Music and Cognitive Abilities

Author(s): E. Glenn Schellenberg

Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science, Vol. 14, No. 6 (Dec., 2005), pp. 317-320
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. on behalf of Association for Psychological Science
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20183055 .
Accessed: 26/03/2013 12:39

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Sage Publications, Inc. and Association for Psychological Science are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,
preserve and extend access to Current Directions in Psychological Science.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 65.88.88.70 on Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:39:56 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE

Music and Abilities

Cognitive
E. Glenn Schellenberg

University of Toronto, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

ABSTRACT?Does music make you smarter? Music are likely to differ quantitatively and qualitatively from those of
listening
and music lessons have been claimed to confer intellectual music lessons.

advantages. Any association between music and intellec

tual functioning would be notable only if the benefits apply

to nonmusical abilities and if music is unique in MUSIC LISTENING
reliably
producing the effects. The available evidence indicates
to enhanced on a Widespread interest in the potential benefits of music listening
that music listening leads performance
are
was sparked by the publication of an article (Rauscher, Shaw, &
variety of cognitive tests, but that such effects short

term and stem the impact of music

on arousal level Ky, 1993) that reported superior spatial abilities for participants
from
who listened to a of music com
and mood, which, in turn, recording composed by Mozart
affect cognitive performance;
to those who sat in silence or listened to relaxation in
other than music have similar pared
experiences listening effects.
structions. The known as the "Mozart was
Music lessons in childhood tell a different story. They are finding, effect,"

associated with small but general and long-lasting intel publicized widely in the popular media. Although the effect was
to obvious con found to be brief (lasting 10-15 minutes) and the participants
lectualbenefits that cannot be attributed
' were the news the public
founding variables such as family income and parents undergraduates, captured imagination

education. The mechanisms this association

and led to social-policy changes. These included the distribu
underlying
have to be determined. tion of a CD of Mozart's music to every baby born inGeorgia and
yet
the formation of a cottage industry of music recordings designed
KEYWORDS?music cognition; intelligence; cognitive develop to make infants smarter. the rationale
Presumably, underlying
ment
was that if the short-term effect is reliable, to
long-term exposure
music in infancy?when brain is greatest?might fa
plasticity
cilitate neural connections that could have impact.
for quick fixes can be seen in the long-term
People's eagerness seemingly
attempts met with mixed success
Subsequent replication
irrational appeal of crash diets, get-rich-quick schemes, and get
smart-fast Is the claim of music as a route to enhanced (Chabris et al., 1999), however, which could be attributable to the
programs.
weakness of the effect or the reliance on group testing
intelligence yet another self-improvement fantasy? In the pages
that follow, I outline the origins of the claim and evaluate the (Schellenberg, in press). The original authors proposed that passive
to music
available evidence. listening composed by Mozart primed spatial abilities in

and they attributed the replication failures to the wrong

Intellectual benefits of exposure to music would be noteworthy particular,
music or the wrong task. But their proposal of cross-modal
if (a) they extend to nonmusical abilities, (b) they are systematic priming
between two unrelated domains is at odds with the available re
and reliable, and (c) they are more likely to result from hearing or
search. Priming is a relatively robust psychological phenomenon
playing music than from other activities. Unlike in other cul
that occurs between stimuli with an obvious link. In language, for
tures, where virtually everyone participates in music making,
cross-modal effects are evident for subsequent
musical in Western involve lis example, priming
experiences society typically
presentations of the same word, a related word, a
homonym, and the
tening and, only in some cases, lessons and Music
performing.
sentential structure the word semantic,
listening is ubiquitous, both purposefully (e.g., listening to the
implied by (i.e., repetition,

phonological, and syntactic priming, respectively).

radio) and incidentally (e.g., background music in stores and
The meta-analysis in Chabris et al. (1999) motivated specu
restaurants). By contrast, relatively few individuals take music
lation that the Mozart effect, when evident, could be explained
lessons for several years. The consequences of music listening
as an artifact of arousal. levels of arousal
Optimal (i.e., physical
and mental activation) have widespread, facilitative effects on
In line with this view, a and I (Nantais
Address to Glenn of Psy performance. colleague
correspondence Schellenberg, Department
of Toronto at Mississauga, Ontario,
and Schellenberg, 1999) replicated theMozart effect (compared
chology, University Mississauga,
Canada, L5L 1C6; e-mail: g.schellenberg@utoronto.ca. to sitting in silence) but we also found a "Schubert effect" of

Volume 14?Number 6 Copyright ? 2005 American Psychological Society 317

This content downloaded from 65.88.88.70 on Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:39:56 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Music and Cognitive Abilities

identical When to Mozart was contrasted measures of arousal and mood are not
magnitude. listening Paper-and-pencil
with to a narrated story, the effect available for children, but the available reveal en
listening disappeared (see findings

Fig. 1) but performance interacted with preferences. Listeners hanced cognitive performance after listening
to music that is

who Mozart better after to Mozart to be and for the age group under
preferred performed listening thought arousing pleasant
than to the story. Listeners who the story showed the For Hallam and I (Schellenberg and
preferred investigation. example,
in press) a "Blur effect" for 10- and
opposite pattern (a "Stephen King effect"). Hallam, reported 11-year
Husain, and I (Thompson, & Hu olds, who better on a test after to pop
Thompson, Schellenberg, performed spatial listening
sain, 2001) subsequently formulated the arousal-and-mood music (by Blur and other bands) compared tomusic composed by
hypothesis: Listening to Mozart is one example of a stimulus that Mozart or a scientific discussion. In a test of creativity among
influences the arousal level and mood, which can younger children et al., in press),
perceiver's (Schellenberg 5-year-olds
affect on a of cognitive tasks. Our drew with after to Mozart, or familiar
performance variety partici crayons listening Albinoni,

pants heard a
fast-tempo piece by Mozart in a major (happy children's songs, or after
singing familiar songs. times
Drawing
or a in a minor were were to be more
sounding) key, slow-tempo piece by Albinoni longer, and the drawings judged creative,

(sad-sounding) key. As predicted,

we observed a Mozart effect for the children exposed to familiar songs (a "children's play
(compared to silence) but no "Albinoni effect" on a test of spatial song effect"). The effects did not differ between the listening and
abilities. We also found that arousal and mood were and
higher singing groups (see Fig. 2).
more after to Mozart than after to In sum, music can lead to enhanced
positive listening listening listening (or singing)
Albinoni. The effect size of the Mozart on the on a of tests of cognitive These ef
advantage spatial performance variety ability.
testwas virtually identical in magnitude to the Mozart
advantage fects are mediated by arousal and mood and are unlikely to differ
in arousal and mood. When in arousal or mood were from those that arise as a consequence of exposure to nonmusical
changes
held constant statistical means, the Mozart on the stimuli that have similar emotional
by advantage impact (e.g., giving partici
test disappeared. In another & a cup of coffee or a small of candy; see Isen, 2000;
spatial study (Husain, Thompson, pants bag

Schellenberg, 2002), the tempo (fast or slow) and mode (major Smith, Osborne, Mann, Jones, & White, 2004). Listening to
or of the same Mozart were before music not or
minor) piece manipulated composed by Mozart does have unique special
listeners a task. The led to consequences for abilities. Rather,
completed spatial manipulations spatial upbeat, age-appro
different arousal levels and moods across conditions, which, in music can listeners' arousal level and mood, at
priate improve
turn, accounted for the majority of the variance in spatial abil least for short In turn, effects of arousal and mood ex
periods.
ities. Yet another tested abilities after under tend measures of to tests of processing
study nonspatial beyond spatial ability

graduates listened to Mozart or to Albinoni (Schellenberg, speed and creativity, in principle, similar short-term cognitive
Nakata, Hunter, & Tamoto, in press). When the expe benefits be evident among infants, whose arousal level is
listening might
rience resulted in differences in arousal and mood, performance altered by exposure to maternal singing (Shenfield, Trehub, &
on a test of processing speed
was also better following Mozart Nakata, 2003). It iswell established that infants perform best in
than itwas following Albinoni. the laboratory when they
are alert and content.

Mozart Albinoni Familiar- Familiar

Listening Singing
Musical Experience
Mozart-Silence Schubert-Silence Mozart-Story
Fig. 2. Mean adult ratings of children's drawings (Schellenberg et al.,
Experimental Comparison
2005). Children drew after one of four musical experiences: listening to
Fig. 1. Mean scores on the paper-folding-and-cutting spatial test in the Mozart, listening to Albinoni, listening to familiar children's songs, or
music-listening and control conditions (Nantais & Schellenberg, 1999). singing familiar songs. Adult raters (blind to group membership) rated
The figure shows a Mozart effect (left), a Schubert effect (middle), and, the drawings. Higher ratings indicate more favorable appraisals of the
when the control condition involved listening to a story, no effect (right). drawings relative to a baseline (no music) drawing.

318 Volume 14?Number 6

This content downloaded from 65.88.88.70 on Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:39:56 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 E. Glenn Schellenberg

MUSICLESSONS tellectual benefits? Because longer-term experimental studies

would likely suffer from differential attrition across conditions,

We turn now to the issue of whether music lessons confer non I (Schellenberg, 2005) tested this question correlationally. In
musical I (Schellenberg, 2004) conducted the only
benefits. contrast to
previous research, I also measured confounding
controlled experiment to date that included random assignment variables such as
family income and parents' education, which
of individual children to music lessons or condi were held constant in the statistical
comparison analyses.
tions. One hundred and forty-four 6-year-olds
were administered The participants were 147 children and 150 undergraduates.
an entire standardized IQ test (theWechsler Intelligence Scale For the children, outcome measures included the entire WISC
for Children-Ill, orWISC-III) before entering first grade (at age III as well as a standardized test of educational achievement and

6) and again between first and second grade (at age 7). In the grades in school. The number of months of music lessons had a

interim, two groups of children received 36 weeks of keyboard or modest but positive association with each outcome variable that
vocal instruction. Two control groups received drama lessons or remained reliable when and
family income, parents' education,
no lessons. All four groups had reliable increases in full-scale IQ involvement in nonmusical activities were held constant. Once
from the first to the second session. Such increases are a the effects were across the four index
testing again, broad, extending
known consequence of attending school. The two music groups scores and the different areas of academic achievement (math,
did not differ in this regard, nor did the two control groups, but spelling, reading) but not to social skills. Involvement in non
the increase in IQ was greater for the music groups than for the musical out-of-school activities was not
predictive of IQ,
aca

control groups This difference was not a conse demic or social behavior. For the undergraduates,
(see Fig. 3). achievement,
of elevated on a subset of intel the outcome measure was an entire
quence performance specific adult IQ test (the Wechsler
lectual abilities (e.g., verbal or
spatial). Compared
to the control Adult Intelligence Scale-Ill, orWAIS-III). The association be
groups, the music groups had increases across the four tween of playing music and was smaller than
larger years regularly IQ
main areas of intellectual ability measured by theWISC-III (i.e., the one observed in childhood but it was statistically reliable
the four index scores, see Fig. 3). An incidental finding was that even after accounting for individual differences in family in
the drama group had increases in adaptive social skills thatwere come and parents' education. These correlational findings
ex

larger than those in the other three groups. tend those of the experimental study by showing that real-world
This experiment provided evidence that music lessons cause effects of musical training on intellectual abilities are (a) larger
improvements in intellectual ability. My finding of broad intel with longer periods of training, (b) long lasting, (c) not attrib
lectual benefits of music lessons is also consistent with the lit utable to obvious confounding variables, and (d) distinct from
erature as a whole in press), which includes those of nonmusical out-of-school activities.
(Schellenberg,

reports of positive associations between music lessons and What are the underlying mechanisms the association
driving
reading, mathematical, verbal, and spatial abilities. Would between music lessons and intellectual ability? One possibility
music lessons of duration be accompanied by larger in is that because music lessons are school-like, the intellectual
longer
benefitsof attending school are exaggerated by the positive
impact of additional schooling on IQ. From this perspective,
drama lessons might be insufficiently school-like (e.g., they
include pretending and dressing up), although other out-of

school activities such as or chess lessons to have

reading ought
benefits similar to music. Music lessons would be special only
because a school-like that many children
they represent activity
and choose to do on a regular basis.
enjoy
A second possibility is that the association stems from the con

stellation of abilities that music lessons train and improve?abil

ities including focused attention and concentration, memorization,

music, fine-motor skills, emotions, and so on.

reading expressing

Although the association could be a consequence of improvement

FD in one of these abilities or a subset, the diffuse nature of

FSIQ VC PO PS particular
WISC-IIIOutcome the association implicates the contribution of multiple factors. The
of music lessons the instrument or
particular type (e.g., teaching
Fig. 3. Mean difference scores
the Wechsler on
Intelligence Scale for
have more effects on outcome measures
Children-Ill outcome measures for groups of children re method) might specific
(WISC-III)
or no lessons are as as drama
ceiving keyboard lessons, vocal lessons, drama lessons, other than IQ. For example, keyboard lessons good
(Schellenberg, 2004). The music groups had larger increases than the
lessons in improving children's ability to decode the emotions
= Full-Scale
drama-lessons and no-lessons (control) groups. (FSIQ IQ, VC
= Verbal = in speech, but voice lessons have no bene
Comprehension Index, PO Perceptual Organization Index, conveyed by prosody
FD = Freedom = ficial effect (Thompson, Schellenberg, & Husain, 2004).
from Distractibility Index, PS Processing Speed Index.)

Volume 14?Number? ?519

This content downloaded from 65.88.88.70 on Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:39:56 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Music and Cognitive Abilities

A third possibility is thatmusic promotes intellectual develop IQ attributable to music lessons. The simplest take-home mes

ment because of its inherently abstract nature. For a tune sage is that extracurricular activities benefit child
example, development.
is defined solely by relational information. A listener can identify a
particular tune (e.g., "Yankee Doodle") when it is played fast or
at a or a low on a or a and so on. Recommended Reading
slow, high pitch level, piano guitar,
In other tunes are abstractions. Listeners' Isen, A. (2000). (See References)
words, representations
Schellenberg, E.G. (2004). (See References)
must even farther to patterns that have similar but not
generalize
Schellenberg, E.G. (in press). (See References)
identical relational information variations on a To
(e.g., theme).

illustrate, the opening bars of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony have a

repeated motive that varies in absolute pitch (different starting
tone) and in relative pitch (major third then minor third), yet lis Acknowledgments?Funded by the Natural Sciences and
teners hear the second motive as a because of its iden Research Council of Canada and the International
repetition Engineering
tical rhythm and melodic contour. Learning to think abstractly and Foundation forMusic Research. Craig Chambers, Kate McLean,
to musical similarities across contexts could facilitate and Sandra Trehub provided helpful comments on earlier ver
recognize
intellectual more sions of the manuscript.
development generally.

Finally, learning a musical language could have cognitive

benefits similar to those evident in bilingual children (Craik & REFERENCES
Bialystok, 2005). Although this view has intuitive appeal be
cause music and are both communication Chabris, CF., Steele, K.M., Dalla Bella, S., Peretz, I., Dunlop, T., Dawe,
language auditory

systems, the positive effects of bilingualism are evident for fluid L.A., Humphrey, G.K., Shannon, R.A., Kirby, J.L. Jr., Olmstead,
CG., & Rauscher, F.H. Prelude or for the "Mozart
(1999). requiem
intelligence (i.e., executive control) but not for crystallized in Effect'? 826-828.
Nature, 400,
telligence (e.g., knowledge acquired through experience, such Craik, F., & Bialystok, E. (2005). and executive control:
Intelligence
as whereas the effects of music lessons appear to
vocabulary), Evidence from aging and bilingualism. Cortex, 41, 222-224.
extend to both domains. & Schellenberg, E.G.
Husain, G., Thompson, W.F., (2002). Effects of
musical tempo and mode on arousal, mood, and spatial abilities.
Music 151-171.
CONCLUSION Perception, 20,
Isen, A.M. (2000). Positive affect and decision making. In M. Lewis &

answer is a qualified
J.M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of Emotions (2nd ed., pp.
Does music make you smarter? The yes.
417-435). New York: Guilford.
Music and music lessons can lead to short-term and
listening & E.G. The Mozart effect: An
Nantais, K.M., Schellenberg, (1999).
benefits, This answer
long-term cognitive respectively. positive artifact of preference. Psychological Science, 10, 370-373.
is qualified because the short-term benefits of music
listening do Rauscher, EH., Shaw, G.L., & Ky, K.N. (1993). Music and spatial task
not appear to differ from those associated with other stimuli that performance. Nature, 365, 611.

optimize arousal level or elicit mild positive affect. The mech Schellenberg, E.G. (2004). Music lessons enhance IQ. Psychological
anisms the intellectual benefits of music lessons remain Science, 15, 511?514.
driving
Schellenberg, E.G. (2005). Long-term positive associations between
more obscure. Similar benefits could be derived from other out
music lessons and IQ. Manuscript submitted for publication.
of-school activities that are school-like. Nonetheless,
similarly E.G. to music: the The truth about
Schellenberg, (in press) Exposure
music lessons might be special in this regard because (a) they are
consequences. In G.E. McPherson (Ed.), The child as musician: A
a school-like activity that many children enjoy, (b) multiple handbook musical Oxford, U.K.: Oxford
of development. University
skills are in music is a domain that Press.
trained lessons, (c) music
abstract or musical Schellenberg, E.G., & Hallam, S. (in press). Music listening and cog
improves reasoning, (d) acquiring knowledge
nitive abilities in 10 and 11 year olds: The Blur effect. Annals of the
is similar to a second Future research could
acquiring language.
New York Academy of Sciences.
the underlying mechanisms more
identify clearly.
Schellenberg, E.G., Nakata, T., Hunter, P.G., & Tamoto, S. (in press).
Ismusic a quick fix to the problem of intelligence? The answer
Exposure to music and cognitive performance: Tests of children
is most no. Short-term benefits of music lis
definitely positive and adults. Psychology of Music.
tening dissipate rapidly as listeners' arousal level and mood Shenfield, T., Trehub, S.E., & Nakata, T. (2003). Maternal singing
fluctuate with time and experience. Although music lessons have modulates infant arousal. Psychology of Music, 31, 365-375.
& White, T.
relatively long-term benefits, the effort involved (weekly lessons, Smith, B.D., Osborne, A., Mann, M., Jones, H., (2004).
Arousal and behavior: effects of caffeine. In A.
daily practice) can hardly be construed as a quick fix. Depending Biopsychological
Nehlig (Ed.), Coffee, tea, chocolate, and the brain: Nutrition, brain,
on the perspective of the child and his or her parents, the benefits
and behavior (pp. 35-52). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
of a few IQ points may or may not be worth the costs in time,
Thompson, W.F., Schellenberg, E.G., & Husain, G. (2001). Arousal,
and effort. Moreover, different extracurricular activities
money, mood and the Mozart effect. Psychological Science, 12, 248-251.
drama lessons) have salutary effects in other domains (e.g., & Husain, G.
(e.g., Thompson, W.F., Schellenberg, E.G., (2004). Decoding
social skills) that could be as valuable as the modest increase in speech prosody: Do music lessons help? Emotion, 4, 46-64.

320 Volume 14?Number 6

This content downloaded from 65.88.88.70 on Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:39:56 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions