The Mozart Effect and Other Bridges Id Like to Sell You

MUSI 1200 Essay #1

H. M. H.
November 26, 2015

THE MOZART EFFECT AND OTHER BRIDGES ID LIKE TO SELL YOU

BY H. M. H.

For nine seasons of The X-Files, Special Agent Fox Mulder of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation sat at a desk with a poster on the wall behind him that stated I WANT
TO BELIEVE. Of course, the image on the poster was that of a UFO and what Fox
Spooky Mulder regarded as gospel was his belief in the paranormal, specifically as it
related to the existence of little green men. But this strong desire to believe in something
fantastic is not limited to fictional characters and the complicated lives they live. Human
beings have an innate predisposition to fall for things that one pundit hails as the truth
especially when that truth is one of those things that is seemingly too good to be just
that: true. The Mozart effect, postulating that listening to classical music enhances an
individuals intelligence and can even lead to an increase in IQ scores, has been largely
discredited since it was first allegedly proven more than twenty years ago. Yet belief in its
purported claims still persists and, like so many things that find their way into popular
culture, all the mounting evidence to the contrary will likely never completely and
satisfactorily remove it from our collective consciousness.1
The concept of the Mozart effect was first described by French researcher Alfred A.
Tomitis in his book Pourquoi Mozart? (Why Mozart?), published in 1991.2 Dr. Tomitis,
who employed alternative therapies to treat a myriad of mental disorders such as autism,
depression, dyslexia and other learning disabilities, encountered a phenomenon while

1 In much the same way as not seeing an alien fails to prove that aliens do not
exist.
2 Sorensen, Mozart on the Brain. http://www.cs.rutgers.edu/~biglars/Mozart.html.
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The Mozart Effect and Other Bridges Id Like to Sell You

MUSI 1200 Essay #1

H. M. H.
November 26, 2015

using music during therapy sessions with his patients: listening to sounds at varying
pitches could help the development of the brain. His continued research into the
connection between the ear and the brain eventually begat important discoveries that
were used to help the human ear regain full functionality.3
However, the seminal work first positing the link between music and intelligence,
was published two years later in an October issue of the British interdisciplinary
scientific journal, Nature. The one-page article, entitled Music and Spatial Task
Performance, described a study conducted out of the University of California by
psychologist Frances Rauscher and two colleagues. Rauscher, Shaw and Ky assessed
thirty-six college students on three different abstract/spatial reasoning tasks from the
Stanford-Binet intelligence scale. Each task was administered immediately following one
of three ten-minute listening conditions that consisted of either: 1) Mozarts Sonata for
two pianos in D Major, K. 448; 2) a relaxation tape; or 3) silence. Each student was
evaluated after each of the conditions and the results were translated into spatial IQ
scores. Compared to the second and third conditions of the study, IQ scores measured
after listening to the Mozart Sonata were, on average, eight to nine points higher. But
despite these statistically significant results, Rauscher et al. were careful to enumerate
some of the flaws entrenched in their experimental findings. Cardinal among these was
the temporal nature of the gain in IQ scores, lasting, at most, fifteen minutes, or the
length of time necessary to complete the spatial reasoning task.4 Yet despite this, and
other confounding interpretations of these outcomes, this study was soon regarded as
3 Thompson and Andrews, Tomitis, Mozart and Neuropsychology, 175-6.
4 Rauscher, Shaw and Ky, Spatial task performance, 611.

The Mozart Effect and Other Bridges Id Like to Sell You

MUSI 1200 Essay #1

H. M. H.
November 26, 2015

scientific proof that the Mozart effect did indeed exist, and, much worse than that, was
touted in both mainstream and scientific media, to infer that permanent gains to a
persons overall intelligence could be achieved through its application.5 Thus the notion
that music makes you smarter [became] one of the most well-known popular
interpretations (or rather misinterpretations) of a psychological finding.6
Once these proverbial wheels started rolling, it was only a matter of time before
some savvy industrialist figured out how to capitalize on this virgin goldmine. Don
Campbell was first on the scene when his book, The Mozart Effect : Tapping the Power
of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit (New
York: Avon Books, 1997), climbed the ranks of the best-seller lists. (And dont worry
about Don getting dinged for using a trademarked term in the title of his book; hes the
one holding that trademark.) Campbell also compiled a CD collection of various Mozart
works to accompany the text. In 2002, he struck gold a second time with a follow-up
book, The Mozart Effect for Children: Awakening Your Child's Mind, Health, and
Creativity with Music. Naturally, an appropriate collection of CDs accompanied this
publication, too. Browsing through his online store, one can find both titles available for
purchase in English, French or Spanish, and score a great deal on some of the CD
collection sets also, curiously (as most of the instrumental tracks are listed in Italian),
available in each of the three languages. (For the die-hard disciples, I recommend The
Mozart Effect Collection 16 CDs and 2 books for the unbeatably low price of less
than $200! Included are some of Wolfgangs greatest hits arranged neatly [and not at all
arbitrarily] into 8-10 track groupings such as: Music for Babies; Music for Newborns [not
5 rnec, Wilson and Prior, Mozart Effect in Children, 305.
6 Thompson, Schellenberg and Husain, Mood and the Mozart Effect, 248.
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The Mozart Effect and Other Bridges Id Like to Sell You

MUSI 1200 Essay #1

H. M. H.
November 26, 2015

to be confused with Music for Babies]; and even Music for Moms & Moms-To-Be [which,
according to the websites description of this item, is even suitable for Grandmothers, too.
Talk about lasting value!])7
While Campbells trademarked franchise has taken liberties with the presentation
of some of the research findings regarding the (unregistered) Mozart effect, these
roundabout explanations, though misleading, do not pose a threat to the health and
welfare of its target audience. In fact, much could likely be gained if parents routinely
exposed their offspring to this music, albeit not in the realm of intellect, but certainly as
cultural enrichment and music appreciation,8 not to mention downright enjoyment; and
because happiness plays a pretty big part in our mental well-being, then perhaps
Campbells claims regarding health and healing could be considered, at least in part, to be
on the money.9
Since the study by Rauscher et al. first confirmed the enhanced performance of
adults on tasks involving spatiotemporal functioning, other research emerged attributing a
variety of outcomes to the Mozart effect. The focus of the studies covered a range of
topics including maze learning in rats10 and congestive seizures in patients with
epilepsy.11 One study looked for, and found, evidence of the Mozart effect on school-age

7 The Mozart Effect - Books, music, resources and more!

http://www.mozarteffect.com/index.html.
8 McBride, Review of The Mozart Effect, by Don Campbell, 608-10.
9 Pun absolutely intended.
10 Rauscher, Robinson and Jens, Music exposure in rats, 427.
11 Hughes, et al. Mozart Effect on Epileptiform Activity, 109.

The Mozart Effect and Other Bridges Id Like to Sell You

MUSI 1200 Essay #1

H. M. H.
November 26, 2015

children.12 Yet among these disparate findings, a common fundamental rationale was not
identified. By lumping them together under this one blanket term, the scope and strength
of the Mozart effect has been generously overestimated.13
On the alternative side of this coin, an assortment of studies have failed to find
any proof that the Mozart effect even exists at all. The results of one group of researchers,
who carefully reconstructed the conditions of the original experiment, showed not only a
lack of statistical significance, but a lack of any practical significance as well.14 Different
researchers who did achieve statistically significant results, attributed those results to a
change in mood and arousal, provoked by the music; and the well-established fact that
music plays a large role in mood and arousal is not the issue on trial today.15 My personal
favourite was a discussion on some of the research studies that have drawn connections
between music and brains.16 In an attempt to answer the question Does music make you
smarter?, Demorest and Morrison say, unequivocally, [Y]es! Music, or at least music
education, does make you smarter. Without a doubt music instruction makes
students smarter in music.17

12 Ivanov and Geake. The Mozart Effect and primary school children, 405-7.
13 rnec, Wilson, and Prior. Mozart Effect in Children, 305.
14 Steele, Bass and Crook. Mozart Effect: Failure to Replicate, 366.
15 Thompson, Schellenberg, Husain. Mood, and the Mozart Effect, 248.
16 This is a different connection than that found by Tomitis, on music
and the brain.
17 Demorest and Morrison. Does Music Make You Smarter?, 33.

The Mozart Effect and Other Bridges Id Like to Sell You

MUSI 1200 Essay #1

H. M. H.
November 26, 2015

Before concluding, I would like to issue a disclaimer of sorts: I have nothing

against classical music in general, or music by Mozart in particular. In fact, I happen to
really enjoy his music, and have spent hours on the piano learning to play several of his
Sonatas. Additionally, I do not regret one second of the time I have invested in studying,
practicing, playing, writing, creating, improvising, analyzing or listening to music of
any kind.18 Do I feel that music has personally made me smarter? I do, in the same way
that only learning another language can do. Because after all, music is a language, and
only those who really immerse themselves in its culture, will ever truly gain the fluency
that unlocks the mysteries guarded by its native gatekeepers. Yet I also feel that music has
made me smarter in a different, almost secondary, way; my infatuation with music has
given me an unquenchable thirst, leaving me perpetually unsatisfied, forcing me to keep
seeking, to keep reaching, to keep learning, in an attempt to finally slake it. When piano
was no longer enough, I branched out to guitar, and then to the drum kit, which naturally
led to other types of percussion, too. Along the way, and in an uncertain chronology came
the banjo, the ukulele, the bass guitar, the harmonica, and the saxophone. I currently
study jazz guitar, play drums in a rock band, percussion in a concert band, and I am one
half of a country/folk/blues singing/songwriting dynamic duo. Though it is true that
music has not directly made me smarter, my need to grow musically will make me a
lifelong student and the tuition, I will happily pay.19

18 Except perhaps for that time in 5th grade when we had to sing
Phil Collins Another Day in Paradise as a class. I shudder at the
(mostly repressed) memory.
19 Of course, I am speaking metaphorically when I say tuition
here. I have yet to meet a student who is happy to pay literal tuition.

The Mozart Effect and Other Bridges Id Like to Sell You

MUSI 1200 Essay #1

H. M. H.
November 26, 2015

But despite these beliefs, or perhaps because of them, I do not count myself
among the eighty percent of adults who still cling to the tenet that music is like spinach
for our brains.20 Although, with all the conflicting information circulating in the media,
flying under the Mozart effect banner since its inception, who can really blame them?
Besides, there have been confirmed sightings of a bona fide Mozart effect, like the one
Dr. Tomitis first described; certain kinds of music (read: not just Mozart) can have real
benefits on a variety of conditions through interactions with our brain. But, as January
fast approaches, and I count down the days until the six-episode reboot of The X-Files
finds its way into my living room, another thought occurs to me: maybe the reason we
refuse to let go of an idea that the experts have been trying to convince us is wrong, is
simply due to the fact that we want to believe. And I, for one, do believe, or rather, I
know, that Fox Mulder would agree that it is far, far better to believe in something even
if that something is part fantasy and part delusion than to trust in nothing.21

20 Palladino, Music doesnt make you smarter.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/12/5204124/the-mozart-effect-myth-research-findsmusic-doesnt-make-you-smarter.
21 Mulders trust issues are really more to do with people particularly
those in positions of authority within the government and not things.
Some liberties were taken by this writer.
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The Mozart Effect and Other Bridges Id Like to Sell You

MUSI 1200 Essay #1

H. M. H.
November 26, 2015

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The Mozart Effect and Other Bridges Id Like to Sell You

MUSI 1200 Essay #1

H. M. H.
November 26, 2015

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