Music and Spatial Task Performance: A Causal Relationship
A Summary, by Michelle Zeltsman
Is music important to spatial task performance? This is a question that’s only partly answered, as we know that correlations between musical cognition and spatial reasoning exist. Yet, what relationship does it share? The focus on this paper is on the testing whether music and spatial task performance is causally related. This topic provides useful information due to the way we learn through and with music. From an early age, we are exposed to music, we appreciate music, and we carry music in our pockets and create it and many students prefer to learn with it than without it. Testing whether there is a causal relationship; as in can performance be better with or without a musical component of a certain genre, is valuable information for studying techniques and how music is processed in the brain in relation to spatial tasks and reasoning skills.
The researchers hypothesize that music can develop “inherent firing patterns, along with associated behaviors which are relevant to spatial reasoning,” basically, if music and higher cognitive abilities share “firing patterns,” and a correlation - then the idea of causation cannot be far off, and can even develop …show more content…
14 preschoolers were in the control group who did not receive any musical training. All 33 children who participated went through the same preschool program for all eight months of the study. The experimental group had 10 weekly (15mins eat) private electronic keyboard lessons, and (daily 30 min) group singing sessions. The children were tested on their spatial reasoning using five tasks: 1) Object Assembly (pieces of a puzzle to create meaning), b)Geometric Design, 3) Block Design, 4)Animal Pegs, and 5) The Stanford-Binet
A Summary, by Michelle Zeltsman
Is music important to spatial task performance? This is a question that’s only partly answered, as we know that correlations between musical cognition and spatial reasoning exist. Yet, what relationship does it share? The focus on this paper is on the testing whether music and spatial task performance is causally related. This topic provides useful information due to the way we learn through and with music. From an early age, we are exposed to music, we appreciate music, and we carry music in our pockets and create it and many students prefer to learn with it than without it. Testing whether there is a causal relationship; as in can performance be better with or without a musical component of a certain genre, is valuable information for studying techniques and how music is processed in the brain in relation to spatial tasks and reasoning skills.
The researchers hypothesize that music can develop “inherent firing patterns, along with associated behaviors which are relevant to spatial reasoning,” basically, if music and higher cognitive abilities share “firing patterns,” and a correlation - then the idea of causation cannot be far off, and can even develop …show more content…
14 preschoolers were in the control group who did not receive any musical training. All 33 children who participated went through the same preschool program for all eight months of the study. The experimental group had 10 weekly (15mins eat) private electronic keyboard lessons, and (daily 30 min) group singing sessions. The children were tested on their spatial reasoning using five tasks: 1) Object Assembly (pieces of a puzzle to create meaning), b)Geometric Design, 3) Block Design, 4)Animal Pegs, and 5) The Stanford-Binet