This study examined the effects of listening to Mozart on mathematical accuracy and reading comprehension. 32 college students were randomly assigned to either listen to Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos while completing math problems or reading passages, or complete the tasks in silence. Results showed no significant differences in scores between the Mozart and silence conditions for either math accuracy or reading comprehension. The hypotheses that Mozart would improve performance were not supported. Limitations and ideas for future research are discussed.

1. A Twist on the Classic Mozart Effect:
Effect on Reading Comprehension and
Background Music Effects on Mathematical
Accuracy
Ashley Elise Maher
Colby-Sawyer College

2. Introduction
Listen to Mozart sonata (5 days)
 induce short-term spatial reasoning facilitation (paper folding task)
 music training of 3 year olds → long-term enhancement
nonverbal cognitive abilities
(Rauscher, Shaw, Levine, & Ky, 1996)
 Others did not find significance (Hui, 2006)
 Soft and calm music increased accuracy when completing math work
sheets (Hallam, Price, & Katsarou, 2002)

3. Hypotheses
 Hypothesis I: Listening to Mozart while completing a math worksheet
will increase accuracy
 Hypothesis II: Listening to Mozart before completing a reading
comprehension task will improve ability

4. Method
 Participants: 32 Students from a small liberal arts college in New
England (22 Female, 10 Male, Mage= 19.72 years, SDage= 1.170 years,
age range: 18-23 years)
 Convenient sample
 Random assignment to conditions
 Materials:
 Multiplication work sheet (100 problems)
 3 practice SAT reading comprehension excerpts and questions (8
questions total)
 Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos (in D Major, K. 448)

5. Method
 Procedure:
 3 minutes to work on Math work sheet (Silence or Mozart)
 Complete reading comprehension task in silence
 Design:
 Independent Sample t-test: Math accuracy
 Independent Sample t-test: Reading comprehension

6. Results
Figure 1: Independent t-test analyzed effect of background noise on mathematical accuracy.
Found no significant difference in the scores for Mozart (M= 0.981, SD= 0.021) and Silence
(M=0.974, SD= 0.029) conditions; t(30)= 0.779, p = 0.442

7. Results
Figure 2: Independent t-test analyzed effect of background noise on reading comprehension
scores. Found no significant difference in the scores for Mozart (M= 0.355, SD= 0.201) and
Silence (M=0.450, SD= 0.205) conditions; t(30)= -1.323, p = 0.195

8. Discussion
Hypothesis I: Listening to Mozart while completing a math worksheet
will increase accuracy – Not Supported
Hypothesis II: Listening to Mozart before completing a reading
comprehension task will improve ability – Not Supported
Results were not significant (Hui, 2006)
Music condition preformed the same or worse than the Silent
condition (Oakes, & North, 2006)

9. Discussion
Limitations:
Homogeneous group
SAT questions too hard & math too easy – ceiling effect
 Strengths:
 Broadened spectrum for Mozart Effect
 Supported previous research (Hui, 2006)

10. Discussion
 Future Research
 More representative sample
 Exposure to Mozart over longer period of time
 Different age groups

11. References
Hallam, S., Price, J., & Katsarou, G. (2002). The effects of background music on
primary school pupils' task performance. Educational Studies, 28(2), 111-
122.
Hui, K. (2006). Mozart effect in preschool children? Early Child Development and
Care, 176(3-4), 411-419.
Rauscher, H. F., Shaw, L. G., Levine, J. L., & Ky, N. K. (1996) Music and spatial task
performance: A causal relationship [PDF document]. Retrieved from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED390733.pdf. 1-25.
Oakes, S., & North, A. C. (2006). The impact of background musical tempo and
timbre congruity upon ad content recall and affective response. Applied
Cognitive Psychology, 20(4), 505-520.

12. Acknowledgements
Thank you to:
Capstone Advisor, Professor Garrioch
&
Professors of
Psychology, Religion, English, and Science