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Divya Mahajan Report
Divya Mahajan Report
EFFECT OF TYPE OF MUSIC (JAZZ OR CLASSICAL) AND
GENDER
ON MATHEMATICAL REASONING ABILITY
Project By: Abhishek Bhatia P2008EE1054
Divya Mahajan P2008EE1065
Report by: Divya Mahajan P2008EE1065
Abstract:
It turns out that there is much evidence that supports the positive effects of music on
undergraduate student’s ability to do math. Most research shows that when children are trained in
music at a young age, they tend to improve in their math skills. The purpose is to try to find out
which type of music, Jazz or Western Classical, is better for aiding in mathematical performance.
The reason behind the phenomenon as found by various experiments may be because the part of
the cortex which contains spatial temporal reasoning can be excited with music. The surprising
thing is that music as a whole does not enhance math skills. It is certain aspects of music that are
affecting mathematical ability in a big way. This capacity of music to improve spatial reasoning is
called Mozart Effect.
To test this, eight subjects were exposed to each of the two listening conditions and then tested on
mathematical reasoning ability.
However the result does not show a significant effect of music or gender on the reasoning ability.
Aim:
To study the effect of type of music (jazz or western classical) and gender on mathematical
reasoning performance.
Introduction:
Research has shown that many different factors affect memory and performance. Music is one of
these factors. It has been found to stimulate different parts of the brain. Many studies have shown
that music improves the memory in patients with Alzheimer's and dementia. It was also found that
music helps reduce stress, helps people relax and improves depression.
Music is beneficial to us in many different ways. The term used to signify the transformational
powers of music in education, health and well‐being is called the Mozart Effect. The Mozart Effect
is the general use of music to reduce stress, depression and anxiety, help people to relax and sleep
and improve the memory. The same people who conducted the Mozart effect experiment also
suggested that spatial‐temporal reasoning is crucial in math.
BY divya mahajan
HUL 211 OBJECT PERCEPTION AND MEMORY
Research of the Mozart Effect was started by Tomatis in the late 1950s. By 1990 its popularity had
grown. Over a hundred centers around the world were using the Mozart Effect. Recently,
researchers have been using classical music to study its effects on epilepsy.
Indeed, some researchers have explored the possible transfer of cognitive abilities to other
curricular areas by theorizing that exposure to music, through participation and formal instruction
can facilitate non‐musical learning (Madsen, 1987; Radocy & Boyle, 1988; Wolfe, 1983).
Schlaug researched on what part of the brain controls the correlation between math and music
and found that certain regions of the brain such as the corpus callosum and the right motor cortex
were larger in musician who started their musical training before the age of 7.
As to what happens in that area of the brain when one listens to music, we turn to the experiment
performed by Xiaodeng Leng and Gordon Shaw. Shaw and Leng developed a model of higher brain
function, which is based on the trion model. Shaw and Leng performed an experiment in which
they mapped the trion model of firing patterns in that particular column onto various pitches and
instruments producing recognizable styles of music. This mapping of the trions gaves insight to
relate the neuronal processes involved in music and abstract spatial‐temporal reasoning. It shows
that the part of the cortex, which contains the repertoire of spatial‐temporal firing patterns, can be
excited by music and is utilized in higher brain functions such as spatial‐temporal thinking in
mathematics.
Cockerton, Moore, and Norman (1997) found that background music facilitated cognitive task
performance. They had undergraduate students complete two intelligence tests, one in silence
and the other with background music. Their analysis showed that more questions were answered
correctly under the music condition compared to the control condition of no music.
In an another study, Miller and Schyb (1989) examined the effects of background music on a
variety of standard cognitive tasks: spatial, numerical, and verbal reasoning, and reading. These
tasks were taken from the Differential Aptitude Test Battery. Subjects completed these tasks
either with no background music or with various types of music: classical, vocal, or pop. They
found that performance on nonverbal tasks was facilitated by background music, and
interestingly, especially for females.
Hypothesis:
1. Western classical music will improve mathematical performance more as compared to jazz.
2. Numerical/ Reasoning ability of men is higher than women.
3. The effect of music will be more on females than on males.
Method:
Participants:
Number: Eight normal human subjects
Gender: 4 were females and 4 were males
Academic status: II year undergraduate students at the Indian Institute of Technology Ropar.
Age: 19-21 yrs
Apparatus or Materials Required:
A Laptop with windows 7 operating system and adobe reader
Music (The classical listening condition was composed by Mozart called “Fantasia in D minor” and
the jazz listening condition was Dafnis Prieto’s “Si O Si” Quartet),
BY divya mahajan
HUL 211 OBJECT PERCEPTION AND MEMORY
Earphones, pen and stop watch
Simple reasoning math tests (set A and B)
The human test subjects (4 males and 4 females). The tests used were: Psychometric Success
Numerical Ability ‐ Reasoning Practice Tests
SPSS software in lab PC with windows XP as the operating system.
Design and procedure:
The procedure to be followed is to give the subjects a series of simple math and reasoning tests
which will consist of simple facts of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and reasoning.
The tests consisted of 10 questions each having the same weightage of 1 mark. Each question was
a multiple choice type question with five options and the subject was focused before the test. The
same subjects were given another set of an equivalent ability test on the next day. While they take
these tests, they will have specific type of music playing in the background. The counterbalancing
of the music, tests and gender was critical. A thorough data analysis was conducted using SPSS
software.
Result:
The hypothesis given before was that classical will have more effect than jazz; we see that this
hypothesis can be accepted in the case of males while it has to be declined in the case of females.
This can be proven if we observe the graph. The second hypothesis states that the numerical
ability of males is more than that of females which can also be clarified from the graph as both the
lines have a positive slope as we go from males to females. The third hypothesis states that
females will be affected more from music than males which has to be declined because the
difference in the right end points(x) of graph is more than that of left hand points(y).
Green: jazz
Blue: classical
Average marks
BY divya mahajan
HUL 211 OBJECT PERCEPTION AND MEMORY
The mean marks for classical listening music was higher than jazz music by 0.25. Also the mean
marks for male was higher than females by 1.250. Another trend which was observed was that
while in males, their mean marks rose from 7.5 for jazz to 8.5 for classical; a decrease in mean
marks was observed for females i.e. it dropped from 7 for jazz to 6.5 for classical. This supports
our first hypothesis for males and second hypothesis.
While these results seem to prove the first two hypotheses (first one only for males) and disprove
the third one, it was found that that these results were not significant enough with value of p
much greater than 0.05 for all the cases‐ Music, Gender and their mutual interaction: refer the
tables given below.
Table I: Music and Gender*Music
Source music Type III Sum of
Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
BY divya mahajan
HUL 211 OBJECT PERCEPTION AND MEMORY
With this low number of subjects the result was not significant. The experiment conducted by
Manthei (2002) used 72 undergraduate subjects to test the effect of music on math scores.
This result could also be due to the fact that the weightage of each question was very low or the
questions were very few. Each question was of 1 mark with the whole test of 10 marks. The mean
for males went from 7.5 at jazz to 8.5 to classical, although this may not be so significant but if the
weightage of each question was increased the significance of each correct answer would increase.
The ambience may also have interfered with the participants and the individual factors always
count because electronically produced background music has become increasingly prevalent in our
society. The occurrence of such music is so common that an individual may not be aware of music
in their immediate environment. Background music can be defined as any music played while the
listener's attention is focused primarily on a task or activity other than listening to the music
(Radocy & Boyle, 1988). The function of background music varies with the individual listener and
with the nature of the task or activity in which the listener is involved. Such a task or activity could
be studying or other academic preparation. Students of all ages have often claimed that they can
study and learn more effectively while listening to music. Indeed, some researchers have explored
the possible transfer of cognitive abilities to other curricular areas by theorizing that exposure to
music, through participation and formal instruction can facilitate non‐musical learning (Madsen,
1987; Radocy & Boyle, 1988; Wolfe, 1983). Yet a solid research base for these claims seems to be
lacking. While music appears to enhance some individuals' learning, it may be distracting to others.
The hypothesis stating that males have a higher numerical ability than females may not be true
now because all these factors have arisen due to the fact that in earlier days the tasks for males
and females were predefined which never led to a great deal of development of reasoning ability
in women, which may not be the case now.
The present study suggests that music listening styles have no effect on the interference effect of
background music. Also students' attitudes toward background music during testing situations may
present an interesting study. Although several studies have refuted the short term effect of
background music on academic performance (LaBach, 1960; Wolfe, 1983; Kelly, 1993), a long term
effect in attitude toward a subject and achievement might be the subject of future studies.
If a significant effect is to be seen then the experiment is to be done with more subjects and the
number of evaluations should also be more.
Hence the music effect on mathematical ability can have mixed results as it definitely depends on
individual and if the music goes in background and the subjects concentrate only on the test then
the hypotheses may never hold true.
References:
Manthei. Mike, N. Kelly (2006). Effects of Popular and Classical Background Music on the Math
Test Scores of Undergraduate Students. Psychology Reports.
Greenberg, R.P., & Fisher, S. (1971). Some differential effects of music on projective and structured
psychological tests.
Radocy & Boyle, 1988 Madsen. Effects of Classical Background Music on the Cognitive Ability of
Students.
BY divya mahajan
HUL 211 OBJECT PERCEPTION AND MEMORY
Zhan. Cindy (2002). The Correlation Between Music and Math: A Neurobiology Perspective.
Radocy, R. E., & Boyle, J. D. (1988). Psychological foundations of musical behaviour (2nd ed.)
BY divya mahajan
HUL 211 OBJECT PERCEPTION AND MEMORY
APPENDICES
Instructions:
The instruction given each subjects was: “You will be given a mathematical reasoning test
consisting of ten questions. Put these earphones. Music will play in the background for the duration
of the test. Choose one of the five possible answers for each question and write your choice with
the correct question number. You will be given ten minutes. Attempt as many questions as you can
and also can leave any question if you want; focus and do your best. Ignore any external
disturbances. Are you ready? Your time starts now.”
Stimuli:
The reasoning test was sourced from www.psychometric‐success.com
BY divya mahajan