Learning to play a musical instrument in the middle school is associated with superior audiovisual working memory and fluid intelligence: A cross-sectional behavioral study
Music training, in all its forms, is known to have an impact on behavior both in childhood and even in aging. In the delicate life period of transition from childhood to adulthood, music training might have a special role for behavioral and cognitive maturation. Among the several kinds of music trai...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.982704/full |
| _version_ | 1811339335013761024 |
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| author | Mariangela Lippolis Daniel Müllensiefen Klaus Frieler Benedetta Matarrelli Benedetta Matarrelli Peter Vuust Rosalinda Cassibba Elvira Brattico Elvira Brattico |
| author_facet | Mariangela Lippolis Daniel Müllensiefen Klaus Frieler Benedetta Matarrelli Benedetta Matarrelli Peter Vuust Rosalinda Cassibba Elvira Brattico Elvira Brattico |
| author_sort | Mariangela Lippolis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Music training, in all its forms, is known to have an impact on behavior both in childhood and even in aging. In the delicate life period of transition from childhood to adulthood, music training might have a special role for behavioral and cognitive maturation. Among the several kinds of music training programs implemented in the educational communities, we focused on instrumental training incorporated in the public middle school curriculum in Italy that includes both individual, group and collective (orchestral) lessons several times a week. At three middle schools, we tested 285 preadolescent children (aged 10–14 years) with a test and questionnaire battery including adaptive tests for visuo-spatial working memory skills (with the Jack and Jill test), fluid intelligence (with a matrix reasoning test) and music-related perceptual and memory abilities (with listening tests). Of these children, 163 belonged to a music curriculum within the school and 122 to a standard curriculum. Significant differences between students of the music and standard curricula were found in both perceptual and cognitive domains, even when controlling for pre-existing individual differences in musical sophistication. The music children attending the third and last grade of middle school had better performance and showed the largest advantage compared to the control group on both audiovisual working memory and fluid intelligence. Furthermore, some gender differences were found for several tests and across groups in favor of females. The present results indicate that learning to play a musical instrument as part of the middle school curriculum represents a resource for preadolescent education. Even though the current evidence is not sufficient to establish the causality of the found effects, it can still guide future research evaluation with longitudinal data. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T18:24:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9f50f86c8bcf467b9d5facaf962779ef |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T18:24:50Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-9f50f86c8bcf467b9d5facaf962779ef2022-12-22T02:35:18ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-10-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.982704982704Learning to play a musical instrument in the middle school is associated with superior audiovisual working memory and fluid intelligence: A cross-sectional behavioral studyMariangela Lippolis0Daniel Müllensiefen1Klaus Frieler2Benedetta Matarrelli3Benedetta Matarrelli4Peter Vuust5Rosalinda Cassibba6Elvira Brattico7Elvira Brattico8Department of Teaching of Musical, Visual and Corporal Expression, University of Valencia, Valencia, SpainDepartment of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, United KingdomDepartment of Methodology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, GermanyDepartment of Clinical Medicine, Center for Music in the Brain (MIB), The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus and Aalborg, Aarhus University, Aarhus, DenmarkDepartment of Education, Psychology, and Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, ItalyDepartment of Clinical Medicine, Center for Music in the Brain (MIB), The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus and Aalborg, Aarhus University, Aarhus, DenmarkDepartment of Education, Psychology, and Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, ItalyDepartment of Clinical Medicine, Center for Music in the Brain (MIB), The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus and Aalborg, Aarhus University, Aarhus, DenmarkDepartment of Education, Psychology, and Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, ItalyMusic training, in all its forms, is known to have an impact on behavior both in childhood and even in aging. In the delicate life period of transition from childhood to adulthood, music training might have a special role for behavioral and cognitive maturation. Among the several kinds of music training programs implemented in the educational communities, we focused on instrumental training incorporated in the public middle school curriculum in Italy that includes both individual, group and collective (orchestral) lessons several times a week. At three middle schools, we tested 285 preadolescent children (aged 10–14 years) with a test and questionnaire battery including adaptive tests for visuo-spatial working memory skills (with the Jack and Jill test), fluid intelligence (with a matrix reasoning test) and music-related perceptual and memory abilities (with listening tests). Of these children, 163 belonged to a music curriculum within the school and 122 to a standard curriculum. Significant differences between students of the music and standard curricula were found in both perceptual and cognitive domains, even when controlling for pre-existing individual differences in musical sophistication. The music children attending the third and last grade of middle school had better performance and showed the largest advantage compared to the control group on both audiovisual working memory and fluid intelligence. Furthermore, some gender differences were found for several tests and across groups in favor of females. The present results indicate that learning to play a musical instrument as part of the middle school curriculum represents a resource for preadolescent education. Even though the current evidence is not sufficient to establish the causality of the found effects, it can still guide future research evaluation with longitudinal data.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.982704/fullmusic trainingcognitive developmentaudiovisual working memorymusical abilitiesmusic education |
| spellingShingle | Mariangela Lippolis Daniel Müllensiefen Klaus Frieler Benedetta Matarrelli Benedetta Matarrelli Peter Vuust Rosalinda Cassibba Elvira Brattico Elvira Brattico Learning to play a musical instrument in the middle school is associated with superior audiovisual working memory and fluid intelligence: A cross-sectional behavioral study Frontiers in Psychology music training cognitive development audiovisual working memory musical abilities music education |
| title | Learning to play a musical instrument in the middle school is associated with superior audiovisual working memory and fluid intelligence: A cross-sectional behavioral study |
| title_full | Learning to play a musical instrument in the middle school is associated with superior audiovisual working memory and fluid intelligence: A cross-sectional behavioral study |
| title_fullStr | Learning to play a musical instrument in the middle school is associated with superior audiovisual working memory and fluid intelligence: A cross-sectional behavioral study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Learning to play a musical instrument in the middle school is associated with superior audiovisual working memory and fluid intelligence: A cross-sectional behavioral study |
| title_short | Learning to play a musical instrument in the middle school is associated with superior audiovisual working memory and fluid intelligence: A cross-sectional behavioral study |
| title_sort | learning to play a musical instrument in the middle school is associated with superior audiovisual working memory and fluid intelligence a cross sectional behavioral study |
| topic | music training cognitive development audiovisual working memory musical abilities music education |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.982704/full |
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