Paper
Cross‐sectional study on the relationship between music training and working memory in adults
Published Mar 1, 2016 · Lidia Suárez, S. Elangovan, Anson Au
Australian Journal of Psychology
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Abstract
Abstract Learning to play musical instruments has been shown to enhance a wide variety of cognitive domains. The present study investigated the specific aspects of working memory (WM) that differed between adult musicians and non‐musicians. Twenty‐four musicians and 30 non‐musicians matched for age, gender, years of formal education, and verbal intelligence performed several WM tasks. A multivariate analysis of covariance, wherein family income was controlled, revealed that musicians outperformed non‐musicians in tasks related to visual–motor coordination, visual scanning ability, visual processing speed, and spatial memory. However, no significant differences were found in phonological and visual memory capacity. This study supports the view that music training is associated to specific (and not general) WM skills.
Music training enhances specific working memory skills in adults, such as visual-motor coordination, visual scanning ability, and spatial memory, but not phonological and visual memory capacity.
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