The Effects of Art Education
on the Development of Cognitive Skills
Nita Sturiale
Introduction
As an artist, a student of science, and a teacher, I have long been
interested in the intersections between thinking artistically and
thinking scientifically as well as the ramifications for this
intersection in education. I use the discoveries, data and vocabularies
of science, particularly neuroscience, as the medium for my artwork.
Additionally, I have practiced in art education and have observed
remarkable learning in students provided with the opportunity to explore
artistic discovery alongside more traditional skill acquisition. It is
my deeply held belief that integrating these two different modes of
learning is beneficial for all. I am delighted with this opportunity to
investigate the neurological basis for this hypothesis.
There have been many efforts in recent years to save or reinstate art
education in the public school system (Gardner, 1990, 1982,1973, Welch,
1995). These efforts claim that art education improves student
performance. What are the causal connections between artistic experience
and the development of other cognitive abilities? The purpose of this
paper is to suggest that the study of art exercises, strengthens, and
develops the neurophysiological areas and associations of the brain that
are involved with other cognitive abilities. Evidence is presented that
supports more inclusion of arts training in educational settings. Due to
the brevity of this presentation, there is a focus on the use of music in
education, though it is the belief of this author that all other areas of
artistic experience could make similar claims.
This paper is divided into five sections. The first section, What is
Music?, identifies the components of music in order to more accurately
compare the complex functions associated with musical experience to other
cognitive functions. Secondly, Is Music Experience Localized In the
Right Hemisphere of the Brain?, this sections reviews the literature
surrounding the laterality of the brain in an effort to clarify some of
the oversimplifications that have been widely accepted on this issue.
Next, Are there Developmental Patterns of Hemispheric Activity?, this
section introduces theories and experimental evidence that suggest the
two hemispheres develop both separately and together in a cycling pattern
that repeats itself over time. In the section entitled, Does Musical
Experience Influence Cognitive Skills?, experimental evidence is
presented that demonstrates the direct influence of musical training on
the improvement of other skills. And finally, the section, How Can
Recent Brain Research Influence Education? proposes several possible
results of exposure to arts education during development.
What is Music?
Music is particularly relevant to this discussion because it is a
complex symbolic system, much like language and mathematics. The areas of
the brain used in music perception, appreciation and expression (many,
but not all, thought to be localized in the right hemisphere) are also
needed for the visual-spatial skills necessary for mathematical
processing. There is historical as well as experimental evidence for this
math/music connection.
The human experience and expression of music begins for almost every
one prenatally (Ostwald & Morrison, 1988). In development, musical
interests, abilities and perception have very early origins in the womb.
The sounds and rhythms of the mother surround the infant long before it
is exposed to any visual stimuli. A mother or caretaker's voice becomes
very important in developing and maintaining the mother/infant bond.
Information contained in the musical properties of a mother's voice
perhaps develop both the musical and linguistic areas of the brain at
this early stage.
Many have attempted to define the components of music. For the purposes
of this paper, I will focus on three author's opinions. In Henson's
essay in the collection, Music and the Brain (Critchley & Henson, 1977),
he says that the expressive or receptive experience of music depends upon
one's ability to perceive the following: the specific acoustic properties
of a note; tones and tonal relationships (pitch, duration, timbre, and
intensity); the sounding of notes consecutively, simultaneously and in
terms of rhythm; melody; harmony; and the horizontal relationship of
tones (counterpoint). Memory and emotional response is also necessary
for a full experience of music (Henson, 1977).
More recently, McAdams (1996) has attempted to further deconstruct the
experience of music. From his research into the cognitive psychology of
music, he focuses on the complexity of structural and symbolic processing
necessary for musical experience and believes it "rivals that of
linguistic processing" (McAdams, pg. 275). He explains that humans
possess elaborate and longterm representations of musical/sound
abstractions dependent upon cultural, genetic and linguistic influence.
These abstractions begin to form from the first experience of processing
auditory stimulation. The listener interprets the value and function of
these different events according to a rich and complex system of coding
and elaboration. The resulting codes are context dependent and in this
way similar to mathematical and linguistic processing.
Wertheim's (1977) description focuses on the importance of rhythm. He
believes that rhythm is the framework of music. It provides the melody
and the context dependent information needed to perceive the information
properly. The same score played with a different rhythm can have very
different emotional content. The differences in tonal combinations and
the timing of rhythms can be represented by mathematical relationships.
He states that any single sound is an event in time and in this way music
can be described accordingly. To perceive music is to perceive time.
Simultaneity, rhythm, movement, pitch, duration, and the relationships
between all these factors can symbolize abstract emotions and ideas.
He writes, "Music cannot exist without time. the pitch of sounds, their
different duration, the development of melody, all rely on the element of
time which is measured and divided into patterns by what we call rhythm"
(Wertheim, 1977).
The frequencies, sound waves, and rhythms of music can be represented
mathematically. In order to appreciate the complexity of a particular
musical score, a listener must possess a cognitive system for
representing the relationships between these frequencies and sounds. In
these ways, music and math are closely related.
Is Music Experience Localized In the Right Hemisphere in the Brain?
Because of this close relationship of music and math, it is interesting
that the processing of these two activities is attributed to distant
locations in the brain. Many functions involved in mathematical,
analytic and sequential thinking have been localized in the Left
Hemisphere (LH), whereas the functions associated with artistic, musical
and holistic thinking have been demonstrated by the Right Hemisphere
(RH). In order to study the effects of music on the brain, I will briefly
elaborate on the RH/LH discussion.
The functional separation of the RH and LH has sent us down less than
reliable paths and many have attempted to set the record straighter
(Churchland, 1890; Springer & Deutsch, 1985; Joseph, R., 1988). While
others, like the author of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, have
capitalized on the idea by designing brain booster systems for getting
more out of an individual half. A selection of views are presented to
clarify this issue.
It is known that there are definite differences between the hemispheres
in the general right-handed population (Springer & Deutsch, 1985). It is
safe to say that this is indisputable. But the nature of these
differences is still in question (Churchland, 1986). In the Journal of
Clinical Psychology, Joseph provides a summative review of the literature
on laterality(1988). He provides a long list of functions with which the
RH has been shown to dominate: the perception and identification of
environmental and nonverbal sounds; somesthesis; steriogenesis; the
maintenance of the body image; the comprehension and expression of
prosodic, melodic, and emotional features of speech; the analysis of
geometric and visual-space; the production of certain forms of visual
images; dreams during REM sleep; the perception and expression of visual,
facial and verbal affect; the ability to determine a person's mood,
attitude and intentions via the analysis of gesture, facial expression,
vocal-melodic and intonational qualities; social-emotional functioning;
and finally, the perception of most aspects of music (Joseph, 1988).
Joseph states, "Although there is evidence of considerable functional
overlap as well as inter-hemispheric cooperation on a number of tasks, it
certainly appears that the mental system maintained by the right
hemisphere is highly developed, social-emotional, bilateral, and in many
ways dominant over the temporal-sequential, language-dependent half of
the cerebrum." (Joseph, pg. 659). This is quite a different picture then
the idea that the RH is the subordinate to the dominant LH.
Another view is that of Cornock (1984). He warns against making too many
conclusions about functional hemispheric laterality based primarily on
split brain research. He explains that many of these subjects have many
other problems (epilepsy) that may contribute to a relocation of some
functions. He also discusses the difficulty in localizing right
hemisphere functions as they seem to be more diffuse and integrative.
What he will attribute to the RH are the functions of facilitating the
immediate recognition of relationships and significant patterns,
visuospatial skills, the figurative use and interpretation of language
(humor), attaching emotional content to phenomena, performing parallel
rather than sequential processing, enabling the appreciation of events,
and musical awareness (Cornock, 1984).
More specifically concerned with the laterality differences between
musicians and non-musicians Hassler(1990) studied five groups of subjects
for lateral dominance, musical talent, spatial processing, handedness,
verbal processing, psychological androgyny, and physiological androgyny
(Hassler, 1990). One group consisted of musical composers, another group
was made up of instrumentalists, the third group were all non-musicians,
a fourth group of painters and finally the last group consisted of non
musicians with low educational status. Each group was an even mix of
males and females. The results demonstrated that females in the artistic
groups were more strongly lateralized than both male and female
non-musicians. The males in the artistic groups were less lateralized
than non musicians. Their data support the assumption that LH and RH
functions contributing to processes associated with verbal processing are
more effectively integrated in musicians than in non-musicians. These
studies confirm earlier research by Hassler that musicians have enhanced
spatial abilities compared to non musicians regardless of gender. Hassler
goes on to claim that anomalous dominance is assumed to favor special
talents (music, math and spatial skills ) but also related to
developmental learning disorders.
Other, more popular (Shreeve, 1996), examples of the lateralization of
musical skills include that of the Russian composer Vissarion Shebelin,
who suffered two left hemisphere strokes. Afterwards, he was unable to
speak or understand the meaning of words, yet continued to compose and
teach music. Another composer, Maurice Ravel, began to make spelling
mistakes and eventually lost his ability to read and could no longer sign
his name. Yet, unlike Shebelin he could no longer compose, though he
persistently said that he had a new opera "in his head". He could still
play scales and listen and enjoy musical performances. These different
situations suggest the close proximity of areas in the brain that are
related to music composition and linguistic abilities, yet they are still
separate.
An early example of using EEG technology to explore the laterality
question in relation to musical experience and behavior is the work done
by Davidson & Schwartz (1977). They measured the EEG activity of
subjects while they remembered and reproduced music with and without
lyrics. All the subjects were right handed. 9 males and 5 females, a mix
of both musically trained and untrained subjects, were asked to list 3
familiar songs before the test. They were then asked to first, whistle a
melody, then talk the lyrics to a song and finally sing a song. Each task
was recorded for one minute with eyes closed. This scenario was repeated
twice. Once for recordings done in two LH and RH parietal locations and
then again for two occipital locations. The subjects who were not
musically trained showed more activity in the RH while whistling vs.
talking the lyrics. The musically trained subjects showed no difference.
Also, there were no differences between groups during talking or singing.
The authors state that their data are consistent with recent evidence
suggesting that musical training is associated with the adoption of an
analytic and sequential processing mode toward melodic information
(Davidson & Schwartz, 1977).
Zatorre (Shreeve, 1996) has visualized the differences between the
hemispheres while they were in action using PET scanning techniques.
While Subjects listened to a tune , these scans show activity in the
right superior temporal gyrus. When asked to pay special attention to
the particular pitches within the tunes and make comparisons, the scans
show activity in both the RH and the LH.
In addition to EEG and PET scanning technologies, Schlaug, Jancke,
Huang, & Steinmetz (1995) show magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evidence
for increased lateralization in the left planum temporale in musicians
with perfect pitch (Shreeve, 1996).
Finally, Damasio & Damasio (1977), present evidence for a dynamic,
developing cerebral dominance for certain features of musical faculty.
They suggest that there is a RH dominance for musical execution
(regardless of training) and a variable dominance for musical perception,
starting in the RH in the musically naive and developing into a LH
dominance in the musically sophisticated.
In summary, many particular functions have been found to be localized in
different hemispheres. Musical experience is generally more localized in
the RH in naive listeners but in both hemispheres in trained musicians.
The developing perception of music seems to involve both hemispheres and
increased skill level coincides with an increase in the integration
between the two hemispheres. This relocation of cognitive processing
associated with music coincides with recent thoughts about developmental
stages in skill acquisition.
Are there Developmental Patterns of Hemispheric Activity?
An exciting recent discovery is that of the cyclic patterns of
electrical activity throughout the brain during development. It has been
shown that a cycle of activity beginning with a relative increase of
electrical activity in one hemisphere, then this increase moves to the
other hemisphere, ending with an increase of electrical activity
bilaterally and in parallel. This cycle then repeats itself. It is
hypothesized that this pattern begins in infanthood and continues into
adulthood.
In the collection, Human Behavior and the Developing Brain (Fischer &
Dawson, 1994), a wealth of research is presented that supports a new
theoretical framework upon which new data confirming the cyclic activity
throughout development can be placed. Fischer & Rose (1994) are concerned
that the current framework of Piagetian stage theory does not allow for
the complex amount of variation that the current data exhibit. They are
attempting to connect the patterns of growth in both neuro-development
and behavior. There research suggests that in cognition there are at
least 13 developmental levels. Each level is dependent on acquiring a new
type of control system to coordinate new skills. This control system is
correlated with brain growth spurts which provide the new neural networks
necessary for a new control system. Each new control system, or
capacity, is possible due to an increased coordination between previous
skills creating a more complex skill. In their research, brain growth
spurts are identified by EEG measurements and head growth findings.
There are correlation's between this data and the ages of cognitive and
emotional developments. These new control systems and increased
coordination between skills of previous control systems are referred to
as levels and tiers. A level of skill development is created by a growth
cycle in network connectivity. A tier is indicated by a growth cycle in
location and extent of EEG activity. At each level there is a cycle of
activity. First connectivity grows in the one hemisphere then in the
other and finally in both in parallel. This cycles repeats for every
level of skill development (Fischer & Rose, 1994).
This theoretical framework is supported by Thatcher's (1994) work
analyzing cortical EEG coherence cycles over time. Thatcher measured 436
children and young adults from the age of 6 months to 16 years. He
postulates that there are 3 cycles of growth spurts of cortical
connections during this time period. These are defined by a sequential
lengthening of intra-cortical connections in the LH accompanied by a
sequential contraction of intra-cortical connections in the RH. This
research shows that there is a direction to development and that the two
hemispheres develop at different times. Thatcher suggests that this
difference is due to the different functions of the hemispheres. The LH
sequence is from short distance connections to long distance integrations
which may mature into the analytical and sequential processing observed
in the adult LH. Whereas the RH sequence is from long distance to short,
mirroring the spatial, holistic, and integrative functions of the adult
RH.
Following are three theories that attempt to answer the question of
which hemisphere these cycles begin in.
Goldberg & Costa (1981) present relevant neuroanatomical evidence for a
right to left shift of the relative hemispheric control over particular
cognitive skills over the course of development. These authors suggest
that the LH achieves the ability to use many and varied descriptive
systems which have already been fully formed in an individuals "cognitive
repertoire". The RH is crucial for dealing with novelty or any materials
or tasks that existing descriptive systems do not account for. The RH
creates new descriptive systems to deal with these. They also suggest
that the LH is primarily involved in developing modality specific
cortical areas and integrating within them, unimodal and motor processing
and the storage of compact codes. The RH develops associative areas,
intermodal integration and the processing of novel stimuli. The
authors(Goldberg & Costa, 1981) show that the RH functions are primarily
involved in the processing of unfamiliar and novel stimuli and the LH
functions are involved when stimuli have become familiar and are
processed more automatically. This work suggests that the movement of
developmental activity in the cortex moves from the RH to the LH.
Licht, Bakker, Kok, & Bouma (1988) extended these ideas and attempted to
find electrical activity correlates for this shift described above.
Their goals were to measure age-related changes in ERP components that
are elicited by words in young children over a four year period beginning
with kindergarten. A relationship was found between reading performance
and ERP amplitudes over the right parietal hemisphere in young children
and over the left temporal hemisphere in older children. A particular
ERP component (slow wave) was observed and found to be associated with an
increase in processing difficulty. This component was more pronounced in
young readers in the LH and in the RH in older readers. These ERP
results again suggest that the RH is more involved at an earlier stage in
development followed by the LH (Licht, Bakker, Kok, & Bouma, 1988) .
A third study begins to question the above results, but reveals the
importance of the RH in more complex cognitive levels. Roberts & Kraft
(1989) tested 55 right handed boys who were above average readers from
two age groups (grades 1-2 and 5-6). They read short passages and were
asked questions based on the reading. EEG measures were taken during the
silent reading. This research found a relationship between hemispheric
activation and age difference. LH activation was associated with younger
subjects while bilateral processing was demonstrated in older readers.
These authors (Roberts & Kraft,1989) propose that this represents the
increased comprehension in older readers. Older children rely on a more
"dynamic flow of complex strategies, which involves greater
inter-hemispheric integration" (Roberts & Kraft, pg. 326). The expected
shift toward good reading comprehension being increasingly associated
with LH activation was NOT found. This was only true with the beginning
readers. Older children that showed bilateral activation patterns got
significantly higher inferential reading comprehension scores then those
with an increase in LH activation. These results suggest that there is
more LH processing at early stages of development while the RH is
relatively more involved in complex skills.
In summary, there are developmental patterns in hemispheric activity
throughout development. The RH and LH are both equally involved in the
development of cognitive skills but each develop at different times. It
has also been shown that the RH is involved in more complex cognitive
skills previously thought to be predominantly handled by the LH.
Does Musical Experience Influence Cognitive Skills?
In Nancy Welch's School's Communities and the Arts: A Research
Compendium, there are summaries of at least 50 research projects each
attempting to prove that arts education is valuable and necessary for
students to reach their potentials. The organization and volume of these
summaries is impressive at first glance, but upon closer look one finds
that the direct causal relationships between art education and brain
development is lacking. Yet, clearly art education does influence a
students success.
One example of a persuasive study in this compendium is that done
Carolyn Hudspeth (1986). Two 4th grade language arts classes of low
achievers were tested. Each class of 16 students was from a different
school though closely matched in socio-economic and achievement levels.
The California Achievement Test was used before and after the experiment
to assess the influence of an arts education program. One class was
taught a traditional language arts program while the other was taught
with the SAMPLE method (Suggested Activities of Music and Poetry for
Language Enrichment) designed by Hudsepth (1986). The results were
positive: SAMPLE classes outperformed the traditional class by 5 years
in "language mechanics" and 2.7 years on "total language" (Hudspeth,
1986)
More recently, more controlled efforts at finding a causal link between
music and education are being published that better bridge the gaps
between the fields of educational research, cognitive psychology and
brain development. In Finland, Kalliopuska & Ruokonen (1993) tested the
effects of music exercises in the holistic development of empathy and
presociability. Empathy was used as the skill to observe because the
authors assume it is an integration of affective, cognitive, kinesthetic
and physiological components that can be differentiated upon testing. It
is a good example of holistic thinking and behavior.
For their work 2 groups of 6 year olds were tested on their ability to
think empathetically in several varied social situations and problems.
One group attended a special Saturday music program for 12 weeks that met
for one hour where subjects were involved in singing, playing
instruments, listening, music exercise, and discussion about the emotions
associated with their musical experiences. The control group had no such
training. Before and after the training period subjects were tested with
several empathy tests, including evaluations by their parents and
teachers. The subjects were tested after 3 months of training and again
after 9 months. There was substantial improvement in empathy test scores
though these improvements subsided after 9 months and receded to almost
the same as control group (Kalliopuska & Ruokonen, 1993).
In 1996, Gardiner, Fox, Knowles & Jeffry conducted an similar experiment
testing mathematics and reading skills. 96 students in 8 different
classrooms participated. Four classrooms were dubbed 'test arts' rooms
and these were taught the Kodaly method of music and visual arts
curriculum which emphasized sequenced skill development (Barkoczi, 1987).
The remaining classrooms participated in the standard art curriculum.
Other curricula was the identical for all classrooms. After 7 months all
students took standardized achievement tests. Students in the test arts
classes had been behind controls in the previous year but after the 7
months were at least equal and often ahead in reading skills and ahead on
learning mathematics. From the report, "Learning arts skills forces
mental 'stretching' useful to other areas of learning: the maths learning
advantage in our data could, for example, reflect the development of
mental skills such as ordering, and other elements of thinking on which
mathematical learning at this age also depends" (Gardiner et al., pg.
284). They make a direct relationship between the musical experience and
the developmental skills needed to solve mathematical problems.
The so-called "Mozart Effect" (Rideout, 1997) that has been described in
various popular media circles (Shreeve, 1996) is the result of research
initiated by Frances Rauscher and others that attempt to probe deeper
into the general positive results described above. Rauscher recognizes
the lack of causal evidence for the relationship between music cognition
and other higher brain functions and for years she has been working on
just that. This Mozart Effect was coined after Rauscher presented
evidence that showed subjects improved on their ability to solve spatial
reasoning problems after listening to a Mozart sonata (Rauscher, Shaw, &
Ky, 1993). This causal relationship was demonstrated by testing 36
college students after they listened 10 minutes each of; Mozart's sonata
for two pianos in D major; a relaxation tape; silence. After each
listening time they were given standard IQ spatial reasoning tasks.
Performance improved immediately following the Mozart sonata but not
after the other two listening conditions. Arousal was discounted as the
cause as pulse was also measured and no change was found. The effect
lasted for 10 or 15 minutes but subsided thereafter.
In order to experiment with more lasting effect, Rauscher also did
another similar study where musical training of preschoolers was shown to
improve spatial processing in a more permanent manner over a period of
months (Rauscher, Shaw, Levine, Ky, & Wright, 1994).
Rideout & Laubach expanded Rauscher's research ideas in 1996 by using
EEG technology to measure this Mozart Effect. This study had two
purposes. The authors wanted to replicate the improved spatial
performance following exposure to music in adults and to examine the EEG
correlates of performance changes after listening to music. They were
interested in the whether specific association exist between changes in
EEG characteristics and changes in performance on the spatial task. For
this study, four men and four woman with a mean age of 21.1, each having
no more than two years of music study were tested after listening to
music and after listening to a relaxation tape. Again, spatial reasoning
was tested after listening times. The EEG was recorded while they engaged
in the spatial reasoning tasks.
Spatial performance was again much improved. Subjects with generally
lower alpha peak frequencies and higher beta were more likely to improve
performance. This increased separation between peak frequencies may
imply easier frequency discrimination. This may, in turn, facilitate
music's enhancement of firing patterns used in spatial reasoning. Also,
improved performance was correlated with increased alpha power in the
left temporal area. The results suggest that the music had its effect by
facilitating specific changes in brain state and associated EEG power
which mediated improved performance. They hypothesized that the similar
cognitive enhancements that are shown in spatial reasoning in children
and in adults may be due to different developmental mechanisms (Rideout &
Laubach, 1996). Though the sample tested in the research was much
smaller than Rauscher's, this experiment stands as a model for further
study into finding a direct causal connection between brain and behavior
relationships.
In summary, there is correlational and causal evidence for the
improvement of cognitive skills after musical training.
How Can Evidence for the Success of Arts Training Influence Education?
Harth(1993) writes that spatial and temporal integration occurs in order
to qualitatively perceive stimuli. Understanding speech, mathematical
and spatial problems, or appreciating music would not be possible without
this process, "It is not the musical note or chord picked up by your ear
at this instant that makes it joyful or sad, but the fact that it is
embedded in the past and borne by the anticipation of the future" (Harth,
pg. 94).
This poetic description is important in that it speaks of the
possibility that artistic experience exercises the ability to hold
together memory, anticipation and subsequent behavior. This is a
cognitive skill that integrates the complex and seemingly limitless
number of different brain functions. Schlaug & Heine have produced MRIs
that show a larger corpus callosum in musicians who had trained from an
early age in comparison to non-musicians (Shreeve, 1996). This suggests
that early musical training enhances communication between the two
hemispheres. This idea has profound ramifications for education, learning
and development. Art training perhaps increases the inter-hemispheric
connectivity that in turn influences one's ability to imagine the future,
plan ahead, and desire understanding (curiosity). These abilities in turn
help a learner in all subjects. Stimulating the RH during development
enables better integration between the hemispheres and more complex
coordination of particular functions. Most importantly it increases the
integration of one's more abstract mental capacities for memory,
anticipation, volition and behavior (Elliot, 1986).
Additionally, musical training may increase a student's chances for
becoming gifted in a particular area. Recent findings point to the
prevalence of increased RH activity in gifted individuals. Oboyle,
Alexander & Benbow (1991) suggest that students who are particularly
precocious in math show an unexpected increase of EEG activity in their
RH when involved in solving difficult problems. In the report of their
research, Oboyle, et al. equate math precocity with above average
intelligence in general. Their work shows that both LH and RH are
involved in analytical skills for those that are particularly gifted
(Oboyle, et al.1991).
If particularly creative artistic and gifted intellectual ability
involve an increased integration of the specialized functions of both
hemispheres then the lack of emphasis on arts training demonstrated by
the current educational system is problematic. This system does not
exercise those functions found to reside more often in the RH as much as
it exercises the LH functions. The educational system is only watering
half the garden. Currently, school activities are limited to
performance, production, and results. Current educational systems want
students to learn how to quickly manipulate linguistic and mathematical
symbol systems. However, the well-rounded development of cognition is a
much more complex endeavor.
Due to a lack of public understanding, appreciation, or support for art,
and the fact that teachers are often unprepared to teach it, art
offerings in schools are few. These few offerings decrease by the middle
school years and by high school many, if not most, students have no art
experience (Welch, 1995). When properly taught, art training is less
about the product and more about the ideas, the individual's questions
and the creative process. There is much potential for a student when
this kind of education is coupled with linguistic and mathematical
training.
Robert Ornstein has written about his concern for the lack of
educational systems that honor the total "mental operating system" of the
mind. His theory describes the mind as an entity capable of multiple
simultaneous operations, each concerned with a different discipline
(Vincent & Merrion, 1990). This view is also held with variations by
other contemporary authors and educational theorists, (Gardner, 1990;
Goleman, 1995). Ornstein is concerned that the valuing mind, distinct
from the reasoning mind, is not well developed in our current
verbal/linguistic/mathematics based educational system. The study of
music (and other art forms) is a prime experience for developing the
valuing mind. The experience of music allows for the practice of feeling
many complex emotions at once. Practice is safer than the real thing and
prepares an individual to better deal with real events when they arise.
Music training improves the many capacities of the mental operating
system- mathematical, emotional, moral and social. In summary it is
proposed that musical training has longterm effect on abstract reasoning
skills, the integrative capacities of the brain, and volition in
learning, especially when exposed at the right developmental stage.
Conclusions
In general, this paper has presented references that show that the RH is
more involved in the functions of musical awareness, spatial skills,
emotional perception and holistic processing strategies. The LH is more
involved with sequential ordering, coding and analytical processes. It
has been shown that music is usually processed in the RH by naive
listeners. It has also been shown that the development of cognitive
skills is cyclical and moves around the brain, beginning in one
hemisphere moving to the other and then culminating in bilateral parallel
processing. It has also been stressed that these functions overlap and
cognitive improvements depend on an coordinated integration of both
hemispheres. Integration of hemispheric functions is the key point of
this paper. The changes in cognitive development are not due to a shift
in hemispheric specialization but rather changes in intra- and
inter-hemispheric processing efficiency. This is demonstrated by the
evidence that gifted students demonstrate and increase in electrical
activity in both hemispheres when they tackle difficult problems in the
area of their giftedness.
Artistic training, provided throughout the developmental changes in
hemispheric activity, physiologically strengthens the inter-hemispheric
cortical connections that enables humans to make judgments, imagine
possibilities, have volition, and apply specific functional skills in
appropriate ways to novel situations. It is important to continually
expose learners to artistic experience throughout development since
maturation of cognitive skills depend on the cycling activity between the
hemispheres. The RH hemisphere must be stimulated and exercised during
the times that it is most open to developmental change in order for a
fuller potential of the mind to be reached.
It is important however to stress that full development is dependent
upon encouraging the appreciation and expression of art for its own sake.
Or rather, not only in service of other academic disciplines (math,
writing, humanities). Hamblin (1995) argues against this tendency saying
that these claims are often overblown and actually backfire. This paper
proposes that artistic develop does help develop critical-thinking
skills: the ability to pose questions, analyze evidence, consider
hypothesis and defend points of view (Hamblin, 1995). These skills are
obviously necessary for all areas of study and a life time. However, the
direct causal relationships we have demonstrated between improving
spatial skills by listening to Mozart should not be used to encourage
teaching music instead of math. Cornock writes, "Although the balance
between the verbal(mathematical) and tacit(integrative) components of
consciousness appears to be influenced by educational experience, the
challenge is to encourage coordinated development rather than to find
ways of training specialized functional areas" (Cornock, pg. 153).
The effort here has been to justify the importance of supporting
artistic training throughout cognitive development. It should not be
considered superfluous, provided only when funding allows. It is as
necessary as writing and arithmetic to the development of the human
brain.
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