Listening to Mozart does not enhance backwards digit span performance.
Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky recently reported that exposure to brief periods of music by Mozart produced a temporary increase in performance on tasks taken from the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale-IV. The present study examined whether this effect occurred in performance on a backwards digit span task. In a within-subjects design 36 undergraduates were exposed to 10-min. periods of Mozart music, a recording of rain, or silence. After each stimulus period, undergraduates had three attempts to hear and recall different 9-digit strings in reverse order. No significant differences among treatment conditions were found. There was a significant effect of practice. Results are discussed in terms of the need to isolate the conditions responsible for production of the Mozart effect.
Steele
K M
KM
Department of Psychology, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608, USA. steelekm@appstate.edu
Ball
T N
TN
Runk
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D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D001307:Auditory Perception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D011939:Mental Recall; D009146:Music; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D013016:Sound