The Mozart Effect, Magic or Myth?

2003 Words9 Pages
The Mozart Effect, Magic or Myth? Every night little children are put to bed by their parents. In many homes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Sonata in D Major is played, with hopes from the parents that their children will wakeup smarter than they were the day before. Along with a Mozart CD these parents have most likely purchased a copy of a best selling book about Mozart’s music. Long has the topic of music and its effects been argued, and some think that music may improve brain functions; others believe this to be untrue. Recently a theory known as The Mozart Effect, or the belief that there is a direct correlation between test scores and listening to classical music, has been a large topic of discussion. In 1993 the study that created The Mozart Effect was conducted at U.C. Irvine on a small group of college of students, the results were inconclusive, but the study caused a stir that is still being felt today. Large questions have been asked related to this topic; can music dictate a person’s mood, is classical music the only music that has beneficial effects on the brain, and whether or not music is a stimulant to the mind. One may say that it is common knowledge that music is a beneficial force to the mind, but the difficulty of the issue is that proving something like this is extremely difficult. Statistical evidence can be very hard to attain in this field of study, and when evidence is obtained it is quick to be discredited. Music is a powerful thing, but many questions surround the subject and the effects it may have on an individual. Among those who oppose the effects of music, or believe that a specific genre has sole rights to those effects, are a large amount statistics and theories. One of the most common theories out there is that all music was not created equal. Many people believe that only classical music has specific powers of stimulation to the
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