Preview

Mozart Effect

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2877 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Mozart Effect
The Effect of Mozart on Spatial Ability

Alyssa Oldham

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College

Psychology 100.01

November 20, 2010

Dr. Barbara Mitchell

Abstract

Since 1993, when the Mozart effect was first introduced, people have been asking, does listening to Mozart truly improve my spatial ability? Should I play Mozart for my children? Should I listen to Mozart if I’m pregnant? The answer to each of these questions, is no. Seventeen years ago Rauscher, Shaw and Ky (1993) tested the idea that listening to Mozart increased spatial IQ, and their findings supported this. Since then, hundreds of studies for further testing on the hypothesis have been completed, all turning up negative for a Mozart effect.
The Effect of Mozart on Spatial Ability Researchers, Frances H. Rauscher, Gordon L. Shaw, and Katherine N. Ky (1993), formed a hypothesis; that hypothesis was that listening to Mozart would increase visual-spatial intelligence IQ. Visual-spatial intelligence IQ is understood to be the ability to “think in pictures and need to create vivid mental images to retain information” (Gardner, 2003). Since then the topic has been very controversial. People, especially expectant mothers, are all wondering, is it true? Since the original experiment in 1993, hundreds of studies have been conducted to either try to reinforce the idea, or disprove it. Although some researchers have tried to back up the Mozart effect, most have failed. Very few have been able to successfully replicate Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky’s (1993) experiment and obtain similar data. Several hypotheses have been formed to predict why the results are so contradicting. The most commonly excepted is the idea that spatial task results are based on musical preference. Many doubts arise when it comes to the belief that listening to Mozart will increase visual and spatial intelligence, commonly referred to as the Mozart effect. The following paper disputes the



References: Cassity, H. D., Henley, T. B., & Markley, R. P. (2007). The Mozart Effect: Muscial Phenomenon or Muscial Preference? A More Ecologically Valid Reconsideration. Texas A&M University, Department of Psychology and Special Education, Commerce. Gardner, H. (2003, January 17). A Definition of Intelligence. Retrieved November 19, 2010, from City College of San Francisco: hhtp://www.ccsf.edu/Resource/VOICE/instructorlessonplans/personaldevelo/multintelligence/definitionabe.pdf McKelvie, P., & Low, J. (2002). Listening to Mozart does not improve children 's spatial ability:Final curtains for the Mozart effect. Victoria University of Wellington, School of Psychology. Wellington: The British Psychology Society. Nantais, K. M., & Schellenberg, G. E. (1999). THE MOZART EFFECT: An Artifact of Preference. University of Windsor, University of Toronto, Department of Psychology. Windsor, Mississauga: American Psychological Society. Rauscher, F. H., Shaw, G. L., & Ky, K. N. (1993). Music and spatail task performance. University of California, Center for the Meurobiology of Learning and Memory, Irvine. Standing, L. G., Verpaelst, C. C., & Ulmer, B. K. (2008). A Demonstration of Nonlinear Demand Characteristics in the 'Mozart Effect ' Experimental Paradigm. Bishop 's University, Department of Psychology. Sherbrooke PQ: North American Journal of Psychology. Steele, K. M., Bass, K. E., & Crook, M. D. (1999). THE MYSTERY OF THE MOZART EFFECT: Failure to Replicate. Appalachian State University, Department of Psychology. Boone: American Psychological Society.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Walters, Lawrence. How Music Produces Its Effects On The Brain and Mind. New York, 2006.…

    • 2009 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sacks, Oliver W. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007. Print.…

    • 3114 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    "Music and the Mind." NAfME - National Association for Music Education - . Web. 20 Nov. 2011.…

    • 2528 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Cooper, B. (2013, November 20). 8 Surprising Ways Music Affects the Brain. Retrieved February 6, 2015, from https://blog.bufferapp.com/music-and-the-brain…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The conclusions—the premotor cortex is more involved in processing music than was thought—are based on the authors’ interpretations of the data they collected from string instrumentalists and pianists during the study. Although the authors offered different possible interpretations of the data collected, they were able to incorporate some of the other interpretations into their conclusion. This fact demonstrates the open–endedness of the data collected and the authors’ open minds to other…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Mozart Effect Ia

    • 3411 Words
    • 14 Pages

    This experiment was an alteration of Elizabeth Rauscher’s 1993 study on the Mozart effect. Instead of testing spatial ability, this experiment aimed to determine the effect of classical music on recalling, for the purpose of improving studying methods. We hypothesized that exposure to classical music during the encoding stage would have a significant, positive effect on recall.…

    • 3411 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Radocy, R. E., & Boyle, J. D. (1988). Psychological foundations of musical behavior (2nd ed.). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.…

    • 5755 Words
    • 24 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Music Test Score Paper

    • 2181 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Although many research findings can be confusing or contradictory (Yehuda, 2011), it has been shown many ways and in many times that music affects the brain psychologically. Elliot, Polman, & McGregor (2011) found that music only has the desired psychological effect 50% of the time. Musical activity requires the use of most regions of your brain and almost every neural subsystem (Levitin, 2006). Hoffman & Lamme (1989) found that it is more helpful to learn with music and information is picked up more easily by the brain. Most times when background music is playing, people hear, but do not listen (Jourdaid, 1997). It is also shown by Jourdaid (1997) that while we hear with our brain stems, we listen with our cerebral cortex. When music is put in the background and we only hear it, the brain doesn’t meet or overcome new perceptual challenges, therefore nothing new is learned (Jourdaid, 1997).…

    • 2181 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Psychology Myths

    • 1765 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In 1993, a study was published showing that college students who listened to 10 minutes of Mozart sonatas performed much better on spatial reasoning tasks then the students who did not listen. Soon after, this study was blown out of proportion, and the Mozart Effect was born. The Mozart Effect is the claim that people became more intelligent upon listening to Mozart’s music. It has even gotten to the point where the New York Jets played Mozart during practice to enhance their performance, and newborns in Georgia received free copies of Mozart CDs to increase intelligence. But research done on the Mozart Effect after the…

    • 1765 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Music And Brain

    • 682 Words
    • 3 Pages

    As an aspiring composer, I will be in perpetual connection with music for the following years and will continue to practice good uses of music. The current research studies on music and the brain has certainly displayed a lot of positive potential for the cognitive process of the brain. However, there are still many affecting factors that has to be considered to produce more accurate results. For example, the duration of music training, age when music training started and type of music training enrolled…

    • 682 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Life of Mozart Essay Example

    • 2928 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Without a doubt, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart born January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, was probably the greatest genius in Western musical history His father was a noted composer, pedagogue and author of a famous treatise on violin playing. Together with his sister Nannerl, Wolfgang received very intense training that by the age of six, he was a budding composer and accomplished musician. In 1762, his father presented his son as a performer to the imperial court in Vienna, and from 1763 to 1766, he took both children on a musical tour across Europe ( Crane Arizona Opera ). Wolfgang became the most celebrated child prodigy of his time as a keyboard performer with a great impression too, as a composer and improviser. Wolfgang adapted quickly to the high lifestyle through engagements with the French and English royal families, playing before the Bavarian elector and Austrian empress, to winning the admiration of so eminent a musicians as Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782). In 1766-1773, Wolfgang made three visits to Italy, and spent time in Vienna and Salzburg.…

    • 2928 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    – David Hubel was asked whether he had any interest other than his specialty, his…

    • 1351 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    For many people, music training typically commences at an early age, when the brain is most sensitive to environmental input. Playing a musical instrument entails the acquisition and maintenance a wide range of skills, such as reading complex musical notes, coordinating hands and eyes movement, and memorizing long musical pieces. As a result, music training can boost one’s attention, memory, and executive functions. Previous research has demonstrated that intense musical training can result in plastic changes in the developing brain as well as the adult brain (Wan & Schlaug, 2010)…

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Rauscher, F.H., Shaw, G. L., & Katherine, N. (1993). Music and Spatial task performance. Nature, 365, 611.…

    • 2507 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Revesz, G. Introduction to the psychology of music. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1954. Print.…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays