The impact of gadget and internet addiction on music perception of contemporary art school students

The research investigates the relationship between the psychological characteristics of the personality of modern music students in art schools (depending on the degree of their Internet and gadget addiction) and the needs and motives of mastering musical art which are the basis of professional performing techniques. The emphasis is placed on the request of parents to educational cultural institutions when making decisions about teaching music to their child. Based on a survey of 56 art schools’ teachers (whose work experience is at least 20 years), the authors describe the psychological and educational characteristics of two types of students: a student of the period prior to the advent of the mobile phone and a modern student daily interacting with gadgets. It is hypothesized that addictive forms of behavior among music students (Internet, gadget, and game addiction) are associated with parental feelings about them, the peculiarities of their perception by parents, and behavioral stereotypes about them. An empirical study involved 40 art schools’ students aged 12-17. Psychodiagnostic techniques and statistical methods were used for data processing. The survey was conducted to determine the amount of adolescents’ time to listen to music on headphones and be in a situation of non-creative activity (outdoors, in transport, at home). Four timescales were offered: less than an hour, 1-3 hours, 3-6 hours, 6+ hours. The study reveals that adolescents feel the need to perceive music as a psychological impact that takes the consciousness beyond ordinary perception for the necessary enrichment of the sound space of a person, its inner modification (movement). They consider that music is a developing acoustic event containing all sorts of natural and artificial sounds and rhythms, changes in playback speed.