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By Frank Simme
OUTLINE
Mozart Effect is not Efficient
STUDY #1 FINDINGS
Our proposed mechanisms for the enhancement of spatial reasoning by music include the following. (i) Listening to music helps 'organize' the cortical firing patterns so that they do not wash out for other pattern development functions, in particular, the right hemisphere processes of spatial-temporal task performance. (ii) Music acts as an 'exercise' for exciting and priming the common repertoire and sequential flow of the cortical firing patterns responsible for higher brain functions. (iii) The cortical symmetry operations among the inherent patterns are enhanced and facilitated by music (Rauscher 47).
12
10 8 Silence
Number Correct
Mixed Mozart
STUDY #2 FINDINGS
14 12 10 8 6 4 2
Number Correct
(Steele 367)
CONCLUSION OF STUDIES
The first experiment was promising considering that the Mozart Effect looked like Mozarts music had a significant effect on how well the students did on the spatial reasoning tests. What makes the Mozart Effect hard to believe is that when Kenneth Steele tried to replicate the same experiment, the results were extremely different making the Mozart Effect hard to rely on.
STUDY FINDINGS
The results of this study indicated no evidence of a Mozart effect in upper-primaryschool-age children. Children performed no differently on tests of spatiotemporal reasoning following passive exposure to Mozart, popular music, or silence (Crncec 9). This study along with many others (McKelvie; Steele) show, through their conducted studies, that the Mozart Effect does not stay consistent because of their contradicting results. Although there are many studies that show that the Mozart Effect does improve spatial reasoning, the fact that there are other studies that say otherwise shows that the Mozart Effect is inconsistent. Based on that idea, the Mozart Effect is not reliable.
The purpose of this study was to ascertain what relationship exists between the factor of intelligence and the ability to learn to read music (King 37). The study resulted in a finding that more musically informed students score higher than students that are less musically informed. The results obtained suggest strongly that there is a definite relationship between intelligence and the ability to read music. Poor music readers seem to test lower on the scale of intelligence than do good music readers (King 39). This study shows that the understanding of music can be directly correlated with intellect.
WORK CITED
Crncec, Rudi, Sarah Wilson, and Margot Prior. "No Evidence for the Mozart Effect in Children." University of California Press . 9-15. Print. Hallam, Susan. "The Power of Music: Its Impact on the Intellectual, Social and Personal Development of Children and Young People." International Journal of Music Education. 6-9. Print. King, Harry. "A Study of the Relationship of Music Reading and I.Q. Scores." Sage Publications . 36-39. Print.
McKelvie, Pippa, and Jason Low. "Listening to Mozart does not Improve Childrens Spatial Ability: Final Curtains for the Mozart Effect." . School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand . Print.
Rauscher, Frances. "Music Training Causes Long-Term Enhancement of Preschool Children's Spatial-Temporal Reasoning." Neurological Research . 46-7. Print. Steele, Kenneth, Karen Bass, and Melissa Crook. "The Mystery of the Mozart Effect: Failure to Replicate." Sage Publications . 2-4. Print.