Jean Edwards writes on 26 Aug 99,:
> 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.
If emphasis is to be added, I would add it to "GAVE 19 preschoolers PIANO
OR SINGING LESSONS." Especially piano lessons could be predicted to
have an impact on spatial skills. Actively practicing a musical instrument is
not the same as passively listening to classical music. And, as a father of
three budding piano players, none of them preschoolers, let me assure you
that preschoolers are not going to be playing anything that will approximate
classical music. In any case, such a study does not provide evidence for
the impact of passive listening to classical music.
Rick
Dr. Rick Froman
Psychology Department
Box 3055
John Brown University
Siloam Springs, AR 72761
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.jbu.edu/sbs/psych
Office: (501)524-7295
Fax: (501)524-9548
"79.48% of all statistics are made up on the spot." - John A. Paulos
