Hmmmmmm.. very interesting given the following quoted from February 19, 1996
Newsweek:
"At UC Irvine, Gordon Shaw suspected that all higher-order thinking is
characterized by similar patterns of neurons firing. 'If you're working with
little kids,' says Shaw, 'you're not going to teach them higher mathematics
or chess. But they are interested in and can process music.' So Shaw and
Frances Rauscher gave 19 PRESCHOOLERS (emphasis added) piano or singing
lessons. After eight months, the researchers found the children
'dramatically improved in spatial reasoning,' compared with children given
no music lessons, as shown by their ability to work mazes, draw geometric
figures and copy patterns of two-colored blocks. The mechanism behind the
"Mozart effect" remains murky, but Shaw suspects that when children exercise
cortical neurons by listening to classical music, they are also
strengthening circuits used for mathematics. Music, says the UC team,
'excites the inherent brain patterns and enhances their use in complex
reasoning tasks.'"
I thought it was from this study that policies regarding music for
infants/preschoolers were based, not from a brief effect shown in ADULT
populations. As well, there IS at least this study which provides scientific
evidence that such experiences may be beneficial IF initiated early in life.
JL Edwards
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael J. Kane <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Thursday, August 26, 1999 11:17 AM
Subject: Re: Mozart Effect
Jean Edwards wrote at 08/26 9:41 AM
Have additional studies been conducted with infants/young children as
subjects? How can researchers, such as Kenneth Steele, conduct research on
ADULTS and then conclude that because they found little effect that it also
applies to INFANTS/YOUNG CHILDREN?
If I may speak for Ken Steele, the inappropriate generalization
has gone the OTHER way. That is, from the first demonstration
of the Mozart effect IN ADULTS, policy makers (and others)
assumed that it must work developmentally as well. Of course,
past research has shown that impoverished vs. "enriched"
environments affect brain development and IQ, but I do
not think that the effect of classical music on development
has EVER been subjected to scientific test.
Best,
Mike
*****************************************************
Michael J. Kane
Psychology Department
Georgia State University
University Plaza
Atlanta, GA 30303-3083
phone: 404-651-0704
fax: 404-651-0753
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"It is morally as bad not to care whether a thing
is true or not, so long as it makes you feel good,
as it is not to care how you got your money as
long as you have it."
-- E.W. Teale
