The effects of music therapy activities on social skills of junior high school students with moderate to severe mental retardation

• Main Authors: Hung, Se-li, 洪瑟勵
• Other Authors: Yao, Shey-Tzer
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2000
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/00693597264098161182

碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 音樂研究所 === 88 === Abstract The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of music therapy activities on social skills of junior high school students with moderate to severe mental retardation. The social skills include communication and expression, participation, and cooperation. First, the theoretical basis of music therapy was discussed through literature review and analysis. Next, the three sets of social skills were defined to target the experiment test group. Music therapy activities and teaching materials were designed according to the theories methods of music therapy, and experiments were conducted. The study is based on multiple baseline design across behaviors of single case experimental designs. The experimental subjects consist of 4 students with moderate to severe mental retardation of Gin-Hwa junior high school in Taipei. After sixteen sessions conducted over eight weeks, the results indicated: 1. Music therapy activities could improve the communication and expression abilities of students with mental retardation. 2. Music therapy activities could increase the desire to participate of students with mental retardation. 3. Music therapy activities could alter the cooperative behavior of students with mental retardation. 4. Antiphonal singing and rhythm call-and–response activities could improve the expression and communication abilities. 5. Eurhythmics and music games could increase their desire to participate. 6. The active group activities could alter the cooperative behavior. Results of this study on the mentally retarded were discussed and future research were also suggested. Key Words: Music Therapy Activities, Moderate to Severe Mental Retardation, Social Skills.