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Practicing a Musical Instrument in Childhood is Associated with Enhanced Verbal Ability and Nonverbal Reasoning

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  • Marie Forgeard
  • Ellen Winner
  • Andrea Norton
  • Gottfried Schlaug

Abstract

Background: In this study we investigated the association between instrumental music training in childhood and outcomes closely related to music training as well as those more distantly related. Methodology/Principal Findings: Children who received at least three years (M = 4.6 years) of instrumental music training outperformed their control counterparts on two outcomes closely related to music (auditory discrimination abilities and fine motor skills) and on two outcomes distantly related to music (vocabulary and nonverbal reasoning skills). Duration of training also predicted these outcomes. Contrary to previous research, instrumental music training was not associated with heightened spatial skills, phonemic awareness, or mathematical abilities. Conclusions/Significance: While these results are correlational only, the strong predictive effect of training duration suggests that instrumental music training may enhance auditory discrimination, fine motor skills, vocabulary, and nonverbal reasoning. Alternative explanations for these results are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Marie Forgeard & Ellen Winner & Andrea Norton & Gottfried Schlaug, 2008. "Practicing a Musical Instrument in Childhood is Associated with Enhanced Verbal Ability and Nonverbal Reasoning," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 3(10), pages 1-8, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0003566
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003566
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Agnes S. Chan & Yim-Chi Ho & Mei-Chun Cheung, 1998. "Music training improves verbal memory," Nature, Nature, vol. 396(6707), pages 128-128, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Darija Skubic & Blažka Gaberc & Janez Jerman, 2021. "Supportive Development of Phonological Awareness Through Musical Activities According to Edgar Willems," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, June.
    2. Comeau, Gilles & Lu, Yuanyuan & Swirp, Mikael & Mielke, Susan, 2018. "Measuring the musical skills of a prodigy: A case study," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 84-97.

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