Mozart Effect Essay

Music, one of the many factors that enhance our lives, has been a widely ranged field. From Classical music to Hip Hop, there are listeners of all ages, each having their own preference of music. Through research, it has been discovered that memory can be affected by many different factors, including music. Music has been found to stimulate parts of the brain, alleviating stress and depression. Additional research also shows that music, especially Classical, enhances the storage and recall of memory. Therefore we decided to test the effect of music on memory to evaluate the changes and differences.

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.

The Mozart Effect is a study that shows listening to classical music can have positive effects on learning and attitude. This occurrence is called the Mozart Effect, and it has been proven in experiments by many scientists. This research has caused much controversy between believers and nonbelievers, because The Mozart Effect is said to enhance the brain and reasoning; it is also used to reduce stress, depression, or anxiety; it induces relaxation or sleep; and the Mozart Effect activates the body. It also claims to help in the brain development in babies and young children and in addition is thought to aid in the process of studying.

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).

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

Mozart was known for having an ear that would make any musician envious. From a young age he was able to listen to any piece of music and his mind would interpret all of that data with ease. While in Rome, he listened to a performance of Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere only twice at the Sistine Chapel and was able to write it down for memory when he got home (Abert 135).

The music of Mozart has been long praised. His classical sonatas and concertos continue to be recognized as some of the greatest works of music of all time. Since Mozart’s death, many have argued over the relationship between listening to Mozart and intelligence, with many arguing that classical music makes you smarter. Although many myths surrounding the topics of Mozart and intelligence exist, in this paper, I will be addressing the myth in the context that solely listening to the music of Mozart will improve cognitive performance before academic functions such as tests.

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

However when the two group’s SAT test scores were compared it was found that there was no significant difference between effects on the cognitive abilities of adolescents. This suggests that listening to Mozart only produces short-term increased cognitive abilities. Both these sources refute Don Campbell’s claim that listening to Mozart can have a powerful impact on the creative and intellectual development in children (Taylor & Rowe, 2012). Any cognitive enhancement that occurs is normally minimal and is not lasting as it does not show any change in IQ or reasoning ability (Helder, 2014). Helder states that a basic principle showing that learning has occurred is proven by its repeatability. As the ‘Mozart effect’ was considered only to have a short term effect on cognitive abilities of students then it is unlikely that students could repeat what they had been taught any better than without the music as the effect only lasted 10-15 minutes (Helder, 2014). Pietschnig, Voracek and Formann (2010) state that exposure to music stimulates the section of the cortex that is responsible for spatial awareness. However this stimulation does not result in long-term change in the intellectual and creative development of humans so therefore this refutes Don Campbells claims (Pietschnig, Voracek & Formann, 2010). Sources arguing that listening to Mozart produces only short-term effects on

The “Mozart effect” was a study that was conducted at the University of California in Irvine, California. The “Mozart effect” was developed by Dr. Gordon Shaw in the early 1990's. Dr. Shaw's theory was that if you listen to classical music the resultant would be a smarter you. (Fowers, 2000). The study was conducted by gathering students to volunteer to take part in an experiment. The volunteers were given headsets to listen to either white noise, relaxation music, or Mozart for ten minutes. (Jensen, pg. 25). Once the ten minutes had passed the volunteers were asked to perform a variety of spatial skills. The results were that the students who were listening to Mozart were more proficient on the spatial skills test than the other two groups. (Jensen, pg. 25).

He has influenced musical appreciation throughout the world and has created some of the best works of musical art in his time. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born January 27, 1756 in Salzburg Austria to Leopold and Maria Pertl Mozart. He was a pianist and a composer. Mozart created a string of operas, concertos, symphonies, and sonatas that shaped todays classical music. Mozart died in Vienna, Austria on December 5, 1791. Mozart made a positive impact on Musical culture by composing some of the best-known operas since the age of five. Mozart was inspired by a childhood influence of this genre of music, he composed operas since the age of five and his music influenced a scientific study called the “Mozart Effect.”

From prior research, most experimenters chose to use the Mozart Effect. In this experiment, the genres of music chosen did not include classical music of any type. It has been thought that listening to classical music, particularly Mozart, enhances performance on cognitive tests. However, recent findings show that listening to any music that is personally enjoyable has positive effects on cognition (EMedExpert, 1). For the beginning of this experiment, instead of swabbing places for bacteria, the bacteria used was

     My book report is from the biography of Mozart written by Robert W. Gutman. It was illustrated by the Jacket art courtesy of Music Lovers Society and was published by Harcourt Brace and Company. It was printed in New York City and the year of publication was 1999.

For people with epilepsy, the relationship with music can be complex. A rare disorder called musicogenic epilepsy appears to trigger music-induced seizures. By contrast, studies have shown that specific musical patterns have the potential to help control seizures. This is called the 'Mozart effect'.

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.).