The Mozart Effect
Neuroscientists have intensified their research recently into music and its role in the developing brain. This is partly due to evolving diagnostic techniques and technology, and the growing awareness of the opportunities presented by such studies.
The buzzword, “Mozart Effect”, has been talked about by popular print and broadcast media. It is featured in parenting, education, and music oriented publications, and in the mainstream general press. While it has renewed interest in classical music education and focused much attention on the field of childhood development, the phrase (and the popular notion of its meaning) has been used to sell music lessons, music products of all kinds, including “Mozart Makes You Smarter” product lines.
But while much of the positive effects of music on childhood development has been proven, there are still many misconceptions and myths floating around.
What’s behind the Mozart effect concept? Where did it originate? What does it really mean? Does listening to Mozart really make you smarter? If so, how? In what way? Is this claim real or just a hype? What to make of it all?
The term “Mozart Effect” arose from the work of University of California at Irvine’s professors Dr. Francis Raucher, Dr. Gordon L. Shaw, and their colleagues. Their neuroscience/music studies and their findings have had an impact on related fields and have even caused some controversy.
Essentially, their pioneering research results indicate that listening to Mozart’s music may induce a short-term improvement on the performance of certain kinds of mental tasks known as “spatial-temporal reasoning”. An additional study, published in Nature, suggests that listening to Mozart temporarily boosted students’ IQ by 8 to 9 points. As a result of this study, Zell Meller, Governor of Georgia, proposed a budget to provide every child born in Georgia with a CD of classical music.
It should be noted that state representative Homer M. DeLoach raised the possibility of including some music of Charlie Daniels or similar music, but his request was shot down.
