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Music lessons enhance IQ.

E Glenn Schellenberg1

  • 1University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. g.schellenberg@utoronto.ca

Psychological Science
|July 24, 2004
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Music lessons, including keyboard or voice, were found to slightly increase children's full-scale IQ scores. Drama lessons, however, significantly improved social behavior, suggesting different benefits for distinct enrichment activities.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Educational Psychology
  • Child Development

Background:

  • The popular notion that music enhances cognitive abilities, often termed the 'music makes you smarter' hypothesis, lacks robust empirical validation.
  • Previous research has yielded mixed results, necessitating rigorous investigation into music's causal impact on intelligence.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To empirically test the hypothesis that music education improves intelligence in children.
  • To compare the effects of specific music training (keyboard, voice) against control conditions (drama, no lessons) on cognitive and behavioral outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • A randomized controlled trial involving 144 children was conducted.
  • Participants were assigned to keyboard lessons, voice lessons, drama lessons, or a no-lesson control group.

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  • Full-scale IQ and academic achievement were measured pre- and post-intervention, with social behavior also assessed.

    • Main Results:

    • Children receiving music lessons showed statistically significant, albeit small, increases in full-scale IQ compared to control groups.
    • The positive effects of music education on IQ generalized across various subtests and academic measures.
    • Drama lessons led to substantial improvements in adaptive social behavior, an effect not observed in music groups.

    Conclusions:

    • Music education demonstrates a modest, generalized positive effect on children's IQ and academic achievement.
    • Drama education appears to be more effective in fostering improvements in social behavior.
    • These findings suggest that different enrichment activities may confer distinct developmental benefits.