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  Mozart's Music Does Not Make You Smarter, Study Finds
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ContributorJason 
Last EditedJason  May 12, 2010 06:16am
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CategoryStudy
News DateMonday, May 10, 2010 12:15:00 PM UTC0:0
DescriptionFor over 15 years, scientists have been discussing alleged performance-enhancing effects of hearing classical music. Now, University of Vienna researchers Jakob Pietschnig, Martin Voracek and Anton K. Formann present quite definite results on this so-called "Mozart effect" in the US journal Intelligence. These new findings suggest no evidence for specific cognitive enhancements by mere listening to Mozart's music.

In 1993, in the journal Nature, University of California at Irvine psychologist Frances H. Rauscher and her associates reported findings of enhanced spatial task performance among college students after exposure to Mozart's music. Mozart's 1781 sonata for two pianos in D major (KV 448) supposedly enhanced students' cognitive abilities through mere listening. Scientific articles only rarely attract such public attention and excitement as was the case for Rauscher's publication: the New York Times wrote that listening to Mozart would give college-bound students an edge in the SAT. What is more, other commentators hailed Mozart music as a magic bullet to boost children's intelligence.

In the course of this hype, then Georgia governor Zell Miller even issued a bill in 1998, ensuring that every mother of a newborn would receive a complimentary classical music CD. In the same year, Florida's state government passed a law, requiring state-funded day-care centers to play at least one hour of classical music a day.
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