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Demand characteristics of music affect performance on the Wonderlic Personnel Test Of Intelligence
Celissa C Verpaelst1, Lionel G Standing
1Department of Psychology, Bishop's University, Sherbrooke QC, Canada. lstandin@ubishops.ca
Abstract:
This study examined whether demand characteristics concerning music can change subjects' performance on the Wonderlic Personnel Test of intelligence. Participants (N= 60) were randomly assigned and informed either that Mozart's music typically enhances cognitive performance or diminishes it. They then completed the Wonderlic Personnel Test while listening to a Mozart piano sonata. The subjects with a positive set answered significantly more items correctly on the test (14%) than those with a negative set (p = .03). This result may hold implications for the study of the 'Mozart effect'.
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