Music & Child Development

Question 1

What did Franklin et al. find when analyzing memory of musicians & non-musicians?

Answer 1

Rehearsal strengthens memory; not an innate characteristic of musician but reinforces the idea that music is a learning aid

Question 2

How did Spelke confirm that music has the ability to develop cognitive systems in fields of maths & science?

Answer 2

Intensively trained music students greatly out-performed students with little or no musical training at spatial concepts

Question 3

Describe some ways that musical skills can “transfer” in the brain (the degree to which tasks share cognitive processes)

Answer 3

Temporal processing (how we perceive/discriminate sound); motor skills; emotional sensitivity; relationships between written material & sound (reading music & text); memorization of extended information

Question 4

The fact that humans are biologically equipped to be musical is not only important artistically & creatively, but also for what?

Answer 4

Social & emotional development

Question 5

According to Trainor, at what stages can infants discriminate between standard & altered patterns?;

Answer 5

2 months (discriminate auditory stimuli); 3 months (31% clear, direct responses); 4 months (58%); 6 months (majority of infants)

Question 6

Trainor found that when a sequence of sounds sets up a prediction for the next sound, what did young infants consistently show?;
What do these results indicate?

Answer 6

Mismatch responses to a violation in expectation & that mismatch responses can change after only a few hours of exposure;
A basic learning mechanism in the infant brain

Question 7

What are some characteristics of Motherese?

Answer 7

Exaggerated vowel frequencies; one tone higher than adult speech; simple grammatical structure; salient parts repeated always at the same position in sentence; visual cues provide information on sound articulation & salience

Question 8

How do infants selectively respond to music?;

What do toddler pre-verbal speech & singing demonstrate?

Answer 8

Prefer consonance over dissonance; possess musical processing skills (detection of changes in melody, pitch, rhythm, tempo & timbre); preference for mother’s voice;
Musical qualities (e.g. melodic contour, timing, phrasing & modulation of timbre)

Question 9

What are some benefits of musical training in children increasingly shown in research?

Answer 9

Perceptual skills, language learning, literacy, emotional, social & personal development

Question 10

What is the ability to co-ordinate rhythmically linked to?;
What improves fine motor co-ordination?;
What else can musical training improve?;
What qualities can be encouraged through a positive & fun relationship with music in early years?

Answer 10

Literacy skills;
Learning an instrument;
Spatial reasoning; general intelligence; skills required in maths; overall IQ;
Motivation; self esteem; self-efficacy; aspirations

Question 11

Explain how the correlation between actively engaging in music & improved academic performance is bidirectional;
What are some issues with the reliability of this research?

Answer 11

More intelligent /harder working children are more likely to take music lessons (with encouraging, supporting families); music lessons intrinsically develop concentration/ self-discipline;
Lack of control over other influences in the child’s life (i.e. parental support; prior music/academic exposure; home life more conducive to study)

Question 12

Butzlaff conducted a meta-analysis of 24 studies on music instruction & literacy, & found what?;
What else might explain this?;
If language skills are already well developed, what activity should be focused on for benefits to occur in reading?;
What 3 factors can influence reading ability?

Answer 12

Reliable relationship between music instruction/engagement & reading skills;
Kinds of musical experiences engaged in & prior musical development;
Reading musical notation;
Written notation, auditory skills, repetition

Question 13

What were the results of Piro & Oritz study where 46 children studied piano for 3 years & 57 didn’t?;
What was shifting the focus from listening to engaging in musical notation compatible with?

Answer 13

Music learning group had significantly better vocabulary & verbal sequencing scores;
Literacy elements such as organizational principles & expressive qualities

Question 14

Morehouse explored the significance of music making in the development of oral language skills, & results suggests what?;
What experiences does Morehouse believe music offers to aid language development?

Answer 14

Music is an important precursor to later reading skills;

Auditory & kinaesthetic experiences

Question 15

Hallam believes music & linguistics share what?;

Gromko has also found a relationship between music and what?

Answer 15

Processing systems in the brain (transfer);

Development of aural perception & improvements in phonemic awareness

Question 16

What did Long find about the effect of music intervention on the temporal organisation of reading skills?

Answer 16

Brief training (10 mins weekly for 6 wks) in stamping, clapping & chanting to music while following simple musical notation had a considerable impact on reading comprehension

Question 17

What did Overy find about focusing on rhythm with dyslexic children?;
Corrigal & Trainor found the length of musical training predicted what?;
Transfer of skills from music to literacy is strongest for whom?

Answer 17

It had a positive effect on phonological, spelling & musical skills;
Reading comprehension performance;
Early readers &/or those experiencing reading difficulties

Question 18

Schellenberg assigned a large sample of children to 4 different groups over a year: standard keyboard/kodaly voice training; non-musical activities (i.e. drama); or no lessons. What was found over the time period?

Answer 18

All groups exhibited increased IQ (controls: 4.3 average increase), but music groups had reliably larger increases (7 points)

Question 19

Rauscher et al. explored the impact of different types of musical activity in at-risk pre-school children over 2 years. What were they?;
What were the results?

Answer 19

Piano, singing, rhythm, computer or no instruction;
3 music groups scored higher on mental imagery tasks; rhythm group scored higher than all on temporal cognition & mathematical tasks

Question 20

What do the findings in Rauscher et al.’s study suggest?

Answer 20

Rhythmic training is important for temporal cognition, maths & literacy; developing perpetual skills in pitch & melody supports language development

Question 21

In regards to physical development, when children create music it can improve what?;
Moving to music can enhance the ability to what?;
Children dancing to music can increase what?

Answer 21

Fine motor skills, co-ordination & rhythm;
Sequence sound, recognise & respond to rhythm patterns, & discriminate melody;
Co-ordination, flexibility & motor skills

Question 22

In a 10 week music & movement program with 4-6 year olds, what did Derri et al. find in regards to their locomotor skills?

Answer 22

Improved galloping, leaping, horizontal jumping & skipping

Question 23

Harland found the most frequent influences on pupils from engaging with the arts at school were related to what?;
What benefits of music classes were perceived by students?

Answer 23

Personal & social development;
Listening to music & developing musical skills; fun & therapeutic nature of music; confidence to perform in front of others; group work & learning to express themselves

Question 24

Pitts interviewed 700 teens involved in a school musical, asking them what their motivation was for being involved. What was the main response?;
What are some other motivations?

Answer 24

Fun;
Friendships - contribution to social life; increase confidence, social networks, sense of belonging; peers provide counterpoint to challenge & role models to emulate;

Question 25

According to Rickard et al, what are some contributing benefits from music training?

Answer 25

Sense of belonging; providing leadership roles; achievement & positive feedback

Question 26

Resnicow et al. required individuals to identify, understand, reason with & manage emotions using hypothetical scenarios. What was significantly correlated?;
What does this suggest?

Answer 26

The ability to recognise emotions in performance of music & measures of emotional intelligence;
Music may also have the capacity to increase emotional sensitivity

Question 27

Research is starting to suggest that we acquire emotion knowledge from what?;
Malloch & Trevarthen say that our musicality serves what?

Answer 27

Our early musical experiences (serves as a mediating tool for emotion availability & interaction);
Our need for companionship