When I was a teenager, my dad wasn't terribly interested in the music I liked. To him, it just sounded like "1 ", while he referred to the music he listened to as"2 ." As I've grown older, I'll often hear people of my age say things like "they just don't make3 music like they used to."
Luckily, my4 as a psychologist has given me some insights into this puzzle. We know that musical tastes begin to5 when we're teenagers. By the time we're in our early 20s, these tastes get locked into place pretty firmly.
In fact, studies have found that by the time we turn 33, most of us have6 listening to new music. Meanwhile, those familiar songs released when you're in your early teens are likely to remain quite7 among your age group for the rest of your life. There could be a biological8 for this. There's evidence that the brain's ability to make subtle distinctions between different chords, rhythms and melodies gets9 with age. So to older people, less10 songs might all "sound the same".
But I believe there are some simpler11 for older people's dislike of newer music-the "mere exposure effect". It means that the more we're12 to something, the more we tend to like it.
Psychology research has shown that the emotions that we 13 as teens seem more intense than those that come later. We also know that intense emotions are 14 with stronger memories and preferences. All of this might explain why the songs we listen to during this period become so memorable and beloved.
So there's15 wrong with your parents because they don't like your music. In a way, it's all part of the natural order of things.
