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<\/a><\/p>\nThe short version is: “listening to Mozart makes you smarter!” (Translation: “Parents: run right out and by Mozart recordings for your children!”)<\/p>\n
The longer version is: “in one stud<\/a>y, children who listened to Mozart before they took a spatial reasoning test did better than those who didn’t. The effect lasted, at most, fifteen minutes.”<\/p>\n That initial study turned into several books, and several extravagant claims. In 1998, the governor of Georgia wanted the state budget to buy every child<\/a> a classical music recording.<\/p>\n If listening to Mozart before a spatial reasoning test improves performance, then … just maybe … listening to music while I do my schoolwork will help me think better.<\/p>\n I know LOTS of teenagers who insist that this is true. Whenever I talk about brain research at schools, high-schoolers assure me quite passionately that they learn more with their music playing.<\/p>\n That’s a plausible claim. Let’s research it.<\/p>\n Perham and Currie tested this claim<\/a> quite simply. They had adults take a reading comprehension test adapted from the SAT. Over headphones, they heard either…<\/p>\n …music they chose because they liked it (Frank Ocean, Katy Perry),<\/p>\n …music they didn’t like (thrash metal),<\/p>\n …music that didn’t have lyrics, or<\/p>\n …silence<\/p>\n What Perham and Currie find?<\/p>\n Quite clearly, these learners did their best thinking in silence<\/em>.<\/p>\n More specifically, when they answered reading comprehension questions in silence, they averaged 61%<\/strong>. Listening to music without lyrics, they averaged a 55%. Music with lyrics — either likable-Katy Perry or disliked-thrash metal — led to a 38% average<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The drop from a 61% to a 38% should get everyone’s attention.<\/p>\n Here’s a straightforward summary for our students.<\/p>\n Would you like to increase your reading comprehension 20%?<\/p>\n TURN OFF THE MUSIC and read in silence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n To sum up:<\/p>\n Perham and Currie’s study strongly suggests that listening to music with lyrics<\/em> interferes with reading comprehension<\/em>.<\/p>\n This study<\/a> strongly suggests that listening to music during a task<\/em> interferes with students’ creativity<\/em>.<\/p>\nPlausible Extrapolation?<\/h2>\n
Asking the Right (Narrow) Question<\/h2>\n