Giving piano lessons to preschoolers significantly increases
their ability to perform the types of reasoning required for excellence in science and
math, researchers at the University of California and the University of Wisconsin have
found.
Surprisingly. lessons on using a computer keyboard provided no similar benefit, the team
reported in the journal of Neurological Research. The study involved 78 California children
in preschools, and the team found that the beneficial effect was independent of
socioeconomic class and parental interest.
An earlier study by the same team found that listening to Mozart improved performance
on an IQ test taken immediately afterward, but that the effect faded within an hour. In
this case the researchers believe the improvements in mental ability will persist, perhaps
for a lifetime, although they do not have the data to prove that. The researchers also
believe the effect they discovered is related to playing an instrument in general rather
than being limited solely to keyboards.
"These children have plastic (malleable) brains that are just forming
connections," said psychologist Frances Rauscher of the U. of W. "We’re
influencing pattern development in the cortex through neural training."
The great improvement shown by the children from the musical training "should be
of great interest to scientists and educators," added physicist Gorden Shaw of UC
Irvine, who is also on the staff of the school’s Center for the Neurobiology of
Learning and Memory.
The team recruited (111) 3 and 4 year olds at three preschools. One was an inner city
school for single mothers who had gone back to community college, while the other two
served more conventional middle class families. Thirty-three of the children withdrew from
the schools during the study and were not included in the analysis.
The children were randomly divided into four groups. One group received daily singing
lessons and two 15-minute private piano lessons per week at school. A piano also was made
available if the children wished to practice on their own. A second group received only
the group singing lessons. Members of the third group received two 15-minute private
computer lessons each week, while those in the fourth group received no lessons at all.
At the beginning of the study, each student received four different tests of mental
ability, including one that measures special-temporal reasoning. In the special test,
students might be shown, for example, a picture of a camel broken into four pieces and be
asked to reassemble it. They might also be shown a simple geometric figure and be asked to
match it with a group of similar figures.
At the beginning of the study, all of the students scored at the national norm on the
tests. At the end of six months, those who received piano lessons scored an average of 34
percent higher on the tests of special-temporal abilities, while those in the other three
groups showed no improvement on any of the tests. Because the children subsequently
enrolled in public schools, the team was unable to follow up to determine how long the
effect persisted.
Rauscher, who studied piano and the cello as a child, thinks the lessons were
beneficial." Music is one of the few art forms that occurs over time,"
Rauscher said. It requires mental imagery, transforming mental images and being able to
reason in sequence. It seems as if music and science share some things in common. The
research was sponsored by grants from, among others, the National Piano
Foundation and the National Association of Music Merchants. But the results were
reviewed by other scientists before publication.
Few parents would willingly inhibit their child’s mental and physical
development, but it can happen unintentionally by taking a passive role in the
child’s activities. Parents and experts agree that kids today spend far too much
time in front of the television or video games, yet taking the step to encourage
active pastimes seems to elude busy parents.