Persistent Effects of Musical Training on Mathematical Skills of Children With Developmental Dyscalculia

Abstract

Musical training (MT) is perceived as a multi-sensory program that simultaneously integrates visual, aural, oral, and kinesthetic senses. Furthermore, MT stimulates cognitive functions in a ludic way instead of tapping straight into the traditional context of school learning, including mathematics. Nevertheless, the efficacy of MT over mathematics remains understudied, especially concerning longstanding effects. For this reason, this longitudinal study explored the impact of MT on numerical cognition and abstract visual reasoning using a double-blind and quasi-experimental design. We assessed two groups of children from primary schools, namely one with developmental dyscalculia [DD; n = 22] and another comprising typically developing children [TD; n = 22], who concomitantly underwent MT. Numerical cognition measurement was carried out at four different time points: Baseline (pre-MT assessment), mid-test (after 7 weeks of MT), post-test (after 14 weeks of MT), and follow-up (10 weeks after the end of MT). Significant interactions were found between time and group for numerical cognition performance, in which the DD group showed higher scores in number comprehension, number production at mid-test, and calculation at post-test compared to baseline. A key finding was that number production, number comprehension, and calculation effects were time-resistant for the DD group since changes remained on follow-up. Moreover, no significant differences over time were found for abstract visual reasoning for both groups. In conclusion, the findings of this study showed that MT appears to be a useful tool for compensatory remediation of DD.

Sistem Informasi Studi Kelayakan Bisnis (SIKUBIS) Sebagai Pendukung Pembelajaran Pada Mata Kuliah Studi Kelayakan Bisnis

“…Penandang diskalkulia juga tidak dapat mengintegrasikan fenomena yang abstrak karena harus diberikan penjelasan secara nyata agar lebih mudah dipahami. Diskalkulia terdiri dari dua jenis, yaitu proctagnostic dan indiagnostic (Lambert, et al, 2018;Dresler, 2018;Ribeiro & Santos, 2020). Proctagonistic termasuk kesulitan belajar angka atau matematika dalam mengurutkan serta membandingkan bilangan, sedangkan diskalkulia indiagnostic adalah kesulitan belajar angka atau matematika dalam memahami suatu konsep operasi bilangan.…”

Exploring Cognitive Processes of Knowledge Acquisition to Upgrade Academic Practices

“…Activities linked to core identifying factors like gross and fine motor representations and music training, body kinesthesis, creative writing, and arts can improve concepts in math and science. Relating the concept of musical rhythm with spatial cues of time, prosody, aesthetics, symmetry, and emotions is found to improve numerical cognition in developmental dyslexia (Ribeiro and Santos, 2020). Children who have undergone early music training before 10 years of age are found to have a high degree of sensory-motor integration that can enhance plasticity during the sensitive period (Penhune, 2011).…”

“…Multi-sensory integration facilitates transient synchronization of brain operations as it combines various signals to form a new multimodal representational percept (Fingelkurts et al, 2005). Long-term music training enhanced number production, number comprehension, number line, and calculation in children with dyscalculia (Ribeiro and Santos, 2020). Executive function skills training provided during childhood indicated far transfer effect in maths and its related changes in cognitive functions (Zelazo and Carlson, 2020).…”

A Study on Mathematical characteristics in Indian Carnatic Musicians

“…An et al (3) presented in their article an exploratory investigation to observe the positive effects of Math-Music interdisciplinary teaching to improvise the multiple mathematical abilities. Ribeiro and Santos (4) assessed two groups of primary school children one with developmental dyscalculiaanother with typically developed, by providing a Musical training to improvise Mathematical skills. They used a double-blinded quasi experimental design to measure the impact of Musical training on numerical cognition abilities at four different stages of tests.…”