Does music training enhance working memory performance? Findings from a quasi-experimental longitudinal study

Abstract

Instrumental music training has been shown to enhance cognitive processing beyond general intelligence. We examined this assumption with regard to working memory performance in primary school-aged children (N = 50; 7–8 years of age) within a longitudinal study design. Half of the children participated in an extended music education program with 45 minutes of weekly instrumental music training, while the other half received extended natural science training. Each child completed a computerized test battery three times over a period of 18 months. The battery included seven subtests, which address the central executive, the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad components of Baddeley’s working memory model. Socio-economic background and basic cognitive functions were assessed for each participant and used as covariates in subsequent analyses of variance (ANOVAs). Significant group by time interactions were found for phonological loop and central executive subtests, indicating a superior developmental course in children with music training compared to the control group. These results confirm previous findings concerning music training and cognitive performance. It is suggested that children receiving music training benefit specifically in those aspects of cognitive functioning that are strongly related to auditory information processing.

Tuning the mind: Exploring the connections between musical ability and executive functions

“…This relationship between musical ability and memory updating fits with other work showing that musicians have advantages in memory maintenance and control (George & Coch, 2011;Meinz & Hambrick, 2010;Oechslin et al, 2013;Pallesen et al, 2010) as well as with longitudinal findings of improved working memory updating abilities following a musical training program (Roden et al, 2014). One hypothesized link between working memory updating and musical experience is based on the demands of musical sight-reading (Meinz & Hambrick, 2010), however sight reading experience is unlikely to completely account for the effects found here as even those participants who self-identified as non-musicians (and so who presumably do not have experience sight reading music) showed a significant relationship between musical ability and performance on both auditory (r(44) = 0.45) and visual updating tasks (r(44) = 0.39).…”

“…There is at least one longitudinal (quasi)experimental study that supports this conclusion (Roden et al, 2014), although there have been few experimental longitudinal studies of musical experience and cognitive abilities so far (review: Okada & Slevc, in press). However, it is likely that individuals who can more successfully or more easily accomplish musical tasks, for example, by being better able to look ahead in sight reading and better able to maintain and update serial order in musical sequences, might also be more likely to pursue musical experiences (cf.…”

“…This concern highlights, however, the need for experimental studies of the relationship between musical ability and specific domains of executive functioning. There is a small body of longitudinal studies of this sort (e.g., Moreno et al, 2011;Roden et al, 2014), but so far these approaches have not investigated multiple domains of EF and have yielded somewhat mixed results (e.g., Mehr, Schachner, Katz, & Spelke, 2013;Rickard, Bambrick, & Gill, 2012;see Okada & Slevc, in press, for a review), and so more work is clearly needed. In particular, the present findings suggest the utility of investigating memory updating in longitudinal designs.…”

“…Drake & Palmer, 2000) and, accordingly, sight-reading ability is related to non-musical measures of memory control (Kopiez & Lee, 2008;Meinz & Hambrick, 2010). Furthermore, primary school students in a 1.5-year music-training program improved more than a control group (natural science training) on tasks of working memory updating (counting span and complex span; Roden, Grube, Bongard, & Kreutz, 2014). Finally, there is evidence that musicians outperform non-musicians on n-back tasks (Oechslin, Van De Ville, Lazeyras, Hauert, & James, 2013; see also Pallesen et al, 2010).…”

Quantifying the effects of external factors on individual performance

“…Liking the music is, therefore, one major aspect when seeking positive effects from its listening. Among many other effects, major higher cognitive functions positively affected by music include reading and literacy skills [33], working memory and mathematical abilities [34], memory [35] or concentration and attention [36].…”