Question: Have you ever heard of, or believe in The Mozart Effect?

Lowri Evans answered on 11 Mar 2016:

Hey pizzalover!

I’ve heard of it, and I’m very unconvinced by it! The original research (published in Nature 1993) had some really narrow findings. The researchers had uni students take one of three tests, which are parts of the IQ test, and asked them to visualise spatial patterns, and over time, manipulate (play around) with them. There were three pre-test conditions – one group listened to a Mozart piano sonata, one group listened to relaxation music, and the other group listened to silence. The students who listened to Mozart performed better on the spatial test, but this was only temporary – it wore off after just 15 minutes.

The researchers didn’t actually make any claims that listening to Mozart would make people smarter – they stated that Mozart temporarily improved spatial intelligence over university-aged students.

Over the years, the idea that “Mozart makes you smart” has captured people’s imagination, and it’s been turned into books, DVDs, kids toys, CDs and loads of other products. It seems like a really easy concept for people, especially parents – buy this “educational” Mozart CD and your child will be uber smart!

Thankfully there’s been a follow up study, and researchers at the University of Vienna found no evidence that listening to Mozart “enhanced” people’s abilities in any way. This doesn’t mean that classical music is bad and that all of these “Mozart” products are a waste of times, but that we cannot expect amazing results simply by listening or using the products.

There IS, however, evidence that music can help improve people’s maths and language skills, and there are obvious social benefits to being involved in music, especially for children. Personally, I used to listen to classical music when I was revising for exams because it drowned out the background noise and wasn’t distracting. It works for some people, but not others. I think there’s never going to be a “magic trick” to making people smarter 🙂