The study by Schellenberg titled “Cognitive Performance after Listening to Music: A Review of the Mozart Effect” explored the relation between music and cognitive performance demonstrated after listening to music. The hypothesis tested in the study investigates the phenomenon known as the Mozart Effect. The main argument of the review is that this effect has nothing to do with spatial abilities or Mozart; in turn, it is believed that the effect appears because the sound of classical music can impact the overall feeling of comfort and thus the individuals’ cognitive performance changes; the author refers to this idea as the arousal and mood hypothesis (Schellenberg 9). The origin of the theory concerning the Mozart effect is explained in the study; the emphasis is made on the fact that this idea is over 20 years old.
The sample of research articles exploring this subject was collected based on the use of keywords. The impact factor was compared to the interest towards the subject during different periods in throughout the middle of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s and the association of the two criteria was found to be ambiguously negative (Schellenberg 8). Further, a review of the literature is done including a variety of sources that prove that music can be employed to alter people’s emotions, which proves the arousal and mood hypothesis. Moreover, Schellenberg points out that the reliability and validity of the source that conceptualized the Mozart Effect are very low since multiple attempts to replicate it proved unsuccessful.
In this study, the information is presented in a very clear manner providing a substantial proof of the unreliability of the Mozart Effect and the existence of the connection between the sound of classical music and the overall emotional state of people listening to it. Moreover, the author relied on a number of scholarly sources that have researched the same issue and demonstrated negative and inconsistent results. Overall, it is possible to state that the author proves the hypothesis successfully and in a comprehensive manner with the inclusion of multiple reliable sources of data. As a result, his conclusion can be characterized as valid.
Article 3
The study by Hudziak et al. focused on the analysis of the connection between playing musical instruments and cortical thickness maturation using a sample of 232 healthy youths aged 6 to 18. The subjects of this longitudinal study were observed for a long period of time and involved several sessions of behavioral and IQ testing and MRI scanning over three two-year periods. Cortical thickness of the subjects was measured taking into consideration such factors as the participants’ age and the number of years they have been practicing playing musical instruments. The results of the study indicated that no relation between the cortical thickness and the number of years of musical training; however, this correlation was found positive for the thickness of premotor, motor, and supplementary motor cortices (Hudziak et al. 2). In addition, a faster maturation of the cortical thickness was connected to the provision of musical training to the children.
As a result, the researchers concluded that the overall brain-behavior health is impacted by the presence of musical training in the childhood; and thus the strategy to increase the rates of musical training for the children makes sense. However, the authors also emphasize that musical training for the children is often associated with the higher income level of the households they come from. In that way, it is possible to point out that one of the limitations of the study is the fact that the children who were selected as subjects could have a more pleasurable environment for development. In other words, there is a chance that musical training was just one of the factors producing a positive effect on their development. Moreover, it is important to note that the study went on for a lengthy period of time and thus the growth and maturation of the accounted factors could be impacted by many additional influences occurring at that time.
To sum up, this study demonstrated a very thorough approach to the research topic and a number of different procedures that took place in order to evaluate the maturation of cortical thickness in children undergoing musical training. At the same time, the nature of the study, as well as the character of the sample, is the major weaknesses of this research. It is possible to address these weaknesses duplicating the same study with a more carefully assessed sample.
Works Cited
Hudziak, James J. et al. “Cortical Thickness Maturation and Duration of Music Training: Health-Promoting Activities Shape Brain Development.” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, vol. 53, no. 11, 2014, pp. 1153–1161.
Schellenberg, Glen. E. “Cognitive Performance After Listening to Music: A Review of the Mozart Effect.” The University of Toronto, 2012 pp. 1-25.
Umemura, Mamoru and Kaoru Honda. “Influence of Music on Heart Rate Variability and Comfort – a Consideration through Comparison of Music and Noise.” Journal of Human Ergology, vol. 27, no. 1, 2, 1998, pp. 30-38.