Delgado 1 Running Head: MOZARTS EFFECT ON MATH

The Mozarts related Effect and Students Math Scores Professor Leila Khatib HSCI-468 Health Research Methods Maria Delgado California State University, San Bernardino November 08, 2012

Delgado 2 Running Head: MOZARTS EFFECT ON MATH The Mozarts effect sparked the interest of many Americans because of its implications of increasing human intelligence simply by listening to the classical sonata. Since then, many researchers have become interested in various applications such as testing the effects on the Mozarts sonata on different cognitive tasks extending to design using different types of music. In light of previous studies, it is worth investigating rather or not these musical inspirations will have an effect on cognitive skills typically used in the academic arena as supposed to simple IQ tests and puzzles. The research question topic is will listening to enjoyed music improve math test scores? Kathryn Vaughn (2000), states that according to conventional wisdom, music and mathematics are related. She believes that musical rhythm is based upon mathematical associations, since it is practical that an understanding of music requires some understanding of ratios. Studies show that music education can lead to an improved understanding. Based on this information, it is very reasonable to use music as one of the approaches to see an improvement on students math test scores. In addition, it is very economical to the country and especially in educational schools, because we play music all over the world, and the best thing of all is free. Math scores in the US are falling compared to other nations. In 2001, the United States ranked the 19th place in mathematics, while competing among 41 other nations. The ranking percentile was unacceptable, since scores were far below the Asian nations scores, according to David Berliners article. So therefore, it is important to start increasing students math test scores. This is an important topic because music as mentioned earlier is in every nation, and tends to release stress; and it does contribute to the current body of knowledge. Music can even help solve problems because it can make transitions easier for people including students. The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between listening to a musical

Delgado 3 Running Head: MOZARTS EFFECT ON MATH preference while studying for a math test and math test scores. The experimental group that listened to music they enjoyed while studying will have higher math test scores than the nonexperimental group. Rauscher et al 1993; Hetland 2000, conducted research that brought forth what is now known as the Mozart effect. Results demonstrated that listening to Mozarts sonata improved in visual-spatial abilities. In order to further test the Mozart effect, Schellenberg and Hallam, (2005), studied the effects of listening to popular pop, contrary, and Mozarts music in tenminute increments to jigsaw puzzle-type solving performance. The sample included (n =8,120) 10- and 11-year-olds fifth-grade students. Results concluded an increased performance for only those students who listened to music they enjoyed. The author suggests that this is a result of arousal and mood enhancement due to enjoy. This study investigated problem solving