Does Playing Mozart to Babies Make Them Smarter? Essay

This article reveals how Don Campbell, the author of “The Mozart Effect,” believes that listening to music can

The idea behind the “Mozart Effect” is that when babies listen to classical masterpieces, specifically Mozart, their brainpower will be enhanced which ultimately increases their intelligence. There are a myriad number of people who have tested this hypothesis and truly believe that the waves and the sounds engenders cognitive skills in the domain of learning. However, the real question is that do scientists substantiate this claim? Is there solid evidence or is it all an obscure hypothesis?

No one knows all the ways music can benefit the body but, it is known that music can affect brain waves, brain circulation, and stress hormones. Students who take music lessons have improved IQ levels and show improvement in nonmusical abilities as well. Listening to music composed by Mozart produces a short-term improvement in tasks that use spatial abilities. Studies of brain circulation have shown that people listening to Mozart have more activity in certain areas of the brain, which is called the Mozart effect. Although the reasons for this are not clear, this kind of information supports the idea that music can be used in many helpful ways. In general, music therapy done under the care of a professionally-trained therapist has a helpful effect, and is considered safe when used with standard treatment.

The human mind is constantly processing and picking up information. Music is an ordered and predictable sequence of sounds. When the brain hears music, it tries to decode it. In decoding those symbols and patterns, it sets up “neural highways, or synapses” , to receive and examine data. These pathways then can be used for remembering other symbol-oriented information, such as language and math. Like a muscle, the brain becomes stronger the more it is worked, and these workouts are achieved by listening to classical music. Mozart’s music is exceptionally difficult to decode, therefore the brain must work harder, thus making one smarter.

In a study done by Jennifer L. Lilley, Crystal D. Oberle, and Jon G. Thompson, Jr. at Texas State University, they tested the effects of grade consequences and music on test anxiety and performance. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of the participants grades if there were consequences and how music effects the participates anxiety and their test performances. There were previous works cited on how people improve their spatial cognitive task performances after listening to Mozart (Ho, Mason, & Spence, 2007). They also included studies where there were no benefits to people’s spatial cognitive task performances after listening to Mozart (Hui, 2006).

Throughout history there have been demonstrations of grit and the correlation to cognitive ability developing strongly through childhood. Mozart, was most commonly related to being a “child prodigy”, having an extremely high IQ and musically based talent (Ericsson, Prietula and Cokely 2007, p. 3). What is not universally known about the development of his ability

Studies show that music appears to support kids’ normal skills to interpret sounds and words. Learning to read and play music, appears to be related to an amount of assistance for kids, including improved processing of language and better reading skills. Music exercise in kids play develop key skills that will aid them in listening, attention, remembrance, and reading skills. Lisa Miller thinks,” in Europe was as crucial to becoming a cultivated person as knowing the works of Mozart or Rembrandt” ( ). Music is a foundation of human culture; it is a learning device, a way of communication, and, a way of

The effects of Mozart on today’s society can be seen just about everywhere. In marketing, they play music to make the consumer want to buy their product. In restaurants, they play music to help the customer feel relaxed in their establishment. People listen to music while driving cars. It seems that music permeates almost every aspect of our everyday lives. When people think of the birth of modern music, they often think of classical music. And when people think of classical music, they think of Mozart. During the 18th century, the musical genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed a total number of six hundred and fifty works. When he was younger, he toured Europe with his father, Leopold, and his sister, Nannerl, playing for Europe’s elite of the time. He put forth some major musical contributions that shape modern music today (Fiero 324,326). Classical music is the great grandfather of all modern music. Some people enjoy

In order to understand, one must understand the history of the myth. The term “Mozart Effect” is commonly used to discuss the general correlation between Mozart and increased intelligence. However, this term is applicable to many different tests and relationships. For example, the Mozart Effect can be used to describe the relationship between listening to Mozart while in the womb and increased intelligence. While this is a common myth, it is not the myth discussed in this paper. I will be addressing the “Mozart Effect” based on Dr. Gordon Shaw’s theory of the Mozart Effect, which states “listening to classical music makes you smarter.” After conducting a study in which college students took an IQ test before and after listening to Mozart’s famed “Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major,” Shaw claimed that the student’s IQ increased by “as much as 9 points.” This conclusion sparked many tests, ranging from

Music can be beneficial to people through several ways, but music can also have positive effects on the mind. In the novel, The Mozart Effect for Children, by Don Campbell, music is discussed as being a voice in which someway every child, adult or human being can understand. Music allows people to sing along to the lyrics, move or dance to the beat, and match the melodies. The use of music can often be used to explore and discover the beauty in which music holds. The interaction of music with the mind can be shown through the use of vibrations, patterns, and rhythms (Campbell 8). This shows that music has a way to communicate with everybody and can make people included. Music has the effect of making everybody come together and act like

Aheadi, Dixon, and Glover were able to identify the benefits of musical training in a study involving the Mozart effect. Aheadi et al. state that, “Evidence suggests musical training can lead to long term enhancement of intelligence” (Aheadi, Dixon, and Glover, 2009, pg. 1). The results in this study showed that musicians had a higher overall performance compared to non-musicians. In a 1998, study completed by Overy, they were able to show that musical training tends to lead to increased intellectual abilities. They extrapolated that musical training improves cognitive functioning in attention, coordination, language, and concentration (Overy,

This an area of the brain, associated with cognitive arousal and complex visual transformation processes involved with mental rotation of three-dimensional shapes and similar difficult spatial tasks (Chabris, C. 1999). Thus extrapolating that the Mozart effect does not ‘make babies smarter’, it only marginally improves a participant’s spatial intellect immediately after music stimuli. This collaboration of studies provides a broad scope of multiple findings which can account for any anomalies or outliers within individual study findings, however it also inhibits specificity of the results as there is no control of experimental procedures. Further limitations are the varying ages of participants and measurement of results. Ultimately, however, this meta-analysis significantly indicates that even if listening to Mozart was an effective cognitive enhancement, the benefits would only have a moderate effect of a short duration. A more detailed study supported this meta-analysis via its focus on child development and the lack of validity and longevity with the Mozart effect. Dubbing the Mozart effect “another quick fix” it concluded that Mozart, whether played to or taught to children does not exhibit any long term benefits for cognition (Jones, S. 2002).

The mind is greatly impacted by music by showing healthful changes (www.bellaonline.com/articles/). Doctors now use music for their patients’ treatments in order to help them stay healthy (www.bellaonline.com/articles/). Heart patients acquired the same benefits from listening to classical music for thirty minutes as they did from anti-anxiety medication (www.bellaonline.com/articles/). Musical therapy has been used to help people with heart problems, which worked quite effectively. (www.bellaonline.com/articles/). People who have had migraines frequently, were trained to use music and relaxing procedures to reduce their headaches. Studies have also shown that music helps students with their intelligence levels (www.bellaonline.com/articles/). A majority of students had higher test scores than others because they listened to Mozart before their exam. People who listened to classical music for an hour and a half while revising manuscripts increased their accuracy by 21% (www.bellaonline.com/articles) (Mish 725.).

music of Mozart may produce an increase in your IQ and performance in certain types of mental tasks.

The Mozart Effect is a phenomenon that occurs when individuals listen to the two piano sonata. The stated results are individuals that are able to remember information easier. There are two studies that were conducted in associated with the Mozart Effect. The first study was dedicated to spatial skill performance and its neural pathway relation to music. The other study was dedicated to challenging the first study due to the argument that any type of music that is appreciated can cause the same memory effect. The second study was based on an experiment with unborn mice that heard Mozart’s piano sonata K448. The other part of the study was related to the effects of Mozart’s piano sonata K448 on patients who were suffering from epilepsy. The overall conclusion is that Mozart’s piano sonata K448 has positive effects on both animals and humans.