Ahead of the exam, American students must have a good sense to be able to do the exam well. Some learn desperately until having a headache or are busy making cheats of various shapes. Maybe someone also chooses to listen to classical music all night because they say it can make us smarter. But, can listening to classical music improve learning in an instant?
The Beginning of The Myth
Unfortunately, this assumption turns out to be incorrect. The myth of classical music being intelligible is a misunderstanding of an experimental article by 3 researchers from the University of California in Irvine, USA.
In the experiment, they asked a group of students to listen to a sonata by renowned composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for 10 minutes.
The spatial-temporal ability of the students increased by 8 to 9 percent. The spatial-temporal ability itself is the ability to recognize space, form, and direction. The results of this study were then published in one of the most prestigious science journals in the world.
In any case, this particular increase in ability is mistranslated by many people as an increase in our entire IQ a.k.a. our intellectual intelligence. In his book, an Ear-Nose-Throat specialist named Alfred A. Tomatis claims that listening to Mozart and other classical music can trigger body healing and brain development.
A few years later, an educator and a musician named Don Campbell published a book called Mozart Effects that immediately sold out on the market. The survey found that 73% of psychology introductory students in the United States even believed that listening to Mozart’s music could improve intelligence.
State governors of Georgia and Tennessee, the United States, have set up a special fund to distribute free Mozart music CDs to every newborn.
The Effects Of Chain Messages
Finally, like when we’re playing chain messages, the longer this assumption spreads, the more ridiculous it gets.
Somehow, an article in the United States wrote that the Mozart Effect could help children improve their brain performance. A newspaper article in China even states that babies who listen to Mozart music from birth can be smarter than other babies.
After further research, the secret to improving our brain performance turns out to be not Mozart or any other classical music, but emotional excitement!
That is, anything that makes us enjoy can make us think and do the job better. This not only applies to classical music but also other music such as rock, jazz, and even hip-hop metal.
Music can indeed trigger endorphin hormones that can reduce stress, relax us, and help us think clearly. However, this effect is only temporary and not permanent. So, instead of sleeping around while listening to classical music that makes us sleepy, we better use the time to study while enjoying eating meatballs. So how about you? Can listening to classical music improve learning?
