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STUDY AFFIRMS EARLY MUSIC TRAINING IMPROVES INTELLIGENCE
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Terry Bilhartz, Rick Bruhn, Judy Olson Early music training can improve intelligence according to a study by three researchers at Sam Houston State University. The conclusions of the study support the nurture side of the argument in the on-going debate over whether intelligence is solely DNA determined and static, or whether it can be enhanced through life experiences. The study also showed that parental time spent with a child is a more important factor in predicting intelligence test success than such factors as single parent households, poverty, low parental education levels, and ethnic minority status.  The study was conducted between September 1997 and May 1998 by Terry D. Bilhartz, Professor of History; Rick A. Bruhn, Professor of Education; and Judith E. Olson, Director of the SHSU Learning Assistance Center.
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A total of 66 children ages four to six years completed the study and were tested, half receiving no additional music instructions (called the control group) and the other half (called the experimental group) participating in a Kindermusik for the Young Child Year 1 Pilot Program. One- third of the children in both the control and the experimental groups attended Head Start Programs, while the remaining two-thirds in each group were pre-schoolers who lived in middle and upper income households.
After receiving a Stanford-Binet intelligence test and a musical skills assessment test, the experimental students were offered 75 minutes of music training per week for 30 weeks. In accordance with the Kindermusik curriculum guidelines, parents or guardians were asked to attend portions of the weekly lessons and to complete home assignments with their children. Children in both groups were re-tested at the end of the program. The experimental group children who were active participants in the Kindermusik classes and whose parents helped them with the home musical activities showed significant gains on the areas of the Stanford-Binet subtests that measured abstract reasoning abilities. The magnitude of improvement in abstract reasoning scores varied directly with the level of participation in the music curriculum. The researchers set compliance criteria to measure the degree of subject and care giver participation in the Kindermusik program. Strong correlations also were found between musical abilities in young children, particularly the ability to match vocal pitches and reproduce rhythmic patterns, and abstract reasoning abilities. These findings support the theories formulated by Gordon Shaw, Francis Rauscher and other researchers who have argued that early music instruction produces cognitive benefits in the area of spatial-temporal reasoning. An article on the research group's findings has been accepted for publication in a future issue of the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. |
