Assignment 7

1. There is evidence to support that music makes you smart. Research indicates that groups that had some type of music before a test did better than the group that did not have music. The author suggests that music does have an impact on learning. I think that music impacts learning, but I do not really think that listening to music makes you smarter.
2. First, if music had a strong biological component, then animals would have fundamental abilities in music. Second, biological behaviors are universal. Music also satisfies this criterion. Although its uses may vary across cultures, music is ever-present. Parents and caregivers across cultures best communicate with infants through lullabies and musical baby talk. Third, biological behaviors are often revealed early in life, before cultural factors influence and change behavior. Research has amply documented the extensive competency of young children to process musical elements and behave in musical ways. Recent studies have revealed that infants have musical capabilities. Fourth, we might expect the human brain to be organized to process musical activities. The brain contains basic musical building blocks that are specialized to process fundamental elements in music. The brain’s right hemisphere processes melody, whereas the left hemisphere processes language. The functional architecture of the brain honors music as much as it honors language.
3. The brain is being exercised. The synapses grow stronger through use. By making music, we engage the sensory and perceptual systems, the cognitive system, planning movements, feedback and evaluation of actions, the motivational/hedonic system, and learning memory.
4. Music does improve reading comprehension. The author says, music facilitates reading by improving the sounding-out stage. Pitch discrimination enhances the phonemic stage of learning. I do not know that much about all the topic, but I think that music does improve some of the reading skills and helps to emphasize what is important in reading.
5. Music offers great opportunities for communication and expression, for creativity and group cooperation-plus it’s good for the brain and can enhance learning and intellectual development.