1. Does Music Make You Smarter? The Legacy of the Mozart Effect®
Robbye Raisher
5.6.17

2. Outline Original “Mozart Effect” (Rauscher et al. 1993)
Successful Replications of R1993
Unsuccessful Replications of R1993
Long Term Effects of Music Lessons/Study on IQ
Mozart Effect in the Popular Press

3. Music and Spatial Task Performance
Frances H. Rauscher (psychologist at University of Washington) and colleagues Gordon L. Shaw and Catherine N. Ky
Three listening conditions (Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, K. 448, first movement (allegro con spirito) tape of relaxation instructions, silence)
Dependent measure: Stanford-Binet Paper Folding and Cutting Task (spatial reasoning)

4. Methods + Data
Excerpt from Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D. major, K. 448, first movement (allegro con spirito)
Example of Stanford-Binet Paper Folding &
Cutting task (correct answer: C)

5. Results Significant effect of Mozart on performance of PF&C task
Took pulse before and after as arousal measure – no significant change
Effect is temporary and specific to spatial reasoning
Mean scores of the three listening conditions on the PF&C task and their equivalent IQ scores

6. Successful Replications
Bruce E. Rideout (1996, 1997)
Both experiments utilized undergraduate students (n = 8 and 16)
Both used Mozart piece and relaxation tape and PF&C task
Participant score shown to be higher upon listening to Mozart
Again, effect cannot be generalized

7. Failed Replications
Kenneth M. Steele (1997) (Listening to Mozart does not enhance backward digit span performance)
36 undergraduate students exposed to Mozart, relaxation tape (rain) and silence
Dependent measure: 9 digit backwards digit span memory recall test
Improvement for Mozart group not statistically significant
Jakob Pietschnig (2010)(Mozart effect–Shmozart effect: A meta-analysis)
38 studies comparing Mozart to no music, 23 did not produce significant effect
Studies affiliated with Rauscher’s laboratories (e.g. Rideout) had more significant effects

8. From ”Perception and Performance of Music” course materials, Prof
From ”Perception and Performance of Music” course materials, Prof. Ian Cross, University of Cambridge Center for Music and Science, 2005

9. Lessons/IQ
Glenn Schellenberg (2004, 2006, 2007) (psychologist at University of Toronto)
Music lessons’ effect on long term intelligence
144 children (6 years old) administered lessons for 36 weeks
Music had transfer skills to IQ, drama had transfer skills to social situations
Effect of music lessons on IQ test - Schellenberg (2004)

10. Explanations for the Benefit:
Lessons/IQ (cont.)
Explanations for the Benefit:
Kids who take music lessons already academically inclined
Music lessons taught as academic subject
Aspects of music akin to second language learning (e.g. syntax, pitch)

11. Popular Press National Association for Music Education (NAFME)
Zell Miller, Governor of Georgia (New York Times, 1998)
''No one questions that listening to music at a very early age affects the spatial, temporal reasoning that underlies math and engineering and even chess.''
Don Campbell (1997)
“You too can benefit from the life-giving powers of sound and music.”

12. What Now? Longevity of the Mozart Effect + appeal of music
Brain Games, “Misconceptions,” S5E7, 2015