The Mozart effect is a phenomena whereby listening to ten minutes of Mozart’s music, a person’s spatial IQ is boosted by 8-9 points (on the Stanford-Binet IQ Scale), in comparison to listening to ten minutes of a relaxation tape or silence (Rauscher, Shaw and Ky, 1993). This literature review critically assesses the key works and concepts concerning the Mozart effect, specifically its methodologies, its limits, and finally, alternative theories. While some academics argue that ‘listening to Mozart makes babies smarter’ is a valid claim (___,__;____,__), others denounce it (___,__;___,__). While the Mozart effect does show temporarily increased spatial IQ, it does not support the claim that ‘listening to Mozart makes babies smarter’. When the term ‘smarter’ is used throughout this literature review, it refers to the overall cognitive function of the person, not just a specific domain (such as spatial reasoning). Similarly, when the term ‘babies’ is used, it refers to infants in the early developmental stages. A wide range of sources, such as journal articles, research papers, and a meta-analysis, will be critically reviewed to provide support for the claim that listening to Mozart does not make babies smarter.
Only Tested on Babies
The majority of researchers and theorists that have published work regarding the Mozart effect hold one of two views: that it increases spatial IQ, or that it doesn’t. There are copious amounts of arguments as to why or why not Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky’s original 1993 study showed that listening to Mozart makes babies smarter, but the research claim falls down in several areas. Foremost, the studies that have been conducted over the years have been tested on a range of age groups: adults (Daniels, Henley...
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5. Pietsching, J., Voracek, M., & Formann, A.K. (2010). Mozart effect-Shmozart effect: A meta-analysis. Intelligence, 38(1), 314-323.
6. Leech, C. Musical Opinion. 2006. 130(1): 20. ‘The Mozart effect: Who needs it?’
7. Thompson, W.F., Schellenberg, G.E., & Husain G. (2001), Arousal, mood, and the Mozart effect. Psychological Science, 12(3), 248-251.
8. Hui, K. (2006). Mozart effect in preschool children? Early Childhood Development and Care, 176(3-4), 411-419.
9. Noonan, P. (2007). Tempo, arousal and the underlying mechanisms of the Mozart effect. (Masters Dissertation). Available from Proquest Dissertations and Theses database. http://search.proquest.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/881641564
10. Nantais, K. M. & Schellenberg, E. G. (1999). The Mozart Effect: An artefact of preference. Psychological Science, 10(4), 370-373.
...ether or not the Mozart effect could be applied to them in a school setting. Positively, it was shown that the children scored higher on a spatial ability task of paper folding after listening to Mozart, although the results, just like every other study concluded, seemed to last only for the duration of the test which was around 10-15 minutes. One must also keep in mind that many tests never endeavoured to delve into whether or not the results could be reproduced later without the need of Mozart’s sonata.
... al. (2006) and Jones et al. (2007) then state that the Mozart effect solely improves spatial intelligence, hence with regards to Gardner’s (1999) theory of multiple intelligences, is ineffective in developing intelligence as a whole. Furthermore, Rauscher et al (1993) and Thompson et al. (2001) present research that displays only temporary increases in spatial intelligence, therefore demonstrating research is unable to support long term intellectual developments. Additionally, the study of Luby et al. (2011) displays the necessity to consider other factors that result in increases in intelligence such as parental support, in providing long term results. Therefore, examination of these pieces of literature suggests that there is limited evidence in supporting the Mozart effect in babies, and as enhancing intelligence as a whole long term, thus disproving the claim.
Three aspects of this topic will be discussed throughout this report to analyse why the Mozart Effect is being misrepresented. The difference between music listening and music instruction will be examined, as well as the different methodologies used in literature, and an alternate explanation for why a temporary increase in IQ ...
The past research about the effect of music on the brain is called the Mozart Effect. The Mozart Effect refers to claims that people perform better on tests of spatial abilities after listening to music composed by Mozart. This experience examined whether the Mozart effect is a result of differences in stimulation and temper. (William Forde Thompson, E. Glenn Schellenberg and Gabriela Husain, 2001). A research was made by Dr.Gordon Shaw at UCI and Fran Rauscher about this Mozart effect. The experience is to use college students who listened to Mozart’s symphonies while they are solving a spatial temporal task. This task is a famous one: the paper folding and cutting test. The results were astonishing. In fact, all the students recorded impressi...
Parncutt, Richard, and Gary E. McPherson. The Science and Psychology of Music Performance. New York: Oxford, 2002. Print.
As Bob Marley once said, “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” Studies shown that classical music, specifically Mozart, help you engage in your studies better and as a result showed high test scores according to a test scientist at Stanford University held. Did you ever imagine how powerful a piece that was composed in the 1780’s could be?
Schlaug, Gottfried, Andrea Norton, Kate Overy, and Ellen Winner. Effects of Music Training on the Child’s Brain. The Musician's Brain. New York Academy Of Sciences, 2005. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. .
The idea of the Mozart effect began in 1993 with a study conducted by Rauscher, Shaw & Ky. This study involved 36 university students taking three different IQ spatial reasoning tasks and for each test used either Mozart’s sonata for two pianos in D major and relaxation music was played, silence was also used. The results of this experiment showed that students who had listened to the music of Mozart had better results for the spacial reasoning tests in comparison to silence or relaxation music. The results also showed that the impact of Mozart’s music was only temporary and only lasted for 10-15 minutes. Overall this study was very basic and had numerous flaws such as the sample size and also the variety of tests used to look at the impact of music (Rauscher, Shaw & Ky, 1993). In 1997 Don Campbell’s book The Mozart effect popularised the claim that music makes children smarter. This book created a public interest in music and brain development. The book uses Rauscher’s experiment as an example of what Mozart’s music can do which in this experiment shows a temporary increase in spatial reasoning, this however was misinterpreted by the public as an increase in IQ. The popularisation of the...
Scientists and skeptics have different beliefs about the benefits of the Mozart Effect. Scientists found that Mozart “enhanced synchrony between the neural activity in the right frontal and left tempoparietal cortical areas of the brain,” and that this effect continued for “over 12 minutes” (Rauscher & Shaw, 1998, p. 839). Based on these results, Leng and Shaw speculated that “listening to Mozart could be stimulating the neural firing patterns in the parts of the cerebral cortex responsible for spatial-temporal skills, which subsequently enhances the spatial-temporal abilities that are housed in those parts of the cortex”[Dowd]. However nonbelievers suggest that the research is incomplete and misleading. The Irvine study that launched the phenomenon has been widely criticized. The Startling results announced by the initial paper were misleading. First, the researchers claimed that the undergraduates improved on all three spatial-reasoning tests. But as Shaw later clarified, the only enhancement came from one task—paper folding and cutting. Further, the researchers presented the data in the form...
Vaidya, Geetanjali. "Music, Emotion and the Brain." Serendip. N.p., 2004. Web. 7 Jan 2012. .
The first theoretical statement of the middle-range MMM theory is that music produces the psychological response of altered mood leading to improved health outcomes (Murrock & Higgins, 2009). Based on the musical elements of rhythm, melody, pitch, harmony, and interval there are psychological responses that are elicited once music passes through the auditory cortex of the brain to process it (Murrock & Higgins, 2009). The right hemisphere of the brain helps with response and cognitive recognition of music and in turn is able to alter the mood, leading to various health outcomes (Murrock & Higgins, 2009). In a stu...
Campbell, D. G. (1997). The Mozart effect: tapping the power of music to heal the body, strengthen the mind, and unlock the creative spirit. New York: Avon Books.
"The Mozart Effect." Index Page - PositiveHealth.com - United Kingdom. Web. 24 Feb. 2010. .
Cooper, Belle. " How Music Affects and Benefits Your Brain."lifehacker.come. N.p., 11 22 2013. Web. 3
Weinberger, Norman M. “Music and the Brain.” Scientific American Special Edition 16.3 (2006): 36-43. Health Source- Consumer Edition. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.