Does Playing Mozart to Babies Make Them Smarter?

Name: Fiona Ewing
Student No.: n8588589
Subject: PYB100 Foundation Psychology
Unit Coordinator: Dr Mariann
Word Count: 1664

Researchers have claimed that the Mozart effect accomplished everything from temporary increases in IQ to creating the mental mechanism needed for infants to develop reasoning and analytical prowess. However there is little academic research and evidence of the Mozart effect on babies, making it difficult to contribute a link between the theory and intelligence enhancement it has on babies. Many research scientists haven’t been able to replicate the results or the results are temporary and have concluded that there is no evidence of the Mozart effect. Firstly by exploring the initial Mozart experiment conclusions can be draw regarding the Mozart effect and intellectual enhancement on babies. Secondly, through critical evaluation of research articles that were conducted to prove or disprove the theory, conclusions can be drawn regarding the Mozart effect and the degree of intellectual enhancement it has on babies. Thirdly, academic research suggests there is a scientific explanation behind the Mozart effect that provides a deeper understanding of the theory’s claims towards enhancing intelligence. There has been a lot of attention drawn to the first scientific experiment that introduced the Mozart effect. Rauscher, Shaw and Ky (1993) conducted an experiment with thirty-six college students that were tested in a paper folding spatial-reasoning task from the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. The three experiment conditions were; listening to Mozart, sitting in silence and listening to a relaxation tape. Researchers found that 10 minutes of exposure to a Mozart sonata, prior to attempting abstract reasoning tests, produced a statistically significant increase in performance which was