Re: [AUDITORY] Natural experiment example needed

[Douglas Scott <jdmusictuition@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi David

What comes to mind immediately is the drop-off in live and community music making in the period. I would surmise that there would have been a big spike in headphone sales, especially as people increasingly cut the cable and move to individual streaming services.

I think it was a general trend that people moved away from shared experiences to curated individualized experiences, very much in the same way as social media does in other spheres.

One analogue I can think of is between someone who learns music from a score in a practice room versus someone who learns as part of a cast of a big production, and all the gradations between.

Doug

On Sat, 5 Apr 2025 at 00:35, Huron, David <000003d54289e601-dmarc-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In teaching research methods to music-psychology students, for years I have illustrated a "natural experiment" by discussing how shutting down air traffic in the aftermath of 9/11 allowed climate scientists to determine the effect of aircraft vapor trails on earth's overall temperature. (Do vapor trails cool the earth by blocking sunlight, or is the net effect to warm the earth by blocking reflected surface heat from radiating into space?)

I'd like to have an updated example, preferably something we learned about music or hearing arising from Covid isolation -- something students could better relate to.

Any suggestions?

Cheers,

David Huron