The Mozart Effect: Fact or
Fallacy?
Taeko M. Frost
What is the Mozart effect?
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“… 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
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Improvements: health & medicine, spatiotemporal reasoning & IQ
In the Media
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The Mozart effect has been a popular topic in
print and broadcast media
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Parenting
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Education
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Music publications
Origin of Research on the Mozart
Effect
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Frances Rauscher & Gordon Shaw of The
University of California at Irvine
Areas of Interest
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Brain development

Health benefits
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Intelligence enhancement
Brain Development
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Preliminary research based on the trion
model of the cerebral cortex
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Research hypothesized that listening to
Mozart “warms-up” neural transmitters in the
cerebral cortex (Rauscher et al., 1993)
Brain Development
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Increased EEG coherence (Rauscher, Shaw & Ky 1995)
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Increased correlation of neurophysiologic activity in the
temporal and left-frontal cortexes (Sarnthein et al., 1997)
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Increased spatio-temporal ability after piano lessons (Rideout et
al., 1996)
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Changes in amplitude of alpha rhythm and increased interhemispheric coherence (Rauscher, 1997)
Brain Development
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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
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Don Campbell  leading Mozart Effect enthusiast
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“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
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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
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–
–
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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
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79 undergraduate students
3 groups
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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
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–
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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
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–
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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
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36 students
3 groups
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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
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–
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1014 students
3 groups
Mozart group performed better

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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.)
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Do you think this is important?
Graduate Studies
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University of Toronto
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Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory,
University of California at Irvine
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
Dr. Frances Rauscher
PhD in Experimental Psychology
M.I.N.D Institute, UC Davis
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
E. Glen Schellenberg
PhD Cognition, Perception and Cognitive Neuroscience
Dr. Gordon Shaw
PhD in Autism Research
Appalachian State University
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Dr. Kenneth Steele
PhD Learning/Experimental Analysis of Behavior
References
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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
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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!