Psychologist Seager was once a "Mozart Effect" skeptic. He used different spatial reasoning ability tests to refute the existence of the "Mozart Effect". In the test, the test subjects looked at two E letters in different positions. One of the letters was rotated into an inclined position compared with the other. The greater the angle of inclination, the harder it was to judge the identity of the letters in a very short time. different. The "Mozart" group performed surprisingly well on a test of spatial reasoning based on the length of time (in milliseconds) the subjects took to judge.
It is worth noting that in all these tests, the Mozart Piano Sonata in D major was used to ensure consistency. At that time, an unavoidable question was, couldn’t other musicians’ works be used as a test?
The latest research results answer these questions.
Huger, a neurobiologist at the University of Illinois Medical Center, conducted a careful analysis with a musicology professor. They set a standard that calculates how often the music's volume rises and falls over a period of 10 seconds or more. Pop and other music scored lowest in this test, while Mozart scored two or three times higher. Huge predicted that a repetition frequency of 20 to 30 seconds would have the most obvious impact on the brain, because many functions of the central nervous system also operate at a frequency of about 30 seconds. It was a coincidence that during music analysis, it was found that Mozart's music rhythm almost every 30 seconds Reach the peak. In 1993, scientists made a surprising discovery that listening to Mozart's music can make people smarter, but until now, this statement has caused great controversy.
Many experts believe that rodents like classical music. Therefore, scientists conducted experiments in three laboratories to prove that Mozart's music does work on rodents. The study found that Mozart's music changed the performance of mice, causing their behavior to become chaotic and biochemical changes in their bodies. Most experts believe that through the above-mentioned experiments, it has been determined that the so-called "Mozart Effect" has conclusive evidence.
However, some researchers believe that this view is completely wrong, although their views have not affected the market for Mozart CDs. The heated debate continues and it is certain that it will not stop.
Some opponents claim that rats can't hear any sounds, let alone Mozart's music. The audio of Mozart's music was too low for the mice to hear.
Scientists who have participated in the study of anthropology conducted experiments on mice when they were in the embryonic development stage 60 days before their birth date. The results showed that the mice that listened to Mozart's music grew into adults faster than the mice that listened to light music. , and less chance of getting sick. Other scientists who didn't believe it tried the same method again and found that the conclusions were almost the same. However, there is a difference between the two experiments. The difference between them is that the scientists who conducted the second experiment found that the changes in the mice were due to increases in molecular levels and "neural system plasticity." There are also some scientists who have doubts about the average body values ??of the mice used in the first experiment. After checking, the group of mice that provided the final conclusion weighed more than the other groups, which may make their pups mature better. .
In fact, the main problem is that the baby mice cannot hear most of Mozart's music, and the adult mice cannot hear it at all. Rats are essentially deaf. So, how does Mozart's music work. In response to various doubts, some scientists still insist that music can affect the behavior, brain function, immunity and blood pressure of rodents; rats may hear high-frequency music; some scientists even suggest that rats can feel music even if they cannot hear it.
In 1999, Roscher published an article in the same issue of Nature as the skeptics of the Mozart Effect. She herself made it clear in the article: She has never claimed that listening to music can help intelligence, or even her own research. The word "IQ" never appears here.
The German people demand that the government conduct research on the relationship between music and intelligence and draw conclusions. In response, the German government organized senior experts from neuroscience, psychology, education, philosophy and other disciplines to set up a research team.
The nine team members are all music experts, and the leader, philosopher Ralf Schumacher of Humboldt University in Berlin, is also a piano player. They conducted a systematic survey of the literature on various previous studies on the "Mozart Effect" and officially released a 154-page German text research report in April 2007, saying: "Listening passively to Mozart - or Any music you enjoy – doesn’t make you smart”, thus officially pronouncing the death sentence on the Mozart Effect. However, the report believes that the long-term impact of music classes on children's intelligence deserves continued research.
The German conclusion was soon published in the magazine "Nature", titled "The Mozart Effect Doesn't Make You Smarter". To untie the bell, you need someone to tie it. The global Mozart craze that lasted for more than ten years finally came to an end with "Nature". It was only 13 years since the Mozart Effect entered the public eye through the "New York Times".
The aftermath is in Mozart’s hometown of Austria. Jacob Pieschny, a scholar at the Department of Psychology at the University of Vienna, and others analyzed 40 research reports from around the world covering about 3,000 subjects and said: No evidence was found to support the Mozart effect. The research was published in the May-June 2010 issue of the American journal Intelligence.
At this point, the Mozart Effect has been left out in major music countries and has to draw a curtain call.