Examining the Ability of the Children’s Music Behavior Inventory to Correctly Classify Children by Age

• In Event: Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: Current Issues in Music Teaching and Learning

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the Children’s Music Behavior Inventory (CMBI) by determining the extent to which it correctly classifies parents’ documentation of children’s music behaviors by age. Each subscale on thoroughly completed CMBIs (N = 576) was subjected to an exploratory factor analysis. Next, CMBI items with factor loadings of 0.4 or higher were used in a discriminant analysis. Discriminant functions based on adjusted CMBI subscales correctly classified 83% of the children overall; 91.3% of children older than 24 months; 76.9% of children younger than 12 months; and 49% of children 13-23 months. Vocalizations and Requests subscales were the primary variables for distinguishing between age groups. These findings support using CMBI to examine music behaviors by age.

Authors

• Wendy Hicks Valerio, University of South Carolina - Columbia

• Grant B. Morgan, Baylor University

• Alison Mist Reynolds, Temple University