The purpose of this study was to compare children's ability to perceive form in patterned art music after listening to music under one of two conditions: map-reading versus perceptual-motor performance. Twenty-nine upper-elementary children from a private school in a midwestem city in America participated in the study, with 15 children in the map-reading group and 14 in the perceptual-motor group. Map-reading children scored a mean of 6.80 (SD = 2.96) out of a possible 12 points on the Form Perception test; children from the perceptual-motor performance condition scored a mean of 9.93 (SD = 1.54). A Mann-Whitney test on Form Perception scores by group yielded U = 175.5, p < .01. Children in the perceptual-motor group, who mirrored the teacher in performance of kinesthetic analogues while listening to patterned art music and who assembled a visual listening map, were significantly better at perception of the form in patterned art music. A regression of Form Perception scores on Age (y = − 5.01 + 0.10x) was significant, F (1, 13) = 8.14, p < .05, for the map-reading group. That is, Form Perception scores for younger children in the map-reading group were lower than those for older children. Whereas the sign of the slope was also positive for the perceptual-motor group (y = 4.96 + 0.04x), the relationship of Form Perception scores to Age was not significant, F (1, 12) = 3.30, n.s. The significant effect of Age in the map-reading group suggests that merely reading the listening map may not be sufficient for perception of form in younger children. Children who are still developing reading and memory skills may benefit from perceptual-motor involvement during music listening.
