Mozart Effect in Action - Essay Example

MOZART EFFECT The Mozart effect is a term suggested by Alferd A.Tomatis for the alleged increase in brain development that occurs in children when they listen to the music of Mozart. In the last some years, the interest for examining the important role of music in the education has been growing rapidly. The Mozart effect is the purported enhance in spatial-reasoning performance immediately. Originally it referred to the phenomenon of a brief enhancement of spatial- temporal abilities in college students after listening to a Mozart piano sonata The researchers working on Mozart effect found that after listening for 10 minutes music by Mozart, College students achieved a temporary increase in the score of three sets of standard IQ spatial reasoning tasks but not after being exposed to silence or listening for 10 minutes to a relaxation tape. Due to this, commonly labeled the Mozart effect has given rise to a great deal of research in science and music education. A number of people have realized that listening to Mozart's music increases general intelligence permanently. But according to early studies the effect was temporary. These results do not bear directly on the Mozart effect in its narrow sense, but they have been cited as support for the more general thesis also. I also deeply believe that listening to Mozart's music may have an ever-lasting effect not only for many young students but also for many people of all ages. Mozart effect is most effective in telling us how emotionally humans are to using any aids to communicate when dealing with another sort of creature which is so unlike themselves in terms of experience, size, sensory capabilities, and emotional tendencies. Who would not want a pre-packaged solution with so impressive a name The effect in which exposure to classical music claims to enhance performance on intelligence tests has attained the status of an urban myth, a myth sustained by toy companies, parenting manuals writers, and technology gurus. As far as the today's requirements concert people demand that the arts should not be taught only as separate core subjects, but integrated throughout the curriculum, using examples of eighth notes, half notes, etc., writing poetry in reading and English classes, in science classes, and experiencing art, music and poetry in the geography, history and social studies being taught. The instrumental argument for the music is a great sales tool, if it does not lead to wild beliefs. It in no way detracts from the esthetic any more than the nutrition detracts from the food. For the music, making wild claims is just as bad as making wild claims for food or for anything else. Now I am suggesting some definitions of Mozart effect given by some famous experts. According to John Brue, "Scholastic ability, future career paths, and ability to form loving relationships have little basis in neuroscience of children will ultimately determine by Stories s that they experiences during their early years of life." According to Dr. Gordon Shaw, "We have this common internal neural language that we are born with and so if you can exploit that with the right stimuli then you are going to help the brain develop to do the things like reason." According to Dr. Frances Rauscher, "We exposed these animals in utero and then sixty days after birth to different types of auditory stimulation and then we ran them in a spatial maze. And sure enough, the animals that were exposed to the Mozart completed the maze faster and with fewer errors. And now what we are doing is we are removing their brains so we can slice them and see precisely what has changed as a function of this exposure. So it may be that this intense exposure to the music is a type of enrichment that has similar effects on the spatial areas of the hippocampus of the brain." We can say that the idea that listening to classical music enhances intelligence is generally termed as Mozart effect. Nevertheless, it is important to understand the data at hand for what they are and not for what we wish to read into them. According to a survey, in tests which were organized to measure spatial- temporal ability, the children who received piano training performed 34% higher than the others. So I think music uniquely enhances higher brain functions required for mathematics, chess, science and engineering. Widespread public concern early childhood development may have created a need for information that helped the Mozart effect to thrive. But according to Lamont there are a number of factors that lead children to start and continue music training. Support from parents and teachers, available economic resources, and children's own motivation are the other factors to start and continue music training. Scholastic achievement can be influenced by all of these factors. Musical elements in the speech of human adults to infants create, but the effects of exposure to musical speech are more subtle than might be supposed. Originally on the basis of controversial scientific results, nowadays Mozart effect is enjoying widespread popularity because it suggests a faithful solution to a perplexing social and parental concern; how to ensure the growth and intellectual development of children. Other events seem amusing: playing Mozart to prison inmates (Houston Chronicle, May 2, 1999) or even to roses during their germination (Korea Herald, May 22, 1999). A factor of the increased performance is the complexity of the music and that music which lacking such sort of complexity or that was repetitive might decrease performance. On the basis of medical science as we know the brain have two lobes, the right lobe predominate its creativity, emotion and language, while rhythm and pitch engage the left. The studies show that music is able to engage both hemispheres of the brain. So people, at a young age develop a bundle of nerves that connects those two halves, who receive musical exposure. As we know brain is some sort of muscle that can be strengthened, and then strengthening the brain in the area of music may have a carry over effect and strengthen the area in the brain that holds scientific and spatial skills. Gardner found that a group of subjects who were taught music before taking a test in spatial skills surpassed a control group on some measures of spatial skill. This study gives an idea that there may be a connection. On studying about Mozart effect experts observed that some subjects might have had exposure to Mozart's music for years, while others may have had little previous exposure. They conclude that this could affect the level of enjoyment, perception, and attention of the listener. Creative and motivational regions of the brain is stimulated and charged by the melodies, rhythms, and high frequencies of Mozart's music. But the key thing is that all sounds should be so pure and simple to produce that effect. Mozart does not weave a dazzling tapestry like that great mathematical genius Bach. He does not raise ocean waves of emotions like the epically tortured Beethoven. His work does not have the stark plainness of Sharker hymn or a Tibetan prayer Gregorian chant. He does not calm the pain of the body like a slam it into motion like a rock star or good folk musician. Perhaps the power of Mozart's music comes from the facts surrounding his birth. Mozart's childhood experience and prenatal was full with music. Both of his parents were musicians and this exposure throughout his early years had enhanced Mozart's neurological development. But that many famous composers, including Bach and Beethoven, were not born into musical families, this ignores that fact. In humans, music is not the regulation of intelligence but it is about active modulation of behavior. The so-called Mozart effect is the epitome of a passive effect. And it also a good example of a non-social approach to cognitive influence. Extensive researches on biological roots of music suggest some facts that are given below:- 1. Music is universal. Some favorable results have been produced by the studies on the effects of classical music and intelligence in a variety of cultures. 2. Musical behaviors emerge in infancy. Very early in life, Children begin singing often earlier than speech development. 3. Teaching children to play music exercises the brain, the sensory and perceptual system, and the cognitive system. 4. Reading comprehension is improved by a strong music curriculum. In a survey, the students were tested and showed an increase in reading comprehension scores. 5. Dramatic long lasting effects of music and intelligence are more pronounced when there is instruction in music. 6. According to Rauschers's most well-known study for a period of six months 34 preschool children are selected piano training were given t them. After the six months, the children could play a few basic melodies of Mozart and Beethoven. They exhibited a 36 percent increase in spatial IQ tests. It is clear that there is increment in evidence that support the claims that music can enhance verbal and spatial-temporal ability. The short-term effects that have been found are so ephemeral and are enclosed to such a narrow range of tasks that it is questionable as to whether any practical applications will come from this research. Any hope that these results will directly influence educational policy seems misguided. Theories regarding the architecture of the mind might indirectly influence educational theory. theories about the architecture of the mind have been developed by Howard Gardner with the hope that these theories will help guide education policies. The researches suggesting the short-term and long-term effects of music on the brain seem to support Gardner's theory. Gardner revealed, "The mind is made up of multiple intelligences." These include linguistic, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, logical-mathematical, and two forms of personal intelligence. Gardner further claims that under normal circumstances, these intelligences deal with and build upon one another. To Pinker, "music is auditory cheesecake, an exquisite confection crafted to tickle the sensitive spots of at least six of our mental faculties." He found that it is very easy to understand when an accented syllable in a lyric is aligned with an unaccented note or vice versa. He also suggests the similarity between visual perception and sound in what he calls "auditory scene analysis." In visual scene analysis, the viewer takes raw visual stimulus and segregates surfaces from their backdrops. Similarly, the listener takes raw frequencies and segregates the streams of sound that come from different sources. It seems that the music is to be connected to other processes in the mind and the implication is that music stimulation may have extra-musical benefits. Music teachers motivate many of the studies of the long-term, extra-musical effects from music training hoping to defend and promote music education. However, many are also motivated by interest in neurobiology and psychology. It seems that these studies do support the agenda of that promoting music education. This suggests that apposite to critics trying to cut music education, music training should not be counter indicated. Most of all, we ought not to forget due to its intrinsic value as an art form and as an innate mode of expression music must have a prominent place in the curriculum. How science and the media mix in our world is a perfect example of the Mozart effect. In a matter of months a suggestion becomes a universal truth, eventually believed even by the scientists who initially recognized how their work had been distorted by the media. Others, working for money, go with bandwagon and play to the crowd, questionable claims, adding their own myths, and distortions to the mix. All evidence proves that the Mozart Effect has become a scientific legend. It looks like to be a circumscribed manifestation of a widespread older belief. Perhaps it is also introduced in older beliefs in the beneficial powers of music. I think Mozart effect is the perfect example of a passive effect and it also a good epitome of a non-social approach to cognitive influence. The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit. We predicted that the ME would spread more in regions with problematic primary education. 1. References :- 2. Kilpatrick, William. "Music and Morality" 3. Campbell, Don. "The Mozart Effect" 4. Kilpatrick, William. "Music and Morality" 5. Rauscher, F. H., "Mozart and the mind: Factual and fictional effects of musical enrichment" 6. Cromie, William J. "Mozart Effect Hits Sour Notes." Read More