No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Mozart effect–Shmozart effect: A meta-analysis
Abstract
The transient enhancement of performance on spatial tasks in standardized tests after exposure to the first movement “allegro con spirito” of the Mozart sonata for two pianos in D major (KV 448) is referred to as the Mozart effect since its first observation by Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky (1993). These findings turned out to be amazingly hard to replicate, thus leading to an abundance of conflicting results. Sixteen years after initial publication we conduct the so far largest, most comprehensive, and up-to-date meta-analysis (nearly 40 studies, over 3000 subjects), including a diversity of unpublished research papers to finally clarify the scientific record about whether or not a specific Mozart effect exists. We could show that the overall estimated effect is small in size (d=0.37, 95% CI [0.23, 0.52]) for samples exposed to the Mozart sonata KV 448 and samples that had been exposed to a non-musical stimulus or no stimulus at all preceding spatial task performance. Additionally, calculation of effect sizes for samples exposed to any other musical stimulus and samples exposed to a non-musical stimulus or no stimulus at all yielded effects similar in strength (d=0.38, 95% CI [0.13, 0.63]), whereas there was a negligible effect between the two music conditions (d=0.15, 95% CI [0.02, 0.28]). Furthermore, formal tests yielded evidence for confounding publication bias, requiring downward correction of effects. The central finding of the present paper however, is certainly the noticeably higher overall effect in studies performed by Rauscher and colleagues than in studies performed by other researchers, indicating systematically moderating effects of lab affiliation. On the whole, there is little evidence left for a specific, performance-enhancing Mozart effect.
... In the same vein, Pietschnig et al. (2010) integrated 104 effect sizes that explored the effects of classical music on spatial tasks. The coding categories considered were the affiliation of the researchers, whether the studies were published or not, and the participants' age group (children or adults). ...
... The coding categories considered were the affiliation of the researchers, whether the studies were published or not, and the participants' age group (children or adults). For the comparisons between classical music and no music, Pietschnig et al. (2010) reported a moderate positive effect size for classical music in spatial skills as compared with no music conditions. Subgroup analyses also indicated that mean effect sizes did not differ between children and adults. ...
... The purposes of the present meta-analysis are to synthesize and integrate outcomes of experimental and quasi-experimental studies, and to extend previous meta-analyses exploring the effects of BM compared with non-BM on learning (Kampfe et al., 2011;Pietschnig et al., 2010). Five research questions guided the present meta-analysis according to the theoretical and empirical foundations. ...
This meta-analysis integrates outcomes of experimental and quasi-experimental studies to analyze the effects of background music (BM) on learning. Research articles, dissertations, and conference proceedings published in or before 2021 were examined. Seventy-one effect sizes from 47 studies were integrated using a random-effects model and subgroup analyses. Five key results were found: (a) a small and positive mean effect size ( d = 0.314) in favor of the BM condition, (b) a positive and medium effect size for studies that implemented BM before the learning assessment, (c) a positive and small effect size for factual knowledge retention, (d) a positive and small effect size for classical music compared with other music genres, and (e) individuals’ age can potentially moderate the impact of BM on learning. The results suggest a revised explanation of how the BM may affect learning, refuting existing cognitive load and multimedia learning theories that discourage the use of BM during instruction.
... However, the results of Rauscher's study were rather controversial, and were followed by not only results replicating the findings, but also by studies that reported lower effect sizes or found no effects at all (see Pietschnig et al., 2010 for a review). Replication studies have found that Mozart's music may not be superior to other types of music when it comes to improving spatial task performance: meta-analyses have found that the effect sizes are generally small and similar between the Mozart sonata that was used in Rauscher et al.'s (1993) study and other musical pieces (Hetland, 2000;Pietschnig et al., 2010). Furthermore, it appears that personal preferences for certain stimuli also contribute to the observed effects; for example, when a narrated story was favored over music, similar effects were also observed in this condition among undergraduates (Nantais & Schellenberg, 1999). ...
... To determine the necessary sample size, we conducted an a priori power analysis using G*Power (Faul et al., 2007). Our choice of a medium effect size was informed by the range of effect sizes observed in previous studies, ranging from small effects when examining the Mozart effect (Pietschnig et al., 2010), to moderate effects in the context of music and attention (Mendes et al., 2021), to strong effects associated with self-selected enjoyable music in memory tasks (Cansu et al., 2020). With the goal of achieving 95% statistical power for a repeated measures MANOVA, an alpha level of 0.05, and a medium effect size (f = 0.25), G*Power estimated that a sample size of 106 participants would be required. ...
Listening to music has been shown to have positive impacts on mood and task performance, but there is little knowledge on such effects in school environments. This mixed-method study aimed to investigate the effects of self-selected music on students’ mood, motivation, concentration, and learning success in a real-life school context. Forty-eight secondary school students (age range: 15–19) completed the study, and both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The study consisted of two phases: one week of regular lessons without music and a subsequent week in which students listened to self-selected music before each lesson. The results showed that listening to music had strong positive effects on mood, motivation, and concentration, and moderate effects on learning. Qualitative analysis of open-ended questions revealed that the beneficial effects were mostly perceived to be due to creating positive and energizing emotions, increasing attention, and providing routine and rest between lessons. The findings suggest that listening to self-selected music could be an effective and low-cost strategy for enhancing students’ emotional state, motivation, and concentration in a school context.
... Early research has coined the enhancement in cognitive performance in response to music the 'Mozart effect' since such enhancement has been observed following the exposure to Mozart music (Jaušovec et al., 2006;Rauscher et al., 1993), but there is little evidence for the Mozart effect (Pietschnig et al., 2010;Steele et al., 1999). Instead, some have argued that the enhancement in performance is the consequence of preference because the preferred condition/stimulation has a positive effect on mood and arousal (Husain et al., 2002;Thompson et al., 2001). ...
... While it is intriguing that mere listening to music might lead to temporary cognitive enhancement, understanding the mechanism of how music affects cognitive performance might not be straightforward. A meta-analysis suggests that there is little evidence for the Mozart effect (Pietschnig et al., 2010). Rather, the Mozart effect might result from one's preference for one condition over another. ...
The overarching goal of this thesis is to examine how musical sophistication and/or specific dimension of musical sophistication are related to autistic traits, EF and quality of life in the general population. Chapters 2 and 3 focus on validating the AQ as the AQ was used throughout the studies of the thesis. Chapter 2 investigated whether language influences the response to the AQ among multilingual Malaysians. Specifically, participants’ responses to the AQ in their native language and English were compared. Chapter 3 examined the psychometric properties of an abridged version of the AQ (i.e., AQ-28) in the Dutch and Malaysian general population, and whether the autistic traits as measured by the AQ-28 are comparable between Dutch and Malaysian participants. Chapter 4 investigated if autistic traits would be associated with certain music preferences after controlling for other factors (e.g., age, gender, personality traits and musical ability) that are known to influence music preferences. Chapter 5 explored if listening to preferred music would improve the performance on EF tasks compared to relaxing music and silence and whether autistic traits and EDA are associated with the performance on EF tasks. The relationship between autistic traits, musical sophistication, EF, and quality of life was examined in Chapter 6. The current thesis demonstrates that greater musical sophistication is associated with better EF, and in turn, better quality of life. Active engagement in the form of music listening, however, does not seem to influence EF. Higher autistic traits are associated with poorer quality of life and a reduced preference for Contemporary music. Arousal seems not elevated in response to self-selected music and not associated with EF and autistic traits. Results concerning psychometric properties of AQ, music preference, personality and music listening on cognitive performance do not fully replicate previous findings from the Western contexts.
... "Allegro Con Spirito" (KV 448), the first part of Mozart's Sonata in D major composed of two pianos, is a temporary increase in spatial intelligence in standard tests after listening. Although many researchers have tested this situation repeatedly since Rauscher first observed this situation (Rauscher et al., 1993), there are also studies in which the Mozart Effect is not accepted due to the inability to obtain the same result (Pietschnig et al., 2010;Steele et al., 1999). Although it is controversial in studies whether the Mozart Effect affects essential cognitive functions in music, it positively affects mood in these studies (Perlovsky et al., 2013). ...
Gifted individuals are more advanced than their peers in cognitive, affective, psychomotor, or creative areas. This study aimed to find an answer to how gifted students’ immediate emotional states change by means of music containing different emotions. The sample of the study consisted of 122 students studying at Adana BİLSEM. Their moods were measured after listening to different pieces of music. The findings showed that there was a significant difference between the emotions that the students felt with different music, they felt more positive emotions, and the girls felt the emotion much more than the boys. The results of this study can be used to better understand gifted students and to develop musical activities to help them manage their emotions.
... In our study, classical music is the most popular among dental practitioners at 39.50%, followed by blues and jazz at 20.70%. The meta-analysis by Pietschnig, J. establishes that listening to Mozart has a small but statistically significant positive effect on task performance [12]. However, a similar beneficial effect can be found in other musical genres [13], raising interest in selecting the appropriate musical style for the dental office. ...
... These findings started to receive media attention in 1994 and the hypothesis that listening to Mozart could improve cognitive abilities became known as the 'Mozart effect'. However, multiple laboratories failed to replicate the initial findings of Rauscher et al., leading to strong scepticism among the scientific community about the Mozart effect's validity in healthy subjects [2,3]. ...
... As time progressed, a large number of studies were released that conflated it with the Mozart effect. This collection of individual research papers supports or elaborates further on the impacts of music teaching that music is a solid foundation and operates as a core cognitive function (8). Separate researchers carried out these investigations. ...
Music always influences how a person thinks and communicates with others. Research on the relationship between music and education has been growing for several years. Some scholars suggest that listening to music may improve cognitive capabilities, while others believe that it may slow down complicated brain processes. Electronic dance music (EDM) is a subgenre of electronic music originally composed for use in bars, clubs and other venues that include dance-based amusement. Some scholars argue that EDM is a music style that benefits our brain activities, particularly their cognitive aspects. However, the use of EDM to enhance academic performance among students is still not widely practised globally. Furthermore, research on EDM usage among medical students is rarely conducted. Hence, this study aims to investigate EDM as a learning tool and discover whether it is helpful in improving medical students’ academic achievement and overall growth. The study consists of a narrative review conducted according to the Scale for the Assessment of Narrative Review Articles (SANRA). Literature searches were performed in the databases of PubMed, ResearchGate, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar for the period between September 2012 and November 2022. The review revealed limited research on the use of EDM as an instrument to enhance academic performance among medical students. However, existing studies suggest that EDM may have cognitive benefits and positively influence brain activities, particularly in the cognitive domain. Although EDM is commonly associated with leisure and entertainment settings, its potential for learning remains underexplored in the context of medical education.
... The fad was such that the then Georgia's Governor budgeted over 100,000 $ to make music available to all new-borns (Sack, 1998). However, researchers now know from failed replications and results of meta-analyses that there is no evidence for Mozart effect as described earlier (Pietschnig et al., 2010) (Chabris, 1999) (Wilson & Brown, 1997). With the current fad of listening to music while studying promoted social media influencers and music artists alike, the availability of mobile devices with a large teenage population, easy access to music streaming platforms coupled with the incessant burden of pursuit of academic excellence; are we again falling in the trap of a make belief notion? ...
... If the fascinating replicability question itself is out of the scope (Feest, 2019), we must acknowledge that music's effects on cognitive processes are highly sensitive to the context of observation. For the Mozart effect, conflicting results are abundant in the tens of experiments devoted to that effect (Pietschnig, Voracek, & Formann, 2010). More generally, background music has been shown to influence cognitive performance in opposite ways, representing a facilitator during some tasks (e.g., memory or learning, Ferreri, Bigand, & Bugaiska, 2015;Kang & Williamson, 2014) but also a source of interference in others (see Cheah, Wong, Spitzer, & Coutinho, 2022 for a review). ...
The purpose of this study was to better understand how music listening impacts driving behaviours , two common activities. Driving behaviours were categorized into three levels of cognitive control (operational, tactical, and strategical) while the selection of the musical background experienced during simulated driving was left to participants. The following characteristics were considered as candidates to investigate driving behaviours changes: individual characteristics in terms of driving experience and music listener (i.e., individual sensitivity to music reward and frequency of music listening), music parameters (i.e., tempo, mode), and mood and emotional changes induced by music. Ninety-two drivers' behaviours were analysed in a variety of simulated driving situations. The findings support the rationale that musical background has the potential to impact driving behaviours. Driving behaviours requiring an "operational" level of cognitive control were found to be the most influenced by the musical stimuli. Music listening was also found to generate mood and emotion changes, which can in turn influence driving behaviours , especially when the induced emotional valence is negative. However, background music's influence on driving behaviours, either direct or mediated by emotional or mood changes, seemed rather limited in terms of effect size.
... It has also been argued that the Mozart effect is an "artifact" (Nantais & Schellenberg, 1999, p. 370) of putting people in a positive emotional state as the perfornance-enhancing effects of Mozart's music vanished when listening to Mozart was compared to a condition with another positively engaging activity. A meta-analysis titled "Mozart effect-Shmozart effect" (Pietschnig et al., 2010) ended with the conclusion that Mozart's music does not affect spatial intelligence when compared to other types of music. When compared to quiet, there was a small beneficial effect of music on spatial tasks but the main determinant of the effect was whether or not the study was conducted by the authors of the original paper on the Mozart effect: The effect was reliably present only in studies conducted in the lab of the original authors. ...
People believe most background sounds to disrupt their cognitive performance. An exception is music they like which is believed to improve cognitive performance. To examine the objective effects of music on cognitive performance, the serial-recall paradigm was used. Mozart’s sonata K. 448 – the music piece used in classical studies on the Mozart effect – caused distraction. However, with ongoing exposure to the music participants were able to adapt to some degree to the distracting effect of the music under conditions that increased the predictability of the sounds, suggesting that the development of a predictive model of the unfolding auditory input helped to diminish distraction. Retrospective metacognitive judgements indicated that the more participants liked the music the more likely they were to judge that it had helped their performance. However, serial recall was disrupted by the music irrespective of whether the music was liked or not.
... Por el contrario, muchos de estos intentos de trasladar los descubrimientos científicos sobre cómo aprendemos a métodos concretos de instrucción y aplicaciones educativas han sido prematuros en el mejor de los casos dada la complejidad del aprendizaje humano; o han producido distorsiones en el peor de los escenarios (Goswami, 2006;Mayer, 2017;Owens y Tanner, 2017). Una de las distorsiones más reconocidas fue cuando el gobernador del estado estadounidense de Georgia decidió donar un CD de música de Mozart a cada recién nacido para fomentar el desarrollo de la inteligencia (véase Pietschnig et al., 2010). ...
... Although Mozart effect was replicated in multiple independent laboratories (Pietschnig et al., 2010), subsequent studies have observed it with a wide range of musical styles, from other pieces of classical music (Ivanov & Geake, 2003;Nantais & Schellenberg, 1999) to the contemporary compositions by Yanni (Rideout et al., 1998). Furthermore, the evidence accumulated since the seminal paper on the Mozart effect fits better with a later alternative explanation (Nantais & Schellenberg, 1999;Thompson et al., 2001): music would enhance cognitive performance by promoting positive mood and higher levels of arousal. ...
There is currently a growing interest in ways to enhance and preserve our cognitive skills through changes in lifestyle. Extensive scientific evidence links several behavioral and environmental factors, such as smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, a sedentary lifestyle, and inadequate nutrition, to an increased risk of cognitive impairment, dementia, and accelerated aging. On the other side, education, physical exercise, and cognitively stimulating occupations and leisure activities have all been associated with neurocognitive benefits and the prevention of the pervasive consequences of neural aging. Among them, a wealth of studies has associated musical training, and particularly learning to play an instrument, with differences in auditory and sensorimotor skills, as well as in multiple non-musical cognitive capacities: intelligence, visuospatial abilities, processing speed, executive control, attention and vigilance, episodic and working memory, and language.
... Regarding the third research question [RQ3], a recent example of a meta-analysis relating to music and quality-of-life outcomes is Pietschnig, Voracek, and Formann's (2010) study of forty separate studies on the "Mozart Effect." The researchers determined that no data supported this impact. ...
The new cognitive field of neuromusical education and research combines neuroscience and music. This article reviews recent research literature and discusses the application of neuroscience to music education, highlighting the positive effects of music education on the cognitive functions of the brain and the enhancement of an individual's quality of life. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to examine the value of music education in enhancing brain function and promoting quality of life, as well as its continued application in the contemporary educational environment.
... For example, classical music was preferred by 58% of the responders [51]. A meta-analysis concluded that there is a small but statistically significant beneficial effect of listening to Mozart on task performance [60]. However, this effect can also be observed with other types of music [52]. ...
Sound is inextricably linked to the human senses and is therefore directly related to the general health of the individual. The aim of the present study is to collect data on the effect of two dimensions of sound, music, and noise from an emotional and functional point of view in the dental office and to perform a thorough review of the relevant literature. We collected articles from the databases PubMed and Google Scholar through keywords that were related to noise and music in healthcare. Important information was also extracted from articles on the web and official websites. Screening of the relevant literature was performed according to accuracy and reliability of the methodology tested. A total of 261 articles were associated to sound and music in healthcare. Ninety-six of them were the most well documented and were thus included in our article. Most of the articles associate noise with negative emotions and a negative impact on performance, while music is associated with positive emotions ranging from emotional state to therapeutic approaches. Few results were found regarding ways to reduce noise in a health facility. If there is a difficulty to find effective methods of reducing the daily noise-inducing sounds in the dental office, we must focus on ways to incorporate music into it as a means of relaxation and therapy.
... This piece is in a major mode with a relatively fast tempo. Excerpts with these musical characteristics have been shown to induce higher levels of arousal, improve mood, and enhance cognitive performance [25,30,33,51]. The other piece was Albinoni's Adagio in G minor for organ and strings, performed by I. Solisti Veneti and conducted by Claudio Scimone. ...
Using the arousal and mood hypothesis as a theoretical framework, we examined whether community-dwelling older adults (N = 132) exhibited cognitive benefits after listening to music. Participants listened to shorter (≈2.5 min) or longer (≈8 min) excerpts from recordings of happy- or sad-sounding music or from a spoken-word recording. Before and after listening, they completed tasks measuring visuospatial working memory (WM), cognitive flexibility and speed, verbal fluency, and mathematical ability, as well as measures of arousal and mood. In general, older adults improved from pre- to post-test on the cognitive tasks. For the test of WM, the increase was greater for participants who heard happy-sounding music compared to those in the other two groups. The happy-sounding group also exhibited larger increases in arousal and mood, although improvements in mood were evident only for the long-duration condition. At the individual level, however, improvements in WM were unrelated to changes in arousal or mood. In short, the results were partially consistent with the arousal and mood hypothesis. For older adults, listening to happy-sounding music may optimize arousal levels and mood, and improve performance on some cognitive tasks (i.e., WM), even though there is no direct link between changes in arousal/mood and changes in WM.
... Cognitive neuroscientists were puzzled by the program in Georgia that was based on their work. Since this fiasco, numerous researchers have emphasized caution in the interpretation of findings without significant laboratory support to implement practical applications of potential educational interventions [164][165][166]. ...
The paper overviews components of neurologic processing efficiencies to develop innovative methodologies and thinking for school-based applications and changes in educational leadership based on sound findings in the cognitive neurosciences applied to schools and learners. Systems science can allow us to better manage classroom-based learning and instruction on the basis of relatively easily evaluated efficiencies or inefficiencies and optimization instead of simply examining achievement. "Medicalizing" the learning process with concepts such as "learning disability" or employing grading methods such as pass-fail does little to aid in understanding the processes that learners employ to acquire, integrate, remember, and apply information learned. The paper endeavors to overview and provide reference to tools that can be employed that allow a better focus on nervous system-based strategic approaches to classroom learning.
... Due to the increasing popularity of personal digital devices, more and more students listen to music while they are studying. It is however a controversial issue whether background music is helpful to cognitive memory or study performance (Bellezza, 1996;Pietschnig et al., 2010). Etaugh & Michals (1975) and Deems (2001) both found that students who normally listened to music while studying scored higher on reading comprehension tests compared to those who usually studied without any background music. ...
Due to the increasing popularity of personal digital devices, many students listen to music while they study. It is however a controversial issue whether music listening is helpful to study performance. This study investigates the effects of different types of background music on study performance among college students through lab experiments. Two major categories of study activities - reading comprehension and mathematical computation - were examined for four different treatments of background music style (i.e., soft music, rock music, heavy metal music, and no music). For each student subject, objective measures, such as test scores and heart rates, were recorded for all conditions of the experiment design. Subjective measures concerning treatment evaluations along with personal preference and behaviours on music listening were instrumented in the individual interviews after the experiments. Data analysis on the objective measures indicates that neither test scores nor heart rates of reading comprehension and mathematic computation for different styles of background music are with statistical significance. However, significant gender differences were found and the influences were distinct for the two study activities tested. By further cross-referencing with the subjective measures, our results suggest that, for a better studying performance, college students may choose to listen to background music with preferred music for reading activities but non-preferred music for mathematic computation.
... The eye-catching finding that listening to a Mozart sonata improves spatial reasoning (Rauscher et al., 1993), an effect later established to be a rather non-specific consequence of arousal (Pietschnig et al., 2010;Thompson et al., 2001), led to interest in whether passive music exposure brings about hippocampal changes in animal models. Such exposure, especially prenatally or in development, can result in differential gene expression and regulation, elevated markers of neurogenesis, and changes in synaptic density and regulation in rodent (Angelucci et al., 2007;Chikahisa et al., 2006;Kim et al., 2006;Lee et al., 2016;Meng Fig. 6. ...
The hippocampus has a well-established role in spatial and episodic memory but a broader function has been proposed including aspects of perception and relational processing. Neural bases of sound analysis have been described in the pathway to auditory cortex, but wider networks supporting auditory cognition are still being established. We review what is known about the role of the hippocampus in processing auditory information, and how the hippocampus itself is shaped by sound. In examining imaging, recording, and lesion studies in species from rodents to humans, we uncover a hierarchy of hippocampal responses to sound including during passive exposure, active listening, and the learning of associations between sounds and other stimuli. We describe how the hippocampus' connectivity and computational architecture allow it to track and manipulate auditory information – whether in the form of speech, music, or environmental, emotional, or phantom sounds. Functional and structural correlates of auditory experience are also identified. The extent of auditory-hippocampal interactions is consistent with the view that the hippocampus makes broad contributions to perception and cognition, beyond spatial and episodic memory. More deeply understanding these interactions may unlock applications including entraining hippocampal rhythms to support cognition, and intervening in links between hearing loss and dementia.
... The major bene t could be that music and its use in foreign language learning (FLL) produces a pleasant, calming environment and can lower stress levels or can work as emotional lters (Degrave, 2019). Moreover, it can generate positive perception of foreign languages (Tomatis, 1991), helps encoding of a verbal memory task (Ferreri et al, 2013), simplify the acquisition of nearly all aspects of the language and foster cultural awareness among learners (Alisaari & Heikkola, 2016;Džanić & Pejić, 2016), can be a good technique to get rid of the challenges that come with learning a foreign language by decreasing anxiety (Yüce, 2018), can dramatically enhance performance (Pietschnig, Voracek, & Formann, 2010), in addition to hearers engagement (Krause, Glasser, & Osborne, 2021), and also the development in functional brain changes (Putkinen & Tervaniemi, 2018). ...
The use of music in second language teaching is important due to the large number of benefits it can bring to the students and the whole educational process. The present study investigates students’ and teachers’ perspectives on using music in five Muslim countries, namely, Iraq, Turkey, Oman, Yemen, and Indonesia. It also attempts to show whether there is any correlation between using music in English as a second language classes and students’ motivation, intelligence, and social skills. The other important thing that this study focuses on is the cultural and religious matters that may prevent using music in schools in the researched countries. The study comprises participants, teachers and students, from all the mentioned countries. The researchers used two online interviews with the respondents. The interviews with the students were conducted Arabic, Turkish, and Indonesian to facilitate reliable data collection from the students. The findings of the study show the very positive attitudes of teachers and students in relation to the use of music in all the countries mentioned. It clearly shows that basically all participants, i.e., both the students and the teachers are very much motivated to implement or use more music in their classes. It also shows the enthusiasm of teachers to use music in their daily lessons and how they are ready to have any required training on musical aids. Teachers were convinced that using music can enhance students’ motivation, intelligence, and social skills. So, no cultural or religious ideas, regarding not using music in classes, were mentioned. On the other hand, the present study constructs a global vision towards the main challenges of teachers when using music, namely, the lack of training, no extra time available, and no resources for supporting music rooms or musical aids.
... This focus on Mozart may be driven by Rauscher and colleague's reports of the "Mozart effect" (Rauscher et al., 1998(Rauscher et al., , 1993, which was an increase in spatial abilities in humans and rats after listening to Mozart K.448. Since then, replicating the effect has been difficult (Steele et al., 1995) and a meta-analysis has suggested that the Mozart effect is negligible in humans (Pietschnig et al., 2010), but this has not deterred researchers from using Mozart K.448 in music welfare research Saghari et al., 2021). ...
Music can have powerful effects on human health and wellbeing. These findings have inspired an emerging field of research that focuses on the potential of music for animal welfare, with most studies investigating whether music can enhance overall wellbeing. However, this sole focus on discovering what effects music have on animals is insufficient for advancing scientific and practical understanding of how music can be used as an enrichment tool and can also lead to problems in experimental design and interpretation. This paper argues for a different approach to the study of music for welfare, where music is used to address specific welfare goals, taking account what animals hear in music and selecting or creating ‘musical’ compositions that test current hypotheses about how music is able to influence animal behaviour and physiology. Within this conceptual framework, we outline the process through which perceptual abilities influence welfare outcomes and suggest reframing music for welfare research as Auditory Enrichment Research which adopts a targeted approach that does not purpose music as an all-round welfare enhancer but rather investigates whether auditory enrichment can ameliorate specific welfare problems based on species-specific perceptual abilities, needs, and welfare goals. Ultimately, we hope that these discussions will help to bring greater unification, vision, and directionality in the field.
... These drawbacks are somehow similar when compared with studies evaluating the quality of other theories usually applied in education, such as multiple intelligences, the Mozart effect, or emotional intelligence (Ferrero et al., 2021;Pietschnig et al., 2010;Waterhouse, 2006). For example, the extensive review about multiple intelligences identified comparable pitfalls regarding experimental research designs, the need of larger samples to increase statistical power, the inclusion of active or placebo groups, or improvements in the reporting of research outcomes. ...
In accordance with the outcomes from a number of reports, there are cognitive and academic improvements derived from chess learning and chess playing. This evidence, however, endures three key limitations: (a) ignoring theoretical premises about the concept of transfer, (b) several shortcomings regarding ideal experiment guidelines, and (c) an uncritical faith in null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) statistical analyses. The present review scrutinized the NHST outcomes from 45 studies describing chess instruction interventions (n = 12,705) in nineteen countries that targeted cognitive ability (100 tests) and academic performance (108 tests), with a mean Hedge’s effect size g = 572 (95% CI = [0.127, 1.062]). There was a lower average statistical power, a higher proportion of false positive outcomes, larger publication biases, and lower replication rates for the studies in the academic performance domain than in the cognitive ability domain. These findings raised reasonable concerns over the evidence about the benefits of chess instruction, which was particularly problematic regarding academic achievement outcomes. Chess should perhaps be regularly taught, however, regardless of whether it has a direct impact or not in cognitive abilities and academic performance, because these are far transfer targets. The more likely impact of chess on near transfer outcomes from higher quality studies remains at present unexplored.
... After Rauscher et al. first demonstrated beneficial effects on spatial task performance, the so-called Mozart effect [3], diverse evidence pro or contra music was published approximately in equal parts ever since [4]. The majority of surgeons listen to some music in operating theaters worldwide [5][6][7][8]. ...
Purpose
Music is often played in operating theaters. In the literature, the effects of music on surgeons are controversial. We aimed to investigate the effect of different music genres and amplitudes on laparoscopic performance.
Methods
Novice surgeons underwent a proficiency-based laparoscopic training curriculum. Participants were required to perform these tasks under three conditions: no music, with music in medium volume (45–50 dB) and in high volume (65–70 dB). Soft rock by the Beatles and hard rock by AC/DC were played. Task performance was evaluated by analyzing speed and accuracy.
Results
With soft rock in medium volume, participants were faster in peg transfer (60.3 vs. 56.7 s, P = 0.012) and more accurate in suture with intracorporeal knot (79.2 vs. 54.0, P = 0.011) compared to without music. The total score was improved (383.4 vs. 337.9, P = 0.0076) by enhancing accuracy (79.5 vs. 54.0, P = 0.011). This positive effect was lost if the soft rock was played in high volume. With hard rock in medium volume, participants were faster performing precision cutting (139.4 vs. 235.8, P = 0.0009) compared to without music. Both balloon preparation and precision cutting were performed more rapidly (227.3 vs. 181.4, P = 0.003, 139.4 vs. 114.0, P < 0.0001) and the accuracy was maintained. Hard rock in high volume also resulted in increased speed (366.7 vs. 295.5, P < 0.0001) compared to without music. Thereby, the total scores of participants were enhanced (516.5 vs. 437.1, P = 0.002).
Conclusion
Our data reveal that the effect of music on laparoscopic performance might depend on the combination of music genre and amplitude. A generally well-accepted music genre in the right volume could improve the performance of novice surgeons during laparoscopic surgeries.
Trial Registration
DRKS00026759, register date: 18.10.2021 (retrospectively registered).
... The eye-catching finding that listening to a Mozart sonata improves spatial reasoning (Rauscher et al., 1993), an effect later established to be a rather non-specific consequence of arousal (Pietschnig et al., 2010;Thompson et al., 2001), led to interest in whether passive music exposure brings about hippocampal changes in animal models. ...
The hippocampus has a well-established role in spatial and episodic memory but a broader function has been proposed including aspects of perception and relational processing. Neural bases of sound analysis have been described in the pathway to auditory cortex, but wider networks supporting auditory cognition are still being established. We review what is known about the role of the hippocampus in processing auditory information, and how the hippocampus itself is shaped by sound. In examining imaging, recording, and lesion studies in species from rodents to humans, we uncover a hierarchy of hippocampal responses to sound including during passive exposure, active listening, and the learning of associations between sounds and other stimuli. We describe how the hippocampus' connectivity and computational architecture allow it to track and manipulate auditory information – whether in the form of speech, music, or environmental, emotional, or phantom sounds. Functional and structural correlates of auditory experience are also identified. The extent of auditory-hippocampal interactions is consistent with the view that the hippocampus makes broad contributions to perception and cognition, beyond spatial and episodic memory. More deeply understanding these interactions may unlock applications including entraining hippocampal rhythms to support cognition, and intervening in links between hearing loss and dementia.
... One sign that scientists engage in socially motivated research is the replication crisis and subsequent discovery of widespread p-hacking and other QRPs (Camerer et al., 2018;Ebersole et al., 2020;Flake & Fried, 2020;Ioannidis, 2012;Nosek et al., 2021;Open Science Collaboration, 2015;Simmons et al., 2011;Simmons & Simonsohn, 2017;Simonsohn et al., 2014;Singal, 2021;Vazire, 2018). Since 2012, the field has been rattled by a surge of nonreplications of oft-cited findings, including growth mindset (Bahník & Vranka, 2017;Rienzo et al., 2015;Sisk et al., 2018;Stoet & Geary, 2012), power posing (Jonas et al., 2017;Simmons & Simonsohn, 2017), ego depletion (Hagger et al., 2016), priming (Pashler et al., 2012;Shanks et al., 2013;Steele, 2014), the influence of incidental disgust on moral evaluations (Landy & Goodwin, 2015;Jylkkä et al., 2020), the Mozart effect (Pietschnig et al., 2010), mortality salience effects (Klein et al., 2019;Saetrevik & Sjåstad, 2019), the relation between ovulatory phase and numerous outcomes (Bleske-Rechek et al., 2011;Hahn et al., 2020;Thomas et al., 2021;Wood et al., 2014) and the influence of analytic thinking on religious belief (Sanchez et al., 2017). Numerous in-depth investigations have uncovered questionable analytic techniques scholars use to generate publication-worthy findings, including running multiple studies and only writing up the impressive findings, playing the statistical significance lottery by including multiple dependent variables and only reporting those that "worked," and flat-out fraud by fabricating data or dropping participants from datafiles for erroneous reasons (Blanton & Mitchell, 2011;Simonsohn et al., 2021), among other tactics. ...
General Audience Summary
Behavioral and social scientists have long enjoyed vast discretion in data-analysis choices. This permissive regime has enabled scholars to engage in many deceptive analytic techniques that facilitated false claims and undercut the field’s collective credibility. Recent adoption of new transparency norms has slowed these trends and has shed light on the nonreplicability of many once-prominent empirical findings. But these transparency norms lack means of constraining researchers’ flexibility to cherry-pick how they define their variables and design their empirical tests that make it easier for scholars to support their preferred hypotheses. This freedom continues to facilitate false claims in the social and behavioral sciences and enables contradictory conclusions to persist for decades with little to no convergence. We propose that adversarial collaborations, which call on disagreeing scientists to codevelop tests of their competing hypotheses, are a vital supplement to current scientific norms for improving science’s capacity for self-correction. Adversarial collaborations disincentivize performative research aimed at like-minded colleagues, instead favoring intense intellectual competition designed to winnow false claims. We explain why it is in the best interests of the research community to incorporate adversarial collaboration as a routine component of science.
... The latter, notoriously entitled "Mozart effect, " has stirred a controversy in the research community and beyond, as several studies could not replicate the initial outcome (cf. Pietschnig et al., 2010). Research on music's social effects, on the other hand, has hardly been questioned. ...
Prosocial effects of music have recently attracted increased attention in research and media. An often-cited experiment, carried out by Kirschner and Tomasello in 2010 under laboratory conditions, found that children at the age of four years were more willing to help each other after they had engaged in synchronous musical activities. The aim of the current study was to replicate this research under controlled field conditions in the children's social environment, and to disentangle the musical synchronization effect by introducing a verbal interaction (singing together) and a motor interaction (tapping together) task, contrasted by an asynchronous control condition. In a between-participants design, no effects of musical synchronization nor the children's gender were found. Furthermore, age was not related to prosocial behavior. Explanations are systematically discussed, yet it remains possible that the original effect found in 2010 might be overestimated and less consistently reproducible as previously assumed.
Despite considerable progress made in educational neuroscience, neuromyths persist in the teaching profession, hampering translational endeavors. The initial wave of interventions designed to dispel educational neuromyths was predominantly directed at preservice teachers. More recent work in the field, reviewed here, has shifted its focus primarily to in-service teacher professional development interventions. We discuss various interventional approaches, including refutation texts embedded into a brief training in foundational neuroscience, personalized refutation texts, insightful reflections upon science of learning key concepts (e.g., brain plasticity), and immersive experiences within research groups, highlighting their strengths and limitations. The evolving nature of scientific knowledge, the imperative to respect educators' personal and professional sensitivities, as well as challenges posed by conceptual change, are also addressed. This narrative review underscores the need to bring neuromyth investigations into the classroom environment. At the turn of the millennium, major advances in neuro-science fueled expectations for an education grounded in scientific knowledge of the brain (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2002). Access to neuroimaging technology, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, has allowed for the emergence of a mediational field-educational neuroscience-to probe brain structures and functions involved in the acquisition
Neste artigo de revisão abordamos o campo das neurociências aplicadas à música e à saúde enquanto um campo fascinante que investiga os efeitos da música no cérebro humano e como a música pode influenciar a saúde física e psíquica das pessoas. A música ativa várias áreas do cérebro de forma simultânea, envolvendo regiões ligadas às emoções, além de áreas ligadas ao controle motor e comportamental e das redes neurais ligadas às memórias e linguagem. A utilização da música em contexto musicoterapêutico também pode contribuir para diminuir a ansiedade e modular o humor, com impacto positivo no desenvolvimento cognitivo e melhorando as habilidades motoras, de concentração e memória, sendo uma ferramenta terapêutica para várias condições médicas desde a reabilitação, incluindo transtornos neurológicos e transtornos do neurodesenvolvimento, até o tratamento de demências com resultados positivos nas funções executivas e memórias.
Regression ranks among the most popular statistical analysis methods across many research areas, including psychology. Typically, regression coefficients are displayed in tables. While this mode of presentation is information-dense, extensive tables can be cumbersome to read and difficult to interpret. Here, we introduce three novel visualizations for reporting regression results. Our methods allow researchers to arrange large numbers of regression models in a single plot. Using regression results from real-world as well as simulated data, we demonstrate the transformations which are necessary to produce the required data structure and how to subsequently plot the results. The proposed methods provide visually appealing ways to report regression results efficiently and intuitively. Potential applications range from visual screening in the model selection stage to formal reporting in research papers. The procedure is fully reproducible using the provided code and can be executed via free-of-charge, open-source software routines in R.
Background
The accumulation of age‐associated cognitive deficits can lead to Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and dementia. This is a major public health issue for the modern ageing population, as it impairs health, independence and overall quality of life. Keeping the brain active during life has been associated with an increased cognitive reserve, therefore reducing the risk of cognitive impairment in older age. Previous research has identified a potential relationship between musicality and cognition.
Objectives
Explore the relationship between musicality and cognitive function in a large cohort of older adults.
Methods
This was a nested study within the PROTECT‐UK cohort, which collects longitudinal computerised assessments of cognitive function in adults over 40. Participants were invited to complete the validated Edinburgh Lifetime Musical Experience Questionnaire (ELMEQ) to assess their musical experience and lifetime exposure to music. Linear regression analysis was performed using cognitive data from PROTECT‐UK.
Results
Analysis identified an association between musicality and cognition in this cohort. Playing a musical instrument was associated with significantly better performance in working memory and executive function. Significant associations were also found between singing and executive function, and between overall musical ability and working memory.
Conclusions
Our findings confirm previous literature, highlighting the potential value of education and engagement in musical activities throughout life as a means of harnessing cognitive reserve as part of a protective lifestyle for brain health.
Efforts to integrate music into healthcare systems and wellness practices are accelerating but the biological foundations supporting these initiatives remain underappreciated. As a result, music-based interventions are often sidelined in medicine. Here, I bring together advances in music research from neuroscience, psychology, and psychiatry to bridge music’s specific foundations in human biology with its specific therapeutic applications. The framework I propose organizes the neurophysiological effects of music around four core elements of human musicality: tonality, rhythm, reward, and sociality. For each, I review key concepts, biological bases, and evidence of clinical benefits. Within this framework, I outline a strategy to increase music’s impact on health based on standardizing treatments and their alignment with individual differences in responsivity to these musical elements. I propose that an integrated biological understanding of human musicality—describing each element’s functional origins, development, phylogeny, and neural bases—is critical to advancing rational applications of music in mental health and wellness.
Reproducibility is a persistent concern in science and recently attracts considerable attention in assessing biological responses to ocean acidification. Here we track the reproducibility of the harmful effects of ocean acidification on calcification of shell-building organisms by conducting a meta-analysis of 373 studies across 24 years. The pioneering studies tended to report large negative effects, but as other researchers assimilated this research into understanding their biological systems, the size of negative effects declined. Such declines represent a scientific process by which discoveries are initially assimilated and their limitations are subsequently explored. We suggest that scientific novelties can polarize a discipline where researchers fail to distinguish between different motivations for testing a phenomenon, that is, its existence (theory proposal) versus its influence within ever-widening contexts (theory development). Where context dependency is high, the lack of reproducibility may not represent a crisis but a part of theory development and eventual gravitation towards a consensus position.
The science of human development informs our thinking about children and their development. The Brain Development Revolution asks how and why has brain development become the major lens for understanding child development, and its consequences. It describes the 1997 I Am Your Child campaign that engaged public attention through a sophisticated media communications effort, a White House conference, and other events. It explores the campaign's impact, including voter initiatives to fund early childhood programs and a national campaign for prekindergarten education, but also several missed opportunities. The study examines why brain development compels our attention, why we are – but shouldn't be – neurodeterminists, and the challenges of communicating developmental brain science. This book examines the framing of the brain development story, the selectivity of the messaging, and overpromising the results of early programs. Lastly, it discusses proposals for how science communication can be improved to better serve children and the public.
All the preceding chapters have led to this one fundamental question: can intelligence be increased? It is a simple question, but what exactly does it mean? As discussed in Chapters 2 and 3, from a scientific standpoint, intelligence can mean an assessment score (from a reliable and valid standardized test), a broad factor (like verbal, visuospatial, or perceptual ability), and the general factor common to all mental abilities (the g-factor). The measured performance on any given cognitive test results from the contribution of g, the specific ability tapped by the test, and the specific skills required for such a test. Therefore, when we observe an increase in the measures we administer, the change can be at the test, the ability, or the g level. An increase can be small, albeit statistically significant, or large enough to have a measurable effect on a relevant outcome variable like educational achievement or job performance. An increase can be temporary or long-lasting. In this chapter, we mean something potentially more interesting than an increase in IQ scores, something that is more permanent, and something that impacts g. As you were reading other chapters, perhaps you considered questions like the following:
• Is there anything I can do to be more intelligent?
• Can intelligence be increased beyond a person’s genetic potential?
• Is there a theoretical limit on just how smart any individual can become?
• Do children and adults have an inner genius that can be unlocked?
The desire to enhance intelligence dramatically is as ancient as alchemy. So far, this goal is just as elusive as turning lead to gold – but is it even possible that any of these questions can be answered in the affirmative?
Introduction
Foundational frameworks are formal theories or intervention rationales used to justify choices of and ensure congruence between variables. What are the characteristics of foundational frameworks in studies of music interventions designed to improve cognition among people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and are choices of music intervention and outcome measures congruent with them? This review addresses this question and allows practitioners to evaluate research-based clinical strategies and to transfer these protocols into effective practice.
Method
Experimental studies were included if they enrolled only people with MCI, focused exclusively on cognition and used music as a primary intervention. Thirteen studies met the full inclusion criteria and were selected based on consultation between the two authors. Searches were conducted between April and July 2020 and updated in August 2022. Integrative review methodology was used to extract, analyze and evaluate information pertaining to each research question, and included a quality appraisal.
Results
Results found that eight studies relied primarily on prior research to justify selection of music interventions. Twenty-five different outcome measures were used across all studies, and while music experiences appeared to be connected to the constructs represented in these measures, some connections were indirect or unclear. Finally, there was considerable variation in the depth and degree of congruence between explanatory frameworks and choices regarding music interventions and outcome measures.
Discussion
Findings from this review are important for the development of future theoretical models, clinical research, and evidence-based treatment protocols in this emerging area of practice.
The demands of today's society for interventions that optimize cognitive abilities and prevent their decline have motivated the translation of scientific findings into applied programs. Ordinary activities such as physical exercise, chess, meditation, playing video games or a musical instrument, as well as specific cognitive programs, have witnessed the growth of evidence emphasizing their cognitive benefits. Here, we outline several issues that need consideration before speculating on the implications of this literature: (a) the magnitude and costs of the effect, (b) the robustness of the effect, (c) testing causality, (d) the identification of moderator variables, and (e) the underlying mechanisms. We consider that this would contribute to a critical appraisal of the extant findings by the interested researchers, to reduce overstatements in the media reports about the applicability and public relevance of the effects reported in scientific articles, and to potentially help designing new interventions.
In recent years, an ostensible Mozart effect, suggesting beneficial influences of listening to the sonata KV448 on epilepsy, has been extensively covered in popular media outlets. However, the evidential value of such a potential effect seems unclear. Here, we present the first formal meta-analysis on this topic, based on k = 8 studies (N = 207). Further published studies that met our inclusion criteria had to be omitted due to insufficient reporting and author non-responsiveness on data requests. In three independent analyses, we observed non-significant trivial-to-small summary effects for listening to Mozart KV448 or other musical stimuli on epilepsy or other medical conditions (g range: 0.09–0.43). Bias and sensitivity analyses suggested that these effects were likely inflated and non-trivial effects were driven by isolated leverage points. Multiverse analyses conformed to these results, showing inconsistent evidential patterns. Low primary study power and consequently lacking evidential value indicates that there is only little reason to suspect a specific Mozart effect. In all, listening to music, let alone a specific kind of sonata, does not appear to have any beneficial effect on epilepsy. Unfounded authority, underpowered studies, and non-transparent reporting appear to be the main drivers of the Mozart effect myth.
If music had an axiomatic foundation, it would be a mathematical discipline, like arithmetic or trigonometry. When one looks into research, one can see that this proposition is currently transforming from a bold statement into a possibility (Geist, Early Childhood Newsletter 15:36, 2009; Nutzinger, Proceedings of MACAS 2015, 2016). A growing number of studies are repeatedly proving that there is a close relationship between mathematics and music, yet they stand in stark contradiction to statements of doubters (Pietsching, 2010). In-depth research of this kind of interdisciplinary work has been presented at the MACAS Symposium since 2015 (Robichaud & Freiman, Paper presented at the MACAS Conference, 2015; Nutzinger, Proceedings of MACAS 2015, 2016; Nutzinger, Proceedings of MACAS 2017, 2018). The initiating point was an investigation that focused on the beliefs of teachers and students. It was aimed at determining step by step that it is probably less a question of belief or doubt whether this connection is seen as an important insight for education. Instead, it seems to be more a question of whether a connection of the two fields is already existing in the thought pattern of the individual person. As this field of research has been a part of MACAS for more than 5 years now, it is time to summarize the findings of relevant research, both within the symposium and internationally.KeywordsMathematics and musicMathematical models of musical structuresCognitive structuring systems
Els cursos d'estimulació musical primerenca tenen una gran rellevància social gràcies, en part, als ben coneguts beneficis que la música té per al desenvolupament dels nadons. Però aquest fet no és suficient per explicar la gran demanda que tenen. Amb l'objectiu de comprendre les causes que empenyen els progenitors a anar a aquests tallers, aquest article pretén oferir una visió dels cursos des d'una perspectiva social, en què s'analit- zen les necessitats de la família urbana moderna que els tallers intenten cobrir. Partint d'aquesta idea, s'ha realitzat un estudi de cas qualitatiu sobre els cursos d'estimulació musical per a nadons menors d'un any oferts al centre 2estones, del barri de Gràcia de Barcelona, utilitzant tèc- niques de recol·lecció de dades característiques de l'antropologia cultural i l'etnografia: observació participant i entrevista oberta. Els resultats van mostrar que, més enllà dels beneficis que els cursos poguessin tenir per als nens, els tallers eren valorats pels progenitors com a espais on relaci- onar-se socialment (amb els seus fills, amb altres pares i amb les professores) i on obtenir recursos per aplicar posteriorment a l'espai domèstic. Els cursos d'estimulació musical han de ser considerats com una part im- portant de l'educació no formal, que recuperen espais comuns d'educació i criança i que intenten donar resposta a necessitats familiars que ni la societat, ni l'educació formal han aconseguit resoldre.
En un modelo educativo donde se apuesta cada vez más por las competencias STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), basadas en la ciencia, la tecnología, la ingeniería y las matemáticas, resulta fundamental introducir los aspectos relativos a la creatividad a través de las artes, pasando entonces el modelo STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics).
La música ha estado presente a lo largo de toda la historia del ser humano. Su estudio ha permitido no solamente comprender mejor qué es, sino también qué mitos han estado involucrados en sus posibles efectos y usos. Mediante esta caracterización de la música como herramienta, es posible identificar nuevos ámbitos de aplicación. Este es el caso de su incorporación a contextos científico-tecnológicos para su empleo con fines didácticos como vía de transmisión de
conocimientos.
Esta propuesta introduce un caso práctico de cohesión entre la música y el fenómeno de la fotosíntesis a través de la energía fotovoltaica, presentado mediante un recurso didáctico audiovisual. Su publicación, además, ha permitido evaluar su impacto en la audiencia.
Introduction:
Since decades, the "Mozart effect" has been studied. However, the diverse effects of Mozart's music components have not been yet defined. Authors aimed to identify a differential response to short-term exposure to Mozart's music, or to its rhythmic signature only, on subjective and objective measures.
Methods:
The Mozart Sonata in A major K 331 (Mozart), the same piece consisting only of beat (Destructured), and duration-matched silence were administered to 25 healthy young adults, stood supine in a relaxing setting. The Italian Mood Scale questionnaire was administered before and after each listening. Heart rate variability (HRV) metrics were calculated from ECG recording, and breath flow was registered during experiments.
Results:
After Destructured, there was no change of fatigue and tension. After Mozart, fatigue was significantly reduced (and a tendency appeared for tension), whereas vigor was not. Breathing rate tended to be higher during Mozart. The nonlinear parameter HFD of HRV analysis, even though not significantly, was slightly lower during Destructured; Poincaré plots SD1 and SD2 tended to be lower during Mozart.
Discussion/conclusion:
Mozart's music may allow to maintain arousal during relaxing condition. Psychological response of music and physiological dynamics were not necessarily entangled. Musical pieces based on individual physiological signature may lead musical psychological interventions.
In the past decade, many published results in psychology have been called into question. Not only did this “replication crisis” create a shift in scientific norms in psychology, but it also created implications for teachers of psychology. Recent publications argue that instructors should increase their coverage of issues of replicability and open science practices, but resources that inform and support instructors in this work are still lacking. In this article, I present a multiday presentation-based assignment in which students learn about issues of replicability and investigate and present specific studies along with possible reasons that the original effects have not replicated. The goals of the assignment, which can be adapted for different courses, modalities, and time frames, (a) to expose students to the replication crisis as well as open science practices as a way to restore the self-correcting nature of the scientific method; (b) to teach students how to communicate and think critically about the scientific process and the conclusions we draw about individual studies; and (c) to empower students in their sense of scientific literacy and to foster an appreciation for the complexity of scientific research. After completing the course unit, students (N = 19) reported enjoying the assignment and feeling empowered to critically evaluate psychological research. Further research is needed on the degree to which such a unit improves skills or knowledge around issues of open science and replicability.
First introduced by Frances Raucher, The Mozart Effect is the idea that there is a transient impact of music listening on spatial‐temporal processing. Researchers have found considerable merit to investigate the phenomena. The field has moved beyond the original claims of the Mozart Effect, with the arousal−mood hypothesis as one dominant interpretation. The hypothesis postulates that a modest increase in performance while listening to pleasant, energetic music is understood as a transient consequence of changes in mood and arousal. Therefore, the “Mozart Effect” can influence learning outcomes. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of music through the arousal‐and‐mood hypothesis by using the Stroop task. Subjects were randomly assigned to three conditions Mozart (positive), rock (negative), or no music (control). While working on the stroop task. Participants in all three conditions were assessed with an accuracy score. The results showed that both positively and negatively arousing music enhanced test scores. My study showed that both classical music and rock music had an effect in my experiment. Further studies should be explored if the enhanced cognitive ability can be used for therapeutic purposes. 1. The only study that measures accuracy through the Stroop test. 2. Statistically significant results where types of music affect test scores through Stroop test. 3. Implications could be used for therapeutic purposes. The only study that measures accuracy through the Stroop test. Statistically significant results where types of music affect test scores through Stroop test. Implications could be used for therapeutic purposes.
Viele Methodenbücher sind leider staubtrocken geschrieben und zudem noch voll von mathematischen Ableitungen und Formeln. Dieses Studienbuch ist bewusst anders. Statt Kaffeesatzleserei bietet es praxisrelevantes Wissen. Es zeigt außergewöhnlich verständlich, wie man empirische Untersuchungen liest, sachkundig interpretiert und kritisch bewertet. Es bedient sich dabei einer lockeren und alltagsnahen Sprache. Formeln kommen praktisch nicht vor. Grundlegende empirische Methoden und Konzepte kann man nämlich auch verstehen, wenn man kein Mathefreak oder Statistikguru ist. Die über 100 Beispiele stammen aus dem konkreten Forschungsalltag. Der Blick auf Problemzonen empirischer Forschung wird durch mehr als 160 Fragen geschärft. Diese eignen sich zugleich gut als Leitlinien für eigene empirische Studien. Zu den einzelnen Themen gibt es außerdem kommentierte ein- und weiterführende Literaturhinweise. Die 4. Auflage ist in allen Teilen umfassend überarbeitet und erweitert worden.
-----------------
Many method books are unfortunately written dry as dust and are also full of mathematical formulas. This textbook is deliberately different. Instead of coffee-table reading, it offers knowledge that is relevant to practice. It shows in an exceptionally comprehensible way how to read, interpret and critically evaluate empirical studies. It uses a relaxed language that is close to everyday life. Formulas are virtually absent. Basic empirical methods and concepts can be understood even if you are not a math freak or statistics guru. The more than 100 examples are taken from actual everyday research. The view on problem areas of empirical research is sharpened by more than 160 questions. These are also well suited as guidelines for your own empirical studies. In addition, there are annotated introductory and further references to the individual topics. The 4th edition has been extensively revised and expanded in all parts.
Effect misestimations plague Psychological Science, but advances in the identification of dissemination biases in general and publication bias in particular have helped in dealing with biased effects in the literature. However, the application of publication bias detection methods appears to be not equally prevalent across subdisciplines. It has been suggested that particularly in I/O Psychology, appropriate publication bias detection methods are underused. In this meta-meta-analysis, we present prevalence estimates, predictors, and time trends of publication bias in 128 meta-analyses that were published in the Journal of Applied Psychology (7,263 effect sizes, 3,000,000+ participants). Moreover, we reanalyzed data of 87 meta-analyses and applied nine standard and more modern publication bias detection methods. We show that (a) the bias detection method applications are underused (only 41% of meta-analyses use at least one method) but have increased in recent years, (b) those meta-analyses that apply such methods now use more, but mostly inappropriate methods, and (c) the prevalence of potential publication bias is concerning but mostly remains undetected. Although our results indicate somewhat of a trend toward higher bias awareness, they substantiate concerns about potential publication bias in I/O Psychology, warranting increased researcher awareness about appropriate and state-of-the-art bias detection and triangulation. Embracing open science practices such as data sharing or study preregistration is needed to raise reproducibility and ultimately strengthen Psychological Science in general and I/O Psychology in particular.
Knowledge about brain functioning is important for many professionals, especially in the fields of medicine and education, but for a wide audience as well. Neuromyths are false (completely or partially) simple and seemingly logical statements about the anatomy or functioning of the human brain. This paper presents typical sources of such errors such as misinterpretation , oversimplification, or overgeneralization. Special attention is given to analysis of some examples of the long-established source of misconceptions-regarding functional asymmetry of brain hemispheres, to the myth of the triune brain, and the so called "Mozart effect" from the point of view of the Lurian systemic-dynamic approach to brain functions. Keywords: brain development; neuromyths systemic-dynamic approach; Mozart effect; triune brain; interhemispheric asymmetry Аннотация. Знания о функционировании мозга важны не только для профессионалов, работающих в области медицины и образования, но также и для широкой аудитории. Нейромифы-это полностью или частично ложные, упрощенные но, казалось бы, логичные утверждения об анатомии или функционировании человеческого мозга. В этой статье представлены типичные источники таких ошибочных представлений: неправильное толкование, чрезмерное упрощение или чрезмерное обобщение. Особое © Semenova O., Kotik-Friedgut B., 2021 Research Papers 24 внимание уделяется анализу некоторых примеров давно известных заблуждений-ми-фов о функциональной асимметрии полушарий мозга, мифе о триедином мозге и так называемом «эффекте Моцарта» с точки зрения системно-динамического подхода к функционированию мозга А. Р. Лурия.
n recent years, questions have emerged regarding if it is possible to train executive functions and if music, for its high level of complexity, has an impact on these processes. Even though there is a relation between musical training and executive functions, this results are contradictory and there is no quantification of this potential association.
The aim of this study was to estimate through a meta-analysis the effect of musical training in executive functions, and also to identify potential moderator variables. Results indicates that people who received a musical training showed a better performance in executive functions tasks in comparison to the participants that were not exposed to this kind of training (d=.51).
The demands of today’s society for interventions that optimize cognitive abilities and prevent their decline have motivated the translation of scientific findings into applied programs. Ordinary activities such as physical exercise, chess, meditation, playing video games or a musical instrument, as well as specific cognitive programs, have witnessed the growth of evidence emphasizing their cognitive benefits. Here, we outline several issues that need consideration before speculating on the implications of this literature: (a) the magnitude and costs of the effect, (b) the robustness of the effect, (c) testing causality, (d) the identification of moderator variables, and (e) the underlying mechanisms. We consider that this would contribute to a critical appraisal of the extant findings by the interested researchers, to reduced overstatements in the media reports about the applicability and public relevance of the effects reported in scientific articles, and to potentially help designing new interventions.
Meta-analysis collects and synthesizes results from individual studies to estimate an overall effect size. If published studies are chosen, say through a literature review, then an inherent selection bias may arise, because, for example, studies may tend to be published more readily if they are statistically significant, or deemed to be more “interesting” in terms of the impact of their outcomes. We develop a simple rank-based data augmentation technique, formalizing the use of funnel plots, to estimate and adjust for the numbers and outcomes of missing studies. Several nonparametric estimators are proposed for the number of missing studies, and their properties are developed analytically and through simulations. We apply the method to simulated and epidemiological datasets and show that it is both effective and consistent with other criteria in the literature.
The spatial reasoning of 22 college undergraduates who had listened to a presentation of Mozart's music was examined under carefully controlled experimental conditions. Each participant performed a pencil-and-paper maze task after a 10-min presentation of each of three listening conditions: a piano concerto by Mozart, repetitive relaxation music, and silence. Mazes varied in complexity of solution and size. Limited support for the previously obtained enhancing effect of listening to Mozart's music was revealed in measures of performance accuracy on this spatial task, whereas no effect was found for either the number of maze recursions or the overall quality of maze solutions. These findings are discussed in relation to the need for further replication of the effect before strong claims of generalizability may be made.
Publication and selection biases in meta-analysis are more likely to affect small studies, which also tend to be of lower methodological quality. This may lead to “small-study effects,” where the smaller studies in a meta-analysis show larger treatment effects. Small-study effects may also arise because of between-trial heterogeneity. Statistical tests for small-study effects have been proposed, but their validity has been questioned. A set of typical meta-analyses containing 5, 10, 20, and 30 trials was defined based on the characteristics of 78 published meta-analyses identified in a hand search of eight journals from 1993 to 1997. Simulations were performed to assess the power of a weighted regression method and a rank correlation test in the presence of no bias, moderate bias or severe bias. We based evidence of small-study effects on P
The “Mozart effect” refers to claims that people perform better on tests of spatial abilities after listening to music composed by Mozart. We examined whether the Mozart effect is a consequence of between-condition differences in arousal and mood. Participants completed a test of spatial abilities after listening to music or sitting in silence. The music was a Mozart sonata (a pleasant and energetic piece) for some participants and an Albinoni adagio (a slow, sad piece) for others. We also measured enjoyment, arousal, and mood. Performance on the spatial task was better following the music than the silence condition, but only for participants who heard Mozart. The two music selections also induced differential responding on the enjoyment, arousal, and mood measures. Moreover, when such differences were held constant by statistical means, the Mozart effect disappeared. These findings provide compelling evidence that the Mozart effect is an artifact of arousal and mood.
This chapter examines claims about non-musical consequences of exposure to music. Over the past ten years, the possibility that music makes one smarter has sparked the imagination of researchers, the popular press, and the general public. But is there any truth to this idea? If so, what is the evidence? The goal here is to answer these questions as well as possible by reviewing the relevant scholarly literature. Accordingly, the first section of this chapter examines consequences of music listening. The second section examines consequences of music lessons and performing.
A great deal of popular attention has been given to the Mozart effect--an increase in spatial ability following listening to Mozart. Three hypotheses have been advanced to explain this association: Mozart priming the neural pathways used for spatial reasoning, Mozart generally increasing mood and arousal and thus performance, or individuals' preference for Mozart, a different form of music, or even silence leading to an optimal mood for test-taking. The current study sought to differentiate among these three hypotheses. Data were collected from 41 college students (20 male, 21 female) assessed on a spatial relations subtest from the Stanford-Binet following exposure to either music or silence. Participants self-reported how awake they felt and their preference for their particular condition. Results indicated a positive effect of listening to Mozart, although arousal mediated this association. No effect of preference was evident. Implications for theory and application are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Much past work on the Mozart effect--the temporary increase in performance on spatial relations tasks following listening to Mozart--tried determining if the cause is due to neurological priming or changes in general arousal. Results have been mixed, and no work to date has attempted to examine this phenomenon in high school students. The present study sought to address these gaps in the extant literature by examining the neurological and arousal hypotheses in this previously unstudied population of adolescents. Toward this end, 86 high school students were randomly assigned to Mozart or control (silence) conditions, then assessed on arousal levels and spatial reasoning. Results indicated that those in the Mozart condition had higher spatial reasoning scores, but were not systematically more or less aroused. Decreased arousal, regardless of listening conditioning, was related to lower spatial reasoning. While arousal and listening condition were not related to each other, inclusion of both in a single model negated these direct effects. Implications for future work on these phenomena are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The original group of Ss was 30 Royal Canadian Air Force personnel. 3 basic conditions were used in 4 sessions. Susceptibility to hypnosis seemed important. The findings concerning the effect of noise were contradictory. "The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of their relation to 'vigilance' tasks, and their applicability to personnel selection practice." (15 ref.) From Psyc Abstracts 36:05:5LG09M. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
For any given research area, one cannot tell how many studies have been conducted but never reported. The extreme view of the "file drawer problem" is that journals are filled with the 5% of the studies that show Type I errors, while the file drawers are filled with the 95% of the studies that show nonsignificant results. Quantitative procedures for computing the tolerance for filed and future null results are reported and illustrated, and the implications are discussed. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The “Mozart effect” reported by Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky (1993, 1995) indicates that spatial-temporal abilities are enhanced after listening to music composed by Mozart. We replicated and extended the effect in Experiment 1: Performance on a spatial-temporal task was better after participants listened to a piece composed by Mozart or by Schubert than after they sat in silence. In Experiment 2, the advantage for the music condition disappeared when the control condition consisted of a narrated story instead of silence. Rather, performance was a function of listeners' preference (music or story), with better performance following the preferred condition.
Quantitative literature reviews such as meta-analysis are becoming common in evolutionary biology but may be strongly affected by publication biases. Using fail-safe numbers is a quick way to estimate whether publication bias is likely to be a problem for a specific study. However, previously suggested fail-safe calculations are unweighted and are not based on the framework in which most meta-analyses are performed. A general, weighted fail-safe calculation, grounded in the meta-analysis framework, applicable to both fixed- and random-effects models, is proposed. Recent meta-analyses published in Evolution are used for illustration.
Objective: Funnel plots (plots of effect estimates against sample size) may be useful to detect bias in meta-analyses that were later contradicted by large trials. We examined whether a simple test of asymmetry of funnel plots predicts discordance of results when meta-analyses are compared to large trials, and we assessed the prevalence of bias in published meta-analyses. Design: Medline search to identify pairs consisting of a meta-analysis and a single large trial (concordance of results was assumed if effects were in the same direction and the meta-analytic estimate was within 30
Funnel plots (plots of effect estimates against sample size) may be useful to detect bias in meta-analyses that were later contradicted by large trials. We examined whether a simple test of asymmetry of funnel plots predicts discordance of results when meta-analyses are compared to large trials, and we assessed the prevalence of bias in published meta-analyses.
Medline search to identify pairs consisting of a meta-analysis and a single large trial (concordance of results was assumed if effects were in the same direction and the meta-analytic estimate was within 30% of the trial); analysis of funnel plots from 37 meta-analyses identified from a hand search of four leading general medicine journals 1993-6 and 38 meta-analyses from the second 1996 issue of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Degree of funnel plot asymmetry as measured by the intercept from regression of standard normal deviates against precision.
In the eight pairs of meta-analysis and large trial that were identified (five from cardiovascular medicine, one from diabetic medicine, one from geriatric medicine, one from perinatal medicine) there were four concordant and four discordant pairs. In all cases discordance was due to meta-analyses showing larger effects. Funnel plot asymmetry was present in three out of four discordant pairs but in none of concordant pairs. In 14 (38%) journal meta-analyses and 5 (13%) Cochrane reviews, funnel plot asymmetry indicated that there was bias.
A simple analysis of funnel plots provides a useful test for the likely presence of bias in meta-analyses, but as the capacity to detect bias will be limited when meta-analyses are based on a limited number of small trials the results from such analyses should be treated with considerable caution.
Rauscher et al. reported that brief exposure to a Mozart piano sonata
produces a temporary increase in spatial reasoning scores, amounting to
the equivalent of 8-9 IQ points on the Stanford-Binet IQ scale. Early
attempts to confirm this `Mozart effect' were unsuccessful. Rauscher et
al. subsequently restricted their account to an improvement in
spatial-temporal reasoning, as measured by the Paper Folding and Cutting
task. We use procedures modelled on the original report to show that
there is little evidence for a direct effect of music exposure on
reasoning ability.
Several studies have not replicated Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky's 1993 finding that 10 minutes of exposure to Mozart piano music temporarily enhanced performance on three spatial reasoning tasks. Later Rauscher and Shaw argued that enhanced performance is unlikely unless three conditions are met. The present study was designed to meet those three conditions. 36 adults were exposed to one of six listening orders and one of six test orders. Listening and test orders had no systematic effect on spatial reasoning performance. A one-factor, repeated-measures analysis of variance yielded no significant difference on spatial reasoning performance after listening to classical music, jazz, or silence. A reanalysis, using only those items most likely to tap spatial reasoning, fell short of significance, and mean scores were in the direction opposite to that hypothesized. These results were inconsistent with studies that have supported a Mozart effect.
Quantitative literature reviews such as meta-analysis are becoming common in evolutionary biology but may be strongly affected by publication biases. Using fail-safe numbers is a quick way to estimate whether publication bias is likely to be a problem for a specific study. However, previously suggested fail-safe calculations are unweighted and are not based on the framework in which most meta-analyses are performed. A general, weighted fail-safe calculation, grounded in the meta-analysis framework, applicable to both fixed- and random-effects models, is proposed. Recent meta-analyses published in Evolution are used for illustration.
The 'Mozart effect' refers to an increase in spatial reasoning performance following exposure to music composed by Mozart. Empirical tests of the effect have resulted in an inconsistent pattern of findings with some studies producing the effect and others failing to do so. The majority of the investigations have relied on paper-and-pencil tests. It is argued that in order for the effect to be of value in education, music needs to be shown to benefit performance in both laboratory and naturalistic settings. This study was a first attempt to examine performance employing a more naturalistic task. Participants repeatedly negotiated a series of computer-simulated rooms immediately after they listened to a sonata by Mozart or a piece by Philip Glass. Evidence of significant learning was observed in both conditions, but there was no difference between listening conditions. It is concluded that critical variables affecting the relationship between music and spatial reasoning ability are yet to be discovered. Copyright
ABSTRACT This study found some evidence for the existence of a Mozart Effect with upper-primary school-aged children in a school setting. Scores on a Paper Folding Task (PFT) for a class which listened to Mozart during testing were significantly higher than the PFT scores of a control class. Moreover, a similar result was obtained for another class which,listened to Bach during testing. The musical educational experience of the children, ascertained by a Musical Background Questionnaire, did not significantly contribute to the variance in PFT scores. Webelieve that this study is the first to find a Mozart Effect for school children in a natural setting, in contrast to the original study of Rauscher, Shaw and Ky(1993) who,examined,the effects of listening to Mozart on the spatial task performance,of university students in a laboratory. KEYWORDS : music listening, spatial performance
Rosenthan's (1979) concept of fail-safeN has thus far been applied to probability levels exclusively. This note introduces a fail-safeN for effect size.
The Mozart effect is the purported increase in spatial-reasoning performance immediately after exposure to a Mozart piano sonata. Several laboratories have been unable to confirm the existence of the effect despite two positive reports from the original laboratory. The authors of the original studies have provided a list of key procedural components to produce the effect. This experiment attempted to produce a Mozart effect by following those procedural instructions and replicating the procedure of one of the original positive reports. The experiment failed to produce either a statistically significant Mozart effect or an effect size suggesting practical significance. This general lack of effect is consistent with previous work by other investigators. We conclude that there is little evidence to support basing intellectual intervention programs on the existence of the Mozart effect.
In 1993, Rauscher et al. reported a temporary increase in spatial–temporal ability after listening to Mozart’s music. This led to numerous replication and extension studies with mixed findings in the past decade. This study investigated the ‘Mozart effect’ in preschool children. Forty‐one boys and girls, aged three to five, attempted a series of pencil‐and‐paper maze tests after each of three listening conditions: Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A Major (K488), age‐appropriate popular music and silence. Overall, there were no statistically significant differences among the three interventions. The results are discussed in relation to the findings of other investigations of the Mozart effect, and the need for further investigation of possible trends.
Notes 58.3 (2002) 608-610
Over the last eight years there has been great interest in the so-called "Mozart effect." The popular press has promulgated the idea that gains in human intelligence can be made by simply listening to the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The attractiveness and popularity of this idea has supported the work of Don Campbell since the early 1980s, and he now holds the trademark for the term "Mozart Effect." Campbell first encountered the special properties of Mozart's music from the ear, nose, and throat specialist and researcher Alfred Tomatis. As early as the late 1950s Tomatis's controversial research and theories about human hearing were developed and later used to treat a wide variety of ailments, from impaired hearing in musicians to autism. He also discovered that the music of Mozart was generally more effective in treating his patients than other kinds of music (Alfred A. Tomatis, The Conscious Ear: My Life of Transformation through Listening, trans. Stephen Lushington and Billie M. Thompson [Barrytown, N.Y.: Station Hill Press, 1991], 159-60).
In research into the organizational principles of the human brain in the 1980s, Gordon Shaw and Xiaodan Leng mapped computer-generated, spatial-temporal sequences of memory patterns from Shaw's theoretical model of brain organization onto music and noticed that different memory patterns resembled different styles of music (Gordon L. Shaw, Keeping Mozart in Mind [San Diego: Academic Press, 2000], xiv). From this they postulated that "music training for young children (when their brains are developing the most) would enhance their ability to do spatial-temporal reasoning, which is important in doing math and science." Shaw also read of another experiment demonstrating "that 4-month-old infants have a remarkable preference for hearing Mozart sonatas as they were written as compared to 'unnatural' versions" (C. L. Krumhansl and P. W. Jusczyk, "Infants' Perception of Phrase Structure in Music," Psychological Science 1 [1990]: 70-73, as cited in Shaw, p. 31).
This led to the 1993 "Mozart effect" study by Shaw and Frances Rauscher (F. H. Rauscher, G. L. Shaw, and K. N. Ky, "Music and Spatial Task Performance," Nature no. 365 [1993]: 611). In an experiment, a group of college students listened to the first movement of the Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, K. 448, chosen for its symmetry and organization. The students were then given one of three items from the Stanford-Binet IQ test measuring spatial-temporal reasoning: paper folding and cutting, pattern analysis, and matrices. Only the paper folding and cutting test showed a statistically significant improvement for those who listened to the Mozart sonata compared to the control subjects who did not. Further experiments included one by Rauscher in which the sonata was played to rats in utero and two months after birth. The rats who listened to Mozart navigated a maze significantly better than the controls (F. H. Rauscher, K. D Robinson, and J. J. Jens, "Improved Maze Learning through Early Music Exposure in Rats," Neurological Research 20 [1998]: 427- 32). Other researchers attempted to replicate the original study with mixed and inconclusive results.
The reaction to the study in the popular media was rapid and led to the mistaken conclusion that listening to the music of Mozart could be used by educators to induce an increase in general intelligence in children. All of this interest in the "Mozart effect" was based on an experiment -- not consistently replicated -- that showed increases in scores on the paper folding and cutting portion of the IQ test performed by college students (not children) using only one piece by Mozart. Steven M. Demorest and Steven J. Morrison summarize the "Mozart effect" studies and provide an excellent discussion of what conclusions, if any, can be drawn from the research in "Does Music Make You Smarter?" (Music Educators' Journal 87 [September 2000]: 33- 39, 58).
Campbell's prior...
We investigated the Mozart effect, as documented by Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky (1993), with school-aged children. Experiment 1 contrasted the spatial IQ scores of children who had listened to a Mozart sonata (K.448) with the scores of children who had listened to a piece of popular dance music in a pretest-post-test design. There was no significant main effect of music and no significant difference between the pretest and post-test scores for both groups. Owing to the non-significant findings, a second experiment was carried out. We used a methodology that had previously replicated the Mozart effect. Again, Expt. 2 did not support the claim that Mozart's music can enhance spatial performance. Groups performed similarly on the control test and the experimental test, irrespective of whether they listened to Mozart or to popular dance music. Since the two different designs produced similar findings, the data suggest that the Mozart effect is so ephemeral that it is questionable as to whether any practical application will come from it. In the discussion, we suggest more fruitful avenues for future research on the relationship between music and spatial performance: arousal and transfer of learning.
IntroductionDefinition of the Failsafe NExamplesAssumptions of the Failsafe NVariations on the Failsafe NSummary of the ExamplesApplications of the Failsafe NConclusions
AcknowledgementReferences
IntroductionDirect Evidence Concerning the Consequences of Publication and Related BiasesIndirect Empirical Evidence Concerning the Consequences of Publication Bias as Assessed Using Asymmetry Assessments of Meta-AnalysesFurther Indirect Empirical Assessments of Publication and Related Biases Using Meta-AnalysesDiscussionAcknowledgementReferences
The article describes the management of akathisia by a mental health nurse (MHN) prescriber, working in partnership with the patient. A single-case design was used to evaluate this. It highlights three features: first, MHN can safely prescribe psychiatric medication in combination with concordance therapy. Second, the value base underpinning prescribing practice is partnership, honesty and choice for the patient. Finally, the pharmacological mechanism of antipsychotic medication, which contributes towards akathisia, requires further analysis.
A review of the literature suggests that the notion that existing research proves the sex bias inherent in counseling and psychotherapy is pervasive. Almost every subsequent study has taken as a major premise the finding by I. K. Broverman et al (see record 1970-06951-001) that clinicians hold different standards of mental health for men and women. In the present research, both the published and unpublished studies of sex bias in either counseling or psychotherapy were analyzed and their results integrated using meta-analytic techniques. Overall results show an absence of bias against women or against nonstereotyped roles for women in studies of either counselors or psychotherapists. In published studies there was a small sex-bias effect, and unpublished studies showed the same magnitude of bias toward women and a degree of rigor in research design at least as good as that evident in published studies. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky in 1993 found that listening to a Mozart sonata temporarily enhanced performance on the spatial reasoning task from the Stanford-Binet scale. The present study was designed to replicate those results using the Revised Minnesota Paper Form Board Test. 30 women and 21 men were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In one condition, subjects listened to a Mozart sonata for 10 min., while in the control condition subjects meditated in silence for 10 min. Immediately following these manipulations all subjects worked on the spatial task, the Revised Minnesota Paper Form Board Test, for 10 minutes. After factoring out SAT scores and gender, there was no significant difference in the mean test scores for the two groups. The results are discussed in terms of Gustafsson's 1984 factor analysis of intellectual abilities in which he identified three separate visuospatial factors. The task used here may have had a substantially different factor loading than the dependent variable used by Rauscher and associates.
An adjusted rank correlation test is proposed as a technique for identifying publication bias in a meta-analysis, and its operating characteristics are evaluated via simulations. The test statistic is a direct statistical analogue of the popular "funnel-graph." The number of component studies in the meta-analysis, the nature of the selection mechanism, the range of variances of the effect size estimates, and the true underlying effect size are all observed to be influential in determining the power of the test. The test is fairly powerful for large meta-analyses with 75 component studies, but has only moderate power for meta-analyses with 25 component studies. However, in many of the configurations in which there is low power, there is also relatively little bias in the summary effect size estimate. Nonetheless, the test must be interpreted with caution in small meta-analyses. In particular, bias cannot be ruled out if the test is not significant. The proposed technique has potential utility as an exploratory tool for meta-analysts, as a formal procedure to complement the funnel-graph.
Previous research has shown that exposure to classical music can influence performance on a spatial task. The present study investigated EEG correlates of this enhanced performance effect, 4 female and 4 male undergraduates completed two equivalent spatial tests, one following a control procedure and one following the presentation of Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major. EEG was recorded during a baseline and two task-performance periods. Test performance and EEG recordings were analyzed, and correlations were generated between task performance and EEG variables (average spectral power and peak frequency within 5 frequency ranges). Performance improved significantly following the presentation of the music. EEG analysis indicated 6 reliable correlations out of 40 calculated between differential EEG variables and changes in performance. Ten reliable correlations out of 120 were also found between changes in performance and nondifferential EEG variables across baseline, control, and experimental conditions.
To identify the prevalence and determinants of data-withholding behaviors among academic life scientists.
Mailed survey of 3394 life science faculty in the 50 universities that received the most funding from the National Institutes of Health in 1993.
A total of 2167 faculty responded to the survey, a 64% response rate.
Whether respondents delayed publication of their research results for more than 6 months and whether respondents refused to share research results with other university scientists in the last 3 years.
A total of 410 respondents (19.8%) reported that publication of their research results had been delayed by more than 6 months at least once in the last 3 years to allow for patent application, to protect their scientific lead, to slow the dissemination of undesired results, to allow time to negotiate a patent, or to resolve disputes over the ownership of intellectual property. Also, 181 respondents (8.9%) reported refusing to share research results with other university scientists in the last 3 years. In multivariate analysis, participation in an academic-industry research relationship and engagement in the commercialization of university research were significantly associated with delays in publication. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were 1.34 (1.07-1.59) and 3.15 (2.88-3.41), respectively. Variables associated with refusing to share results were conducting research similar to the Human Genome Project (OR, 2.09; 95% CI, 1.75-2.42), publication rate (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.03), and engagement in commercialization of research (OR, 2.45; 95% CI, 2.08-2.82).
Withholding of research results is not a widespread phenomenon among life-science researchers. However, withholding is more common among the most productive and entrepreneurial faculty. These results also suggest that data withholding has affected a significant number of life-science faculty and further study on data-withholding practices is suggested.
Previous research has demonstrated that 10 min. exposure to classical music can influence performance on a spatial task. The effect, however, has not been robust, suggesting a sensitivity to individual differences and task operationalization. The present study involved a further replication of this effect. 16 female and 16 male undergraduates completed two equivalent spatial tests, one following a control procedure and one following the presentation of Mozart's Sonata for two pianos in D major. Performance showed a small but significant improvement immediately following presentation of the music.
Medical evidence may be biased over time if completion and publication of randomized efficacy trials are delayed when results are not statistically significant.
To evaluate whether the time to completion and the time to publication of randomized phase 2 and phase 3 trials are affected by the statistical significance of results and to describe the natural history of such trials.
Prospective cohort of randomized efficacy trials conducted by 2 trialist groups from 1986 to 1996.
Multicenter trial groups in human immunodeficiency virus infection sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.
A total of 109 efficacy trials (total enrollment, 43708 patients).
Time from start of enrollment to completion of follow-up and time from completion of follow-up to peer-reviewed publication assessed with survival analysis.
The median time from start of enrollment to publication was 5.5 years and was substantially longer for negative trials than for results favoring an experimental arm (6.5 vs 4.3 years, respectively; P<.001; hazard ratio for time to publication for positive vs negative trials, 3.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.8-7.7). This difference was mostly attributable to differences in the time from completion to publication (median, 3.0 vs 1.7 years for negative vs positive trials; P<.001). On average, trials with significant results favoring any arm completed follow-up slightly earlier than trials with nonsignificant results (median, 2.3 vs 2.5 years; P=.045), but long-protracted trials often had low event rates and failed to reach statistical significance, while trials that were terminated early had significant results. Positive trials were submitted for publication significantly more rapidly after completion than were negative trials (median, 1.0 vs 1.6 years; P=.001) and were published more rapidly after submission (median, 0.8 vs 1.1 years; P=.04).
Among randomized efficacy trials, there is a time lag in the publication of negative findings that occurs mostly after the completion of the trial follow-up.
Previous attempts by various researchers to replicate the enhancement of spatial performance following 10 min. exposure to music have been inconsistent in their findings. In the present study 16 subjects showed reliable improvement on a paper-folding-and-cutting task after listening to Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, as employed by others. The enhanced performance was also noted for 16 other subjects after listening to a contemporary selection having similar musical characteristics. In both cases the control procedure included 10 min. of listening to a progressive relaxation tape.
The results of studies intended to replicate the enhancement of spatial-temporal reasoning following exposure to 10 min. of Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major (K.448) have been varied. While some studies have replicated the effect, others have not. We suggest that researchers' diverse choice of dependent measures may account for these varied results. This paper provides a neurophysiological context for the enhancement and considers theoretical and experimental factors, including the choice of dependent measures, the presentation order of the conditions, the selection of the musical composition, and the inclusion of a distractor task, that may contribute to the various findings. More work is needed before practical applications can be derived.
The Mozart effect is an increase in spatial reasoning scores detected immediately after listening to the first movement of a Mozart piano sonata. Rauscher and Shaw (1998) suggested that failure to produce a Mozart effect could arise from carryover effects of a spatial reasoning pretest which may interfere with the effect of listening to Mozart. They cited an unpublished study in which a verbal distractor was inserted between the pretest and listening condition, and the manipulation produced the recovery of a Mozart effect. This experiment attempted to confirm the unpublished study. 206 college students were exposed to one of three sequences, pretest-Verbal distractor material-Mozart, pretest-Mozart-Verbal distractor material, and pretest-Verbal distractor material. An immediate posttest indicated no significant difference on solution of paper folding and cutting items among the three groups. The results do not support Rauscher and Shaw (1998). Our negative results are consistent with prior failures in other laboratories to produce a Mozart effect.
Rauscher et al. reported that listening to ten minutes of Mozart's music increased the abstract reasoning ability of college students, as measured by IQ scores, by 8 or 9 points compared with listening to relaxation instructions or silence, respectively. This startling finding became known as the `Mozart effect', and has since been explored by several research groups. Here I use a meta-analysis to demonstrate that 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.
Publication and selection biases in meta-analysis are more likely to affect small studies, which also tend to be of lower methodological quality. This may lead to "small-study effects," where the smaller studies in a meta-analysis show larger treatment effects. Small-study effects may also arise because of between-trial heterogeneity. Statistical tests for small-study effects have been proposed, but their validity has been questioned. A set of typical meta-analyses containing 5, 10, 20, and 30 trials was defined based on the characteristics of 78 published meta-analyses identified in a hand search of eight journals from 1993 to 1997. Simulations were performed to assess the power of a weighted regression method and a rank correlation test in the presence of no bias, moderate bias or severe bias. We based evidence of small-study effects on P < 0.1. The power to detect bias increased with increasing numbers of trials. The rank correlation test was less powerful than the regression method. For example, assuming a control group event rate of 20% and no treatment effect, moderate bias was detected with the regression test in 13.7%, 23.5%, 40.1% and 51.6% of meta-analyses with 5, 10, 20 and 30 trials. The corresponding figures for the correlation test were 8.5%, 14.7%, 20.4% and 26.0%, respectively. Severe bias was detected with the regression method in 23.5%, 56.1%, 88.3% and 95.9% of meta-analyses with 5, 10, 20 and 30 trials, as compared to 11.9%, 31.1%, 45.3% and 65.4% with the correlation test. Similar results were obtained in simulations incorporating moderate treatment effects. However the regression method gave false-positive rates which were too high in some situations (large treatment effects, or few events per trial, or all trials of similar sizes). Using the regression method, evidence of small-study effects was present in 21 (26.9%) of the 78 published meta-analyses. Tests for small-study effects should routinely be performed in meta-analysis. Their power is however limited, particularly for moderate amounts of bias or meta-analyses based on a small number of small studies. When evidence of small-study effects is found, careful consideration should be given to possible explanations for these in the reporting of the meta-analysis.
The "Mozart effect" is the tendency to score higher on spatiotemporal IQ subscales following exposure to complex music such as Mozart's Sonata K.448. This phenomenon was investigated in 20 musicians and 20 nonmusicians. The trion model predicts increased synchrony between musical and spatiotemporal centres in the right cerebral hemisphere. Since increased left-hemispheric involvement in music processing occurs as a result of music training, predictions deriving from the possibility of increased synchrony with left-hemispheric areas in musicians were tested. These included improved performance on language as well as spatiotemporal tasks. Spatiotemporal, synonym generation, and rhyming word generation tasks were employed as was the Mozart Sonata K.448. A Mozart effect was demonstrated on the spatiotemporal task, and the facilitatory effect of exposure to Mozart was greater for the nonmusician group. This finding adds to the robustness of the Mozart effect since novel tasks were used. No Mozart effect was found for either group on the verbal tasks, although the musicians scored higher on rhyming word generation. This new finding adds to the number of nonmusical tasks apparently showing long-term benefits from music training. However, no systematic link was found between performance on any task and number of years spent in music training. The failure to induce a Mozart effect in the musician group on verbal tasks, as well as that group's limited facilitation on spatiotemporal tasks, may be associated with either a ceiling effect due to the long-term effects of music training or from methodological factors. Both possibilities are discussed.
During the past decade, there have been numerous reports of a brief, but statistically significant, improvement in immediate spatial-temporal performance after listening to 10 min. of Mozart's Sonata K.448, known as the "Mozart effect." The purpose of the present study was to assess whether production of the effect is influenced by length of listening conditions or sex. Each of 52 right-handed participants (26 females, 26 males) completed a paper-folding and cutting task and a Mental Rotations task following a listening condition in which the Mozart sonata was played and a silent condition (no music was played). A significant 3-way interaction among sex, listening condition, and task indicated that an effect was present only for women on the Mental Rotations task. As such, researchers should investigate the role of sex in production of the Mozart effect.