Mozart Effect Essay

813 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Mozart effect fact

The Mozart Effect: Fact or Fiction?
A demographic shift beginning in the middle of the 20th century has lead to rising incomes, more women in the work force, and a decreasing birth rate. This transition has occurred in many parts of the world. A particularly good example is that of China with their one child policy. Unlike before, the parents of the 20th Century were incentivized and recognized the value of investing more in their children. Furthermore, they now had the means to do so. This growing interest in child development has been a boon for research and an opportunity for marketers. Unfortunately, research is often repackaged or misrepresented by both the media and marketers. As a result, wide spread misconceptions can develop among the general public. Marketers will often use cherry picked research to either promote or form a pretense for a product value proposition. The actual efficacy of many of these products has been called into question. In recent years, research regarding the Mozart effect has been largely misrepresented or overestimated.
The Mozart effect is a supposed relationship between listening to Mozart’s music and an increase in intelligence. From the perspective of a parent, who only wants the best for their child, there would appear to be little downside risk. However, upon a closer examination of the literature there is little evidence to support a direct correlation between listening to Mozart and intelligence. Many of the popular trends that occur in society are the result of the bandwagon effect. The bandwagon effect is a form of groupthink whereas the more adopters of a belief there are; the more likely others will also adopt that belief. Marketers intentionally employ this type of strategy to harness...

... middle of paper ...

...accurate to refer to this as the Mozart effect as the effect can be induced through the use of music in general. The perception of any sound is going to stimulate the primary auditory cortex, and therefore increase states of arousal. Different tempos among different types of music will logically impact the amount of arousal.
In conclusion it is apparent that the Mozart effect does not actually exist in the way that it has been promoted. The effect is related to changes in arousal states from listening to music. The initial findings may indicate a researcher bias and preference for Mozart’s music. Further examination would have lead the researchers to conclude the effects are not limited to Mozart’s music. Unfortunately, this information was misrepresented and has lead to the wide spread belief that listening to Mozart’s music results in an increase in intelligence.

Show More
Related

  • Cultural Artifact Speech: Outline Of Cultural Artifact Speech

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    As Bob Marley once said, “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” Studies shown that classical music, specifically Mozart, help you engage in your studies better and as a result showed high test scores according to a test scientist at Stanford University held. Did you ever imagine how powerful a piece that was composed in the 1780’s could be?

    Read More

  • Budget Cuts are Destroying Music Education: Music Programs are Essential to Education

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to Laurence O’Donnell, “Music is thought to link all of the emotional, spiritual, and physical elements of the universe.” This proves that music is more than a simple class teaching random notes. It is a common denominator between mind, body, and learning. One scholar shows that music causes a response that can affect a person’s mood; this is directly related to how a person acts upon their emotional response to music. He later talks about how music can have a positive effect on memorization and brain function (O’Donnell). The Center for New Discoveries in Learning stated, “Learning potential can be increased a minimum of five times by using 60 beats per minute music” (qtd. in O’Donnell). Most of the music that follows these types of beats is classical music such a Mozart and Bach. This is the type of music taught in schools, thus, enhancing a student’s ability to learn.

    Read More

  • Why Music Education Is Being Cut

    1463 Words  | 3 Pages

    There have been many studies done to find how music influences a child’s development. The College Entrance Examination Board discovered that students who took music appreciation classes had higher verbal and math scores than those who did not take the classes. (Stephens 2003) The U.S. Department of Education found that in 25,000 secondary schools, students who were highly involved in the music program did much better in math than any other students. (Stephens 2003) These studies and more have found that involvement in music increases chi...

    Read More

  • The New York Times Article: Does Music Make You Smarter

    1105 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the beginning the article poses the question, does music make you smarter? Early on there is evidence why people might think music would make someone smarter, but then Mehr proceeds to say, “That is a misguided assumption. Correlation does not imply causation. These associations do not establish, as many people believe, that music makes you smarter” (Mehr). He states that there are some logical reasons music could possibly make someone smarter, but Mehr thinks there is no proof that music can actually make someone smarter and more prosperous in school. Although the result of playing or listening to music does not make one smarter, Mehr thinks music is crucial for the growth of an individual because it puts joy in a person’s

    Read More

  • Does Playing Mozart to Babies Make Them Smarter?

    1359 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Mozart Effect Resource Centre website, music educator Don Campbell made the claim that “classical music has a powerful effect on the intellectual and creative development of children from the very youngest of ages.” (Campbell, n.d.). To critically evaluate this claim a number of sources have been analysed. Through this analysis it was found that the claim cannot be supported by reliable empirical research and that classical music only produces short-term cognitive enhancement. This effect can be achieved by listening to any type of music. The first main theme found in the literature was that listening to classical music such as Mozart produced only short term increased cognitive abilities and did not aid the intellectual development of children. Secondly it was found that much of the testing on the topic was not reliable, contained many uncontrolled variables and there was little information relating to babies directly. Finally, many sources corroborated to agree that the same affect could be yielded from other types of music such as rock and pop.

    Read More

  • The Effects of Listening to Music on Physical Performance

    2505 Words  | 6 Pages

    Music has been suggested to affect the body’s physiological patterns in many ways. A study done in 2003 (Yamamoto et. al) exemplified the wavering levels of neurotransmitters as the type of music was changed. When the participants listen to slow-rhythm music their plasma levels of norepinephrine decreased, and when they listened to fast-rhythm music their plasma levels of epinephrine increased. Norepinephrine is a hormone generally known for mechanisms of the sympathetic nervous system, originating the fight or flight response. When it is lowered, the body’s stress level is suppressed, caused by a decrease in blood pressure. Epinephrine is a similar hormone, commonly referred to as adrenaline, which has been known to produce sudden responses to combat stress. An increase in plasma levels would increase the heart rate and dilate air passages to promote the expansion of oxygen to the body’s vital organs. By simply choosing a different pace of music, the way our physiology works can be completely altered.

    Read More

  • Music and the Brain

    2088 Words  | 5 Pages

    Music and the Brain: Processing and Responding (A General Overview). For any individual who either avidly listens to or performs music, it is understood that many melodies have amazing effects on both our emotions and our perception. To address the effects of music on the brain, it seems most logical to initially map the auditory and neural pathways of sound. In the case of humans, the mechanism responsible for receiving and transmitting sound to the brain is the ears.

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography: The Benefits Of Music Education

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    This source talks about the benefits of music on children and schools. It talks about how playing an instrument increasing brain function by forcing you to learn to do multiple things at once. This source talks about how listening to music at a young age can lead to better and faster language development. Children who have some kind of weekly music practice have slightly higher IQ’s. When you play an instrument your brain tends to work harder in all aspects of your life. The author is using logos to convince everyone. She is reliable because she has researched her information. This article is fairly current, one of the articles she uses is from 2004. It is relevant because it talks about how music affects a child’s cognitive ability. She uses fact and statistics to back up her claim.

    Read More

  • Mozart

    610 Words  | 2 Pages

    Roth, R. A., & Smith, K.H. (2008). The Mozart effect: Evidence for the arousal hypothesis.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Genius Of Mozart

    1610 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Genius of Mozart documentary it starts with Mozart’s father, Leopold Mozart, which Wolfgang Mozart had got his passion of music from. They were close with one another and developed a close bond that connected with no only Father and Son but as well as music. His father was not only his father; he was a teacher to Mozart. Mozart’s father said he was a light that was contributed to others, and that he would not belong to just one class. As Wolfgang Mozart grew up, he had to deal with an illness called arthritis. Leopold was close to his son and he knew everything about Mozart from top to bottom. Even things that we still to this day do not know about Mozart. Mozart uses music to express his emotions like many other composers do as well. Mozart

    Read More

  • The Mozart Effect: Don Campbell

    913 Words  | 2 Pages

    The idea of the Mozart effect began in 1993 with a study conducted by Rauscher, Shaw & Ky. This study involved 36 university students taking three different IQ spatial reasoning tasks and for each test used either Mozart’s sonata for two pianos in D major and relaxation music was played, silence was also used. The results of this experiment showed that students who had listened to the music of Mozart had better results for the spacial reasoning tests in comparison to silence or relaxation music. The results also showed that the impact of Mozart’s music was only temporary and only lasted for 10-15 minutes. Overall this study was very basic and had numerous flaws such as the sample size and also the variety of tests used to look at the impact of music (Rauscher, Shaw & Ky, 1993). In 1997 Don Campbell’s book The Mozart effect popularised the claim that music makes children smarter. This book created a public interest in music and brain development. The book uses Rauscher’s experiment as an example of what Mozart’s music can do which in this experiment shows a temporary increase in spatial reasoning, this however was misinterpreted by the public as an increase in IQ. The popularisation of the...

    Read More

  • The Mozart Effect

    1241 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Mozart Effect is a study that shows listening to classical music can have positive effects on learning and attitude. This occurrence is called the Mozart Effect, and it has been proven in experiments by many scientists. This research has caused much controversy between believers and nonbelievers, because The Mozart Effect is said to enhance the brain and reasoning; it is also used to reduce stress, depression, or anxiety; it induces relaxation or sleep; and the Mozart Effect activates the body. It also claims to help in the brain development in babies and young children and in addition is thought to aid in the process of studying.

    Read More

  • Mozart Case Study

    1033 Words  | 3 Pages

    Chelsea Lynn Joralmon MUSL 1324 TR 0900-1020 10 October 2017 Daily Textbook Guided Questions Chapter 11. 1. Who was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? Provide some details about his life and career. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756- December 5, 1791) was born in Salzburg, Austria to a family of musicians such as his father Leopold Mozart, who was a violinist in the ruling Archbishop of Salzburg orchestra and an author of a best-selling introduction to playing the violin.

    Read More

  • music and emotions

    1411 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ide of people, which is generally excited by happiness in the central case (Matravers 174). Music is not the whole part of the feeling; it just causes it (Matravers 174). When the volume from the music goes up, emotions will rise (Matravers 174). As the music goes down, the emotions decline as well (Matravers 174). The connection between music and emotions are similar to a mirror (Matravers 174). Whatever happens to the music, the human feelings will follow.

    Read More

  • The Benefits of Music

    910 Words  | 2 Pages

    Listening to music releases dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is known not only for improving mood but also increasing motivation and emotional stamina. But the benefits that come from listening to music affect more than just the way we feel. Studies have shown that when listening to the right style of music at the right decibel level, students have been able to concentrate better. For studying purposes, this mainly applies to classical music. Many school teachers and professors argue that music is simply distracting, or so stimulating that it inhibits a student’s ability to focus. However, when classical music has few words, or as is often found, few English words, the mind isn’t as easily distracted by the meaning or idea of the song. In fact, what is sometimes interpreted as chaotic in classical music can provide a high enough level of exertion for your brain to comprehend, that it stimulates high l...

    Read More

More about Mozart Effect Essay

Open Document