively. Finally, I will introduce a new test battery designed according to this framework and present preliminary findings from its initial validation. Together, these results aim to advance a more integrated understanding of musicality in childhood and provide a foundation for standardized assessment in future developmental and educational research.

Biography

Franziska Degé studied psychology and received her PhD from the Justus-Liebig-University Giessen. Currently she is leading the Musical Development Unit at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt, Germany. Her research focuses on musical development and on the effects of music lessons on cognitive development.

Zoom link

https://zoom.us/j/99433440421?pwd=ZWxCQXFZclRtbjNXa0s2K1Q2REVPZz09 (Meeting ID: 994 3344 0421; Passcode: 714277)

This talk is part of the CMS seminar series in the Faculty of Music series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• CMS computer room, Faculty of Music (11 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DP)
• CMS seminar series in the Faculty of Music

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