The Effects of Advanced Music Training on Performance in a Reading Comprehension Task: An Exploration of the Emotional Antecedents

• In Event: Investigating Musical Learning and Assessment

Abstract

The present study asked two research questions: 1) Are there differences in reading comprehension performance scores between music and non-music majors while listening to background music of contrasting tempi, and 2) What real-time, expressed emotions may exist that accompany and/or predict these performance results?
Results indicated that non-music majors had differing scores as a result of the differing tempi conditions, while music majors did not show significant variation. Music majors displayed significantly different (p=0.005) levels of joy and contempt that predicted their performance. These findings support the positive effects of music training and provide continued clues to the emotional regulatory mechanisms that may be more developed within professionally trained music students.

Authors

• Matthew Moreno, University of Toronto

• Charlene Ryan, Ryerson University

• Earl Woodruff, OISE/University of Toronto