Mozart Effect

In 1993 Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky reported that 36 college students increased their mean spatial-reasoning scores the equivalent of 8 to 9 IQ points on portions of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale after listening to ten minutes of Mozart’s sonata for two piano parts in D major rather then listening to relaxation instruction or sitting in silence (Steele, 1999). The Stanford-Binet intelligence scale is a standardized test that assesses intelligence and cognitive abilities in children and adults aged two to 23. Since the 1993 report, there have been many failed attempts to replicate what has commonly become known as the Mozart effect. Since the failed attempts there have been doubts about the researches reliability, although the original researchers and a few others have replicated the effects. Making sense of these findings entails examining several variables.

In an examination of neural firing patterns, Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky based their rationale on the Trion model of the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is a part of the brain that helps with, among other things, motor control, speech, memory, and auditory reception. The Trion model, developed by Shaw, showed that similar neural firings patterns occur when listening to music and performing spatial tasks. Rauscher and Shaw hypothesized that listening to certain types of complex music may "warm-up" neural transmitters inside the cerebral cortex and thereby improve spatial performance (Plucker, 2003). Although there is an increase in spatial abilities, the small intermittent effect probably arises from “enjoyment arousal” induced by music that is not produced by sitting in silence or listening to a relaxation tape (Thompson, 2001).

To tests the hypothesis of the Mozart effect, Steele based his method of research from the Rauscher et al. 1995 study. A Mozart sonata for two pianos in K, which lasts eight minutes and 24 seconds, unlike the Rauscher study which described the sonata used as being ten minutes in duration. The Rauscher et al study, participants were administered 16 PF&C items as a pretest. Based on the participants’ performance, they were assigned to three groups of “equivalent capabilities.” For the next three days, the different groups were exposed to ten minutes of a stimulus condition and then tested on with the 16 PF&C items. Stimulus conditions consisted of participants listening to either a Mozart piece, some other music selection, or sitting in silence. Each PF&C item was shown on an overhead projector for one minute, with a five second warning at the end of the trial. Participants in the Steele study were selected through random assignment to create equivalent groups, unlike the pretest design used by Rauscher. Steele also implemented a 48 hour time lapse between sessions for the participants.

Should we assume, then, the spatial abilities present after listening to a Mozart sonata are in fact due to the Mozart music, or is this ability produced because of an elevation in mood or arousal? Participants performed significantly better on a test of special abilities after listening to a Mozart sonata than after sitting in silence, but if other music was played, such as an Albini piece which was “sad” and slow, there was no indication that spatial ability was improved, but mood and arousal elevations dropped. Other studies showed that participants who listened to other “easy listening” music, not Mozart, had increasingly better results on spatial tests then after sitting in silence. These findings may imply that a positive stimulus whether it is musical or otherwise, may effect the elevation of a participant’s mood or arousal and may be the reason for the increase in spatial ability. Or is the difference because the Mozart sonata is highly mathematical and symmetric. One explanation is that these negative results describe key components that are necessary to produce the Mozart effect (Steele, 1999). Although there was a large discrepancy between the results of the 1993 Rauscher et al study, researchers failed to find a substantial increase in special ability when duplicating the study (Steele, 1999). Although there was not a Mozart effect recorded on cognitive task performance in this study, there was a positive effect on mood scores.