Music Therapy Board Certification Exam
Questions and Answers
Music therapy - answer"The clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individual goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program" (AMTA, 2015).
Education for All Handicapped Children Act - answerPublic Law 94-142; passed in 1975
to call for mainstreaming of students with disabilities into public schools in the United States ("free and appropriate" education)
Individualized Education Program (IEP) - answerDeveloped in 1978 through IDEA to improve the education of students with disabilities who are qualified for special education in the United States; written plan that includes an assessment of the student's
strengths and limitations, concrete goals and objectives for education, a list of the people administering the program, related services, and methods for evaluation
American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) - answerThe national organization that represents the field of music therapy in the United States today; promotes awareness of
the profession, advances clinical and scientific knowledge in the field, and sets and maintains the standards of music therapy practice
Iso principle - answerThe concept that music should be chosen to initially match the mood state of a client and adjusted gradually to the desired mood state; described in Kircher's (1602-1680) theory of temperaments and affections, in the dissertation of Samuel Mathews in 1806, and by Esther Gatewood in 1920; termed in the 1940s by Ira Altshuler
National Association for Music Therapy - answerEstablished in 1950; first national organization to represent the field of music therapy; signaled the birth of the music therapy profession
American Association for Music Therapy - answerEstablished in 1971; originally called the Urban Federation for Music Therapists (UFMT); the second national organization that represented the field of music therapy; merged with the NAMT in 1998 to form the AMTA
Board Certification exam - answerEstablished in 1985 by the NAMT and the AAMT to increase the credibility of the field of music therapy; an exam taken by a music therapy student to measure his or her knowledge of music therapy principles and foundations, clinical theories and techniques, general knowledge about music, and professional roles
and responsibilities Sensorimotor - answerThe first stage of Piaget's theory of development that takes place
between the ages of zero and two; the child learns through his or her senses and motor movements
New musical activities: listening to lullabies, listening to speech and environmental sounds, being rocked, vocal play, babbling, and moving rhythmically to music
Infant-directed speech - answerAn innate speech tendency used with infants that is characterized as high in pitch, exaggerated in affect and speech contour, and drawn out
Preoperational - answerThe second stage in Piaget's theory of development that takes place between the ages of two and seven; the child's language and conceptual skills and interpersonal awareness increase
New musical activities: playing musical instruments, coordinating gross and fine motor movements to music, singing songs, improvising melodies, and participating in musical games
Parallel play - answerThe mode of playing during which two or more children engage in the same activity without interacting with each other
Beat competency - answerThe ability to follow and maintain a simple, steady beat
Concrete operations - answerThe third stage of Piaget's theory of development that takes place between the ages of 7 and 11; the child can think systematically and solve problems within his or her reality
New musical activities: learning and playing an instrument, reading musical notation, performing in an ensemble
Formal operations - answerThe fourth stage of Piaget's theory of development that takes place between the ages of 11 and adulthood; the child can think abstractly; new musical activities: composition
Elements of music - answerPitch, intensity, duration, and timbre
Functions of music - answerProposed by Alan Merriam in 1964; physical engagement, communication, emotional expression, aesthetic enjoyment, entertainment, integration of society, conformity to social norms, validation of social institutions and religious rituals, symbolic representation, and continuity and stability of culture
Tactile - answerReferring to the sense of touch
The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) - answerA music therapy approach created by Hellen Bonny that involves listening to classical music from a relaxed state and experiencing internal imagery while a music therapist provides verbal guiding interventions in order to expand self-awareness, enhance creativity, develop spirituality, and achieve a healthier state of being
Attention - answerThe act of attending to a stimulus of interest; this can be shifted, divided, or sustained
Perception - answerThe brain's way of processing information received through the senses; involves recognition, organization, synthesis, filtering, and meaning
Good Gestalts - answerAccording to Gestalt psychology, the principle that figures and patterns tend to be perceived in the most stable form as sensory input will allow; a whole
Memory - answerThe storage and retrieval of information in the brain
Retrieval - answerThe re-accessing of long-term memories stored in the brain
Encoding - answerThe storage of memories
Mnemonic device - answerA memory tool
Long-term memory - answerInformation that is rehearsed and stored in the brain and is accessible for a long period of time, sometimes throughout life
Safety valve function - answerThe use of music to express disapproval of a social reality
or deep-felt emotions
Extramusical associations - answerA thought, emotion, or sensation experienced in response to a sound that represents something nonmusical; e.g. linking a bell tone to the end of class
Cultural convention - answerA set of common standards or social norms in a group of people; e.g. in Western music, the dominant triad leads to the tonic triad
Referentialist philosophy - answerThe principle that music finds its meaning in the symbolic representation of nonmusical ideas or events
Iconicity - answerThe use of musical structures to represent a feeling, object, or event; i.e. word painting, tone painting, text depiction
Isomorphism - answerIn Gestalt psychology, the principle that there is a parallel between Gestalt perception of a pattern and the actual experience of the pattern structure in the brain; in music, the principle that the structural characteristics of music can mimic human emotions or behaviors Association through contiguity - answerThe connection between two events that occur in proximity; e.g. hearing a piece of music that stimulates memories of an event during which the piece was heard
Expressionism - answerThe philosophical concept that the elements of music itself enable music to elicit emotional responses and take on meaning
Optimal complexity theory - answerProposed by Berlyn in 1971; the belief that a balance of familiarity and complexity can elicit a pleasurable emotional response from music
Theory of expectations - answerProposed by Leonard Meyer; the belief that musical surprises elicit pleasurable emotional responses
Cue Redundancy model - answerA theory proposed by Balkwill and Thompson in 1999 that some musical cues are universal while other musical cues are culture specific
Intellectual disability - answerOriginally referred to as mental retardation; a developmental disability marked by decreased intellectual capacity and impaired adaptive behavior that manifests before age eighteen; causes are biomedical, environmental, and educational and can occur prenatally, perinatally, or postnatally; IQ is 70 or less
Down's Syndrome - answerA developmental disability caused by the genetic mutation trisomy 21, causing intellectual disability and physical abnormalities
Fetal alcohol syndrome - answerA disorder that is caused by alcohol consumption of the
mother during gestation, resulting in intellectual disabilities, attention problems, growth deficiencies, and/or facial deformities
Fragile X syndrome - answerA disorder that is caused by genetic mutation on the X chromosome, causing intellectual disability
Etiology - answerThe cause or origin of a condition
Meningitis - answerA disease that is caused by an infection of the spinal fluid, leading to
possible hearing problems or potential death
Encephalitis - answerThe swelling or infection of the brain
Genetic abnormalities - answerBroken, damaged, or missing genetic material, causing disability
Metabolic errors - answerConditions that prevent the body from successfully breaking down substances
