The Mozart Effect

    Reading about the Mozart Effect and how people believed it made intellectual improvements was very interesting. I was familiar with the connotation of intellect with Mozart, but I didn't realize it was a supposed causation. When I was a baby, there was this video company called Baby Einstein and they would put out DVDs of clips of toys set to classical music. My mother would put it on for me in car rides so I would watch it instead of crying while she tried to drive. The attachment of names such as Einstein Beethoven and Mozart to this product insinuate that they will make you smarter. I don't know if it worked, but I am a first-gen student. I thought the music was just to stimulate the baby's mind and give them something to listen to, not to actually improve their IQ just simply my listening. Then, in my dad's favorite kid's movie of mine The Incredibles, the babysitter Connie is on the phone with Ellen and she says "you know what they say, Mozart makes babies smart!" Another reference to this Mozart Effect that I didn't even realize I was subject to. 

 

I also liked the prompt at the end of the lesson "students who receive extensive music training also receive..." It is easy to draw a straight line from music to improved brain power when you see a correlation like that, with those as the only two considered factors. However, the truth can really be six degrees of separation away. Parents who can afford to give their children music training, can also afford things such as a nice house in a nice neighborhood that has lots of property taxes funding their public schools, or a private tutor to help the student in areas they struggle in, or even to send their child to a private school should they decide that the local public school is not up to par. All of these factors can help lead to that alleged "improved intelligence," which may not be caused by the music at all, but rather just run parallel alongside it.