The Mozart Effect phenomenon or phony

							The Mozart Effect: Fact or
       Fallacy?




            Taeko M. Frost
What is the Mozart effect?


   “… the increase in brain development that
    occurs in children under age 3 when they
    listen to the music of Wolfgang Amadeus
    Mozart…” – Alfred A. Tomatis

   Improvements: health & medicine, spatio-
    temporal reasoning & IQ
                    In the Media

   The Mozart effect has been a popular topic in
    print and broadcast media

    –   Parenting

    –   Education

    –   Music publications
     Origin of Research on the Mozart
                  Effect


   Frances Rauscher & Gordon Shaw of The
    University of California at Irvine
              Areas of Interest


   Brain development

   Health benefits

   Intelligence enhancement
            Brain Development

   Preliminary research based on the trion
    model of the cerebral cortex

   Research hypothesized that listening to
    Mozart “warms-up” neural transmitters in the
    cerebral cortex (Rauscher et al., 1993)
                Brain Development

   Increased EEG coherence (Rauscher, Shaw & Ky 1995)

   Increased correlation of neurophysiologic activity in the
    temporal and left-frontal cortexes (Sarnthein et al., 1997)

   Increased spatio-temporal ability after piano lessons (Rideout et
    al., 1996)

   Changes in amplitude of alpha rhythm and increased inter-
    hemispheric coherence (Rauscher, 1997)
            Brain Development

   The increases in spatio-temporal ability is
    due to the arousal from listening to the music
    (Steele, 2000; Thompson, Schellenberg &
    Husain, 2001)

   Increase in performance ability may be due
    to personal preference (Nantais &
    Schellenberg, 1999)
                    Health Benefits

   Don Campbell  leading Mozart Effect enthusiast
    –   “The Mozart Effect : Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the
        Body, Strengthen the Mind and Unlock the Creative Spirit”
    –   Personal testimonials
    –   Merchandise


   Zell Miller, Governor of Georgia
    –   Designated money to provide all newborns with Mozart
        CD’s (Sack, 1998)
               Health Benefits


   If listening to Mozart’s music provides
    possible health benefits, why was Mozart
    himself so frequently ill?

   Based on anecdotal evidence
Studies supporting the existence
    of the Mozart effect
                 Spatial Ability


   Spatial ability is the ability to reason about
    visual scenes and is a basic dimension of
    human intelligence, clearly separate from
    verbal intelligence or general reasoning
    ability…
         Intelligence Enhancement

   1993: Rauscher, Shaw and Ky conducted the
    first experiment to test the Mozart Effect
    –   36 undergraduate students
    –   Paper folding and cutting task
    –   Increased spatial ability after 10-15 minutes
    –   8-9 point increase in IQ using the Stanford Binet
Results
         Intelligence Enhancement

   1995: Rauscher, Shaw and Ky reproduced
    the effect
    –   79 undergraduate students
    –   3 groups
            Mozart
            Phillip Glass
            Silence
    –   The Mozart group was the only group to show
        enhanced IQ scores
Studies contradicting the existence of
          the Mozart effect
             Intelligence Enhancement

   1995: Rauscher, Shaw and Ky conducted a
    further experiment to test the Mozart Effect
    –   28 undergraduate students
    –   Paper folding and cutting task
    –   Mozart Sonata for 2 pianos D Major vs. Listening
        to a story read aloud
    –   No difference indicated personal preference
         Intelligence Enhancement

   1993: Rauscher and Shaw conducted an
    experiment comparing Mozart and Pop
    music
    –   55 children (age 11-13)
    –   Mozart Sonata for Two Pianos in D major vs. Pop
    –   No main effect for music or test performance
          Intelligence Enhancement

   1997: Steele, Ball and Ruck conducted a study that
    contradicted the presence of the Mozart effect
    –   36 students
    –   3 groups
            Mozart
            Rainfall
            Silence
    –   Digit span task
    –   No difference in the conditions
         Intelligence Enhancement

   Lois Hetland of the Harvard Graduate School
    of Education
   Attempted to replicate the Mozart effect
    –   1014 students
    –   3 groups
    –   Mozart group performed better
            Could be explained by chance
            Gender, musical tastes and training, innate spatial
             ability, and cultural background
Meta-analysis of 16 studies
       Intelligence Enhancement

   A meta-analysis of 16 studies carried out by
    Rauscher & colleagues concluded that IQ is
    enhanced by an average of 1.4 general
    points as measured using the Stanford-Binet
    IQ test (Chabris, 1999)
        Intelligence Enhancement

   Further analysis found that when spatial
    intelligence is assessed, there is a 2.1
    increase in IQ (Chabris, 1999)

   This suggest that listening to Mozart
    increases spatial ability, NOT intelligence
       Intelligence Enhancement

   “Any cognitive enhancement is small and
    does not reflect any change in IQ or
    reasoning ability in general, but instead
    derives entirely from performance on one
    specific type of cognitive task and has a
    simple neuropsychological explanation…”
                          -Chabris, 1999
               Further questions

   There has been no study to date examining
    intelligence in infants and young children
    –   Youngest group examined mean age was 11
        years old (McKelvie & Low, 2002)


   Should the previous studies be considered
    occurrence of the “Mozart effect” by the
    definition of Tomatis?
             Further questions

   There has not been a study, to date, that
    has asked for demographics (e.g. ethnic
    background, gender, socioeconomic status,
    etc.)

   Do you think this is important?
                   Graduate Studies
   University of Toronto
     –   E. Glen Schellenberg
     –   PhD Cognition, Perception and Cognitive Neuroscience
   Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory,
    University of California at Irvine
     –   Dr. Frances Rauscher
     –   PhD in Experimental Psychology
   M.I.N.D Institute, UC Davis
     –   Dr. Gordon Shaw
     –   PhD in Autism Research
   Appalachian State University
     –   Dr. Kenneth Steele
     –   PhD Learning/Experimental Analysis of Behavior
                               References
   Chabris, C. F. (1999). Prelude or requiem for the 'Mozart effect'?. Nature, 400,
           826-827.
   Hughes, J. R. (2001). The Mozart effect. Epilepsy & Behavior, 2, 396-417.
   McKelvie, P. & Low, J. (2002). Listening to Mozart does not improve children's
           spatial ability: Final curtains for the Mozart effect. British Journal of
           Developmental Psychology, 20, 241-258.
   Nantais, K. M., & Schellenberg, E. G. (1999). The Mozart effect: An artifact of
           preference. Psychological Science, 10 (4), 370-373.
   Rauscher, F. H., Shaw, G. L, & Ky, K. N. (1993). Music and spatial task performance.
           Nature, 365, 611.
   Rauscher FH, Shaw GL, Ky KN. Listening to Mozart enhances spatial–temporal
           reasoning: towards a neurophysiological basis. Neurosci Lett 1995;185:44 –7.
   Rauscher FH, Shaw GL, Levine LJ, Wright EL, Dennis WR, Newcomb RI. Music training
           causes long-term enhancement of preschool children’s spatial–temporal
           reasoning. Neurol Res.1997;19:2– 8.
   Rideout, B. E. & Taylor, J. (1997). Enhanced spatial performance following 10 minutes
           exposure to music:         A replication. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 85, 112-114.
                                References
   Rideout, B. E., Dougherty, S., & Wernert, L. (1998). Effect of music on spatial performance:
           A test of generality. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 86, 512-514.
   Sack, K. (1998, January 15). Georgia's governor seeks musical start for babies. The New
           York Times, A-12.
   Sarnthein J, von Stein A, Rappelsberg P, Petsche H, Rauscher FH, Shaw GL. Persistent
           patterns of brain activity: an EEG coherence study of the positive effect of
           music on spatial–temporal reasoning. Neurol Res 1997;19:107–16.

   Steele, K. M., Ball, T. N., & Runk, R. (1997). Listening to Mozart does not enhance
           backwards digit span . Perceptual and Motor Skills, 84, 1179-1184.
   Steele, K. M., Bass, K. E., & Crook, M. D. (1999). The mystery of the Mozart effect: Failure
           to replicate. Psychological Science, 10 (4), 366-369.
   Steele, K. M., Brown, J. D., & Stoecker, J. A. (1999). Failure to confirm the Rauscher and
           Shaw description of recovery of the Mozart effect. Perceptual and Motor Skills,
           88, 843-848.
   Steele, K. M. (2000). Arousal and mood factors in the "Mozart effect". Perceptual and
           Motor Skills, 91, 188-190.
   Thompson, W. F., Schellenberg, E. G., & Husain, G. (2001). Arousal, mood, and the
           Mozart effect. Psychological Science, 12 (3), 248-251.
What do you think?
Thank you!