The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of positive peer reinforcement on self-reported psychological measures and songleading performance in beginning guitar students. No differences were found between the control group (n = 21) and the experimental group (n = 20) concerning psychological measures of self-esteem, stress, and depression. However, the experimental group receiving positive peer reinforcement performed significantly better on a measure of guitar songleading performance than did the control group (p < .001). These results suggest that using positive peer reinforcement in a university music methods class can be an effective technique to improve performance but may not affect psychological well-being.
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