Cognition and music: a developmental perspective

本研究的目标是检验(1)音乐课如何影响认知发展，以及(2)音乐认知如何随着发展而变化。第一个系列的研究将检验音乐训练与认知发展之间的关系。我们知道，音乐课预示着智力的小幅但非常普遍的提高。这种联系似乎是因果关系，学习时间越长，收益越大。无论结果测量是否涉及语言、数学或空间能力，这种关联都是明显的。它们在构成标准化智商测试的各种子测试和指数中也很明显。然而，这些发现并不排除这样一种可能性，即音乐课对某些潜在的处理机制（如执行功能、工作记忆）的影响比其他课程更大，而且这些机制对智力功能有广泛的影响。为了检验这一假设，儿童和成人将用相关方法进行测试，以记录先前存在的关联。一个单独的儿童纵向实验将允许因果关系的推断。测试将包括一系列认知和知觉测试，以确定在一项或多项测试中的表现是否因音乐训练而有所不同。

The goals of the proposed research are to examine (1) how music lessons affect cognitive development, and (2) how music cognition changes over development. The first series of studies will examine how training in music is associated with cognitive development. We know that music lessons are predictive of small but very general increases in intellectual ability. The association appears to be causal, with longer duration of lessons predicting larger benefits. Such associations are evident whether the outcome measures involve verbal, mathematical, or spatial abilities. They are also evident across the various subtests and indexes that comprise standardized IQ tests. These findings do not exclude the possibility, however, that music lessons affect some underlying processing mechanisms (e.g., executive functioning, working memory) more than others, and that these mechanisms have broad effects on intellectual functioning. To examine this hypothesis, children and adults will be tested with correlational methods to document pre-existing associations. A separate longitudinal experiment with children will allow for inferences of causation. Testing will involve a battery of cognitive and perceptual tests to determine whether performance on one or more tests varies as a function of musical training.