'Mozart Effect’ Dispelled: Music Study Does Not Make Children Smarter
Baku, December 12 (AZERTAC). A new study dispels the notion cherished among certain classes of Americans that music improves a child’s intelligence. Contrary to overwhelming opinion, those called to sophomore chorus — or to share their divine talent “unplugged” before a campfire — may surely benefit from improved focus and discipline, aspects of intelligence, some believe. But no effect on cognitive ability was found among children studied this year by a group of Harvard researchers.
"More than 80 percent of American adults think that music improves children's grades or intelligence, investigator Samuel Mehr said on Wednesday. ”Even in the scientific community, there's a general belief that music is important for these extrinsic reasons — but there is very little evidence supporting the idea that music classes enhance children's cognitive development." To this point, only a few dozen studies have examined the purported mental benefits of studying music, and only five used randomized controlled studies, studies designed to isolate causal effects. Of those five, only one showed a clearly positive effect — but conferred an intelligence quotient bump of only 2.7 points, barely discernible in a statistical sense.
The Mozart effect rose to cultural prominence in 1993 when researchers at the University of California, Irvine found a temporary boost to spatial-reasoning capacity among children who’d listened to selections of classical music. Although lasting no more than 15 minutes or so, the effect was touted as a sustainable boost to general intelligence, with Georgia Governor Zell Miller in 1998 promising more than $100,000 in funding per year to provide every child in the state with a recording of classical music.
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