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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is the Education Report. |
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Many people believe that teaching children music |
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makes them smarter, better able to learn new things. |
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But the organizers of a new study say |
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there's no scientific evidence that early musical training |
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affects the intelligence of young people. |
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An estimated 80 percent of American adults |
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think music lessons improve children's ability to learn |
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or their performance in school. |
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They say that the satisfaction for learning to play a new song |
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helps a child express creativity. |
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Researchers at Harvard University, however, |
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have found that there's one thing musical training does not do. |
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They say it does not make children more intelligent. |
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Samuel Mehr is a graduate student at Harvard's School of Education. |
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He said it is wrong to think |
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that learning to play a musical instrument |
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improves a child's intellectual development. |
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He says the evidence comes from studies |
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that measured the mental ability |
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of two groups of 4-year-olds and their parents. |
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One group attended music class, |
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the other went to a class that places importance |
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on the visual arts -- arts that can be seen. |
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"The evidence there is 'no.' |
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We found no evidence for any advantage on any of these tests |
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for the kids participating in these music classes," said Mehr. |
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Samuel Mehr says researchers have carried out |
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many studies in an effort to learn |
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whether musical training can make children smarter. |
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He says the results have been mixed. |
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He says only one study seems to show |
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a small percentage increase in IQ, |
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intellectual scores among students after one year of music lessons. |
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He does not believe that IQ |
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is a good measure of a child's intelligence. |
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He says researchers in his study compared |
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how well children in the musical training group |
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did on mental processing tasks or projects, |
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then the results were compared to those of children |
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who did not take lessons. |
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There was no evidence that the musical training group |
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did much better on the mental tasks than the other group. |
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The researchers confirmed the results |
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with a larger group of children and their parents. |
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Mr Mehr says music lessons may not offer children a fast easy way |
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to gain entry to the best schools later of their life. |
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But he says the training is still important for cultural reasons. |
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In his words, "We teach music because music is important for us." |
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He notes that the works of writer William Shakespeare are not taught, |
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so the children will do better in physics. |
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He says Shakespeare is taught because it is important. |
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"And I don't think music needs to be any different than that." |
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A report on the benefits of musical training in children |
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was published in the journal PLOS ONE. |
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And that's the Education Report From VOA Learning English. |
