The influence of two years of school music training in secondary school on visual and auditory memory

Abstract

The present study tested the effect of an extended music curriculum (EMC) for two years in secondary school, consisting of musical instrument, auditory perception, and music theory training, on children's visual and auditory memory. We tested 10-year-old children who had just started EMC and children without EMC (T0) in visual and auditory memory and retested the same children two years later (T1) to observe the effects of school music training. Confounding variables, like intelligence, socioeconomic status, extracurricular schooling, motivation to avoid work, and musical aptitude were controlled. Prior to the beginning of the music training no differences in the control variables and the memory variables between children with and without EMC were revealed. Children with EMC improved significantly from T0 to T1 in visual as well as in auditory memory. Such an improvement was not found for children without EMC. We conclude that extended school music training enhances children's visual and auditory memory.

Keywords:

• School music training
• Visual memory
• Auditory memory

Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Grant: 01GJ0608) and the graduate school “NeuroAct” (neuronal representation and action control) of the Universities Gießen and Marburg.