Music-practicing children scored significantly better than controls in all school subjects except sports¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2009 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Per-subject t tests showed significant differences favoring the music group in German, French, mathematics, history/natural history/geography, handicraft and music, but not sports (p=.717). → Olive Emil Wetter 2009

Evidence¶

Olive Emil Wetter 2009¶

Olive Emil Wetter, Fritz Koerner, Adrian Schwaninger. (2009). Does musical training improve school performance? Instr Sci 37:365–374. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-008-9052-y

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Per-subject comparison of average marks (Fig. 2 and Appendix table) between music group and controls; t tests with Bonferroni-Holm correction (adjusted minimal p .0073), all significant p values "far below this adjusted level". Sports: t=0.363, p=.717.

"Children playing an instrument were significantly better than controls in all subjects except in sports."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Children taking optional handicraft lessons scored significantly worse overall than controls, and handicraft did not significantly predict marks in regression — related
• The association between musical training and school performance appears general and non-specific across subjects, with no evidence for special links to single domains — a broader claim this one bears on
• Children practicing music achieve significantly better overall average school marks than controls — related
• Musical training remains a significant predictor of overall marks in multiple regression with income and grade, which have higher partial correlations — related
• Music-control mark difference emerges with training duration: no difference in grade 3, significant by grade 6, with control marks declining over grades — related