Are people typically geniuses Essay Example For Students

Are people typically geniuses? Essay Are people typically geniuses? Statistically, people probably are not. In fact, most people probably arent even intellectually gifted at all. Most people are likely to be pretty much average, maybe a little bit above average, or a little below, but very average none the less. It is universally understood that people strive to learn to become wiser and more informed about the world around them. The more people learn, the more powerful they can become. It is the speed at which people learn that separates the geniuses from the average people and from the learning disabled. Geniuses dont run into problems while earning, because they learn very fast. It is everyone else that could really use help. One solid way to increase the speed at which people learn is with music. People learn through music and their minds grow faster because of it. Some music, when implemented properly, can have positive effects on learning and attitude. Music is a powerful thing, and when we understand its significance, it can bring dramatic changes both positive and The earliest stages of learning for young children are the most important. The fundamentals of learning are instilled into a child at a very young age. How much mportance is placed on these fundamentals can have dramatic affects on the future of the childs learning. Music, when applied in a constructive way, can have positive effects on a childs ability to learning and can help them in many ways. One way that music can make learning easier for a young child is by implementing music lessons into a childs normal activities. A small study was done two years back involving ten three-year-olds who were tested on their ability to put together a puzzle and the speed at which they could do it (Learning Keys 24). After the initial test was taken, five of the hildren were given singing lessons for 30 minutes a day and the other five were given piano lessons for 15 minutes a week (24). The lessons were conducted over a six- month period of time, and after the six months, all of the kids showed substantial improvement in the speed at which they could put together the puzzle (24). The researchers understand this skill in putting pieces of a puzzle together as the same reasoning that engineers, chess players and high-level mathematicians use. In this study of inner-city kids, their initial scores were below the national average, but afterwards their scores nearly doubled (24). The term given to this type of reasoning and thought that goes into putting pieces of a puzzle together is called abstract reasoning. By teaching music, people exercise the same abstract reasoning skills that they use for doing math or some other exercise in which the people have to visualize in their head. An eight month study was conducted by Frances H. Rauscher of the University of California at Irvine. In this study, nineteen preschoolers, ranging in age from three to five, received weekly keyboard and daily singing lessons while another fivteen preschoolers received no musical training at all (Bower 143). At the begining, middle and end of the study, the subjects were tested on five spatial reasoning tasks (143). After only four months, scores on the test to assemble a puzzle to form a picture improved dramatically for the group with the musical training, while the control group didnt, even though both groups started out with the same scores (143). It can be stated that this kind of improvement may not be substantial enough to alter the way people are fundamentally taught, but its results cannot be ignored. Rauscher explains, Music instruction can improve a childs spatial intelligence for a long time, perhaps permanently (qtd. n Bower 143). Implementing such changes and improvements into a young childs learning could have great effects on them in the future when dealing with the same spatial reasoning skills. With its resulting improvements in spatial reasoning, music can also be a very helpful tool when actually implementing it into the classroom and intergradting it with basic school curriculum. In New York City, a program called Learning through an Expanded Arts Program, or LEAP, has been going on for a while and provides both music and the arts is implemented into the school curriculum to improve scholastic scores of children at all evels (Dean and Gross 614). One way in which music is implemented is with math. They call it musical math, in which the teacher incorporates rhythm with counting and gaining a grasp on the fundamentals of math (618). With the rhythm, they are able to learn basic elements of math like fraction and multiplication. Christine Bard, the LEAP consultant explains, Music helps teach the precognitive skills. It gives students the capacity to trust themselves by providing internal discipline through a highly repetitive structure (qtd. in Dean and Gross 618). On the whole, students feeling of self-confidence nd accomplishment are great and most importantly, the students attitude toward math and learning is increased dramatically (618). Music as a separate and thorough curriculum can have dramatic positive changes in the learning process of young people. Mary Jane Collett, the Director of the Office of Arts and Cultural Education of the Division of Instruction and Professional Development of New York City Public Schools says: well taught sequential music curriculum not only results in music learning that has inherent value; it also gives students the chance to listen, react, see, touch, and move. Instruction in music skills, appreciation, and theory also provides a wealth of learning strategies that enhance childrens analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating skills. Students learn to process information and transfer knowledge through these concrete, kinetic, and cognitive experiences (Collett 61). Mary Jane Collett is an advocate for a program called Learning To Read Through The Arts (LTRTA), which makes music and the arts a separate course in the elementary curriculum instead of using it as an aid to different parts of the curriculum here and there (61). Music is taught through listening to different types of music while talking about the music, trying to understand it and interpret it in different ways and in many ways, imitate These integrated music experiences provide excitement in learning for children and thereby improve students reading, writing, thinking, and analyzing skills and strategies. Learning through all the senses expands the learning process to accommodate different learning styles. Opportunities for integrating communication arts, literature, science, social studies, and the arts are limited only by the educators imagination, creativity, and Music, when involved in the classroom, can have great effects on the early stages of learning for the very young up through elementary age school children. Music can also have significant effects on older people in a learning environment. Music does not have the same effect on older people as it does on younger people, however. It is easily understood that for young children, getting them to do fun musical things like learning to play an instrument is somewhat easy compared to getting an adult to do the same thing. Children will do it because it is something new and exciting whereas adults need to be otivated to do something because they wont do something simply because they have too. For adults it is a matter of choice, but when they choose to involve music into their everyday lives, the effects can be just as dramatic. One important aspect that music can have on learning for people of all ages is attitude. The Medias Effect on Underage Alcohol Abuse EssayIn the study, 36 college students listened to one of three listening condition for ten minutes and then took the Stanford-Binet intelligence test designed for abstract reasoning (Rauscher, Shaw and Ky 611). The experiment was repeated for each of the three listening conditions and included listening to a Mozart piano sonata, a relaxation tape, and They found that the equivalent IQ scores were equal between listening to the relaxation ape and complete silence, but after listening to the Mozart piece, IQ scores were an average of eight to nine points higher than the others (611). The scientists explain, however, that enhancing effect doesnt last for more than ten to fifteen minutes after listening to the sample (611). They were able to develop some theories out of the results of this study, but much more testing is required for any solid conclusions to be made. They think that music which is without complexity or is highly repetitive will not enhance abstract reasoning, but rather interfere with it (611). Their findings are put under crutiny and criticism by Kristin Leutwyler, who tries to set the record straight about misinterpretations in the media regarding the findings of Rauscher, Shaw and Ky. She asserts that the popular press have suggested that anyone can increase his or her IQ by listening to Mozart. This supposed quick fix is false (28). She explains that the IQ scores were based solely on spatial ability and not other factors that IQ takes into account Leutwyler explains that Rauschers work is ased on the premise that listening to music and performing a spatial task prime the same neural firing patterns. But thats just guess. (28) Despite the skepticism of Leutwyler in the findings of the three scientists and the fact that more testing needs to be done to take into account different variables, the initial findings cannot be ignored. There is some correlation between listening to music and spatial reasoning and through it, there is some connection with IQ. A large study was done many years ago to test intelligence across a wide range of fields and subjects (Schoen 94). On the study, 205 college students were given the Minnesota College Ability Test, all of the Seashore tests for musical talent, and were rated on a scale or musical training (94). After the testing was complete, they separated out the top 25 and the bottom 25 to determine if there was a difference in musicality among them, but found none (94). Next, they excluded the 25 students with the greatest and least amount of musical training and found two interesting groups (94). Of the two groups left, the top groups average student had taken music theory, private piano lessons for two years, voice and cello for four years while he/she had played in orchestras for four years, sung in choir for six years, had three musicians in the family, could read music and supply issing parts, and attended concerts regularly (94). The lower groups average student had never had any private lessons, didnt play an instrument, had no musicians in his/her family, and never attended operas or concerts (95). Music wont turn anyone into a genius, but it can have some substantial effects on bringing people above average at least. One thing that music does that cannot be ignored is it stimulates the brain- sometimes positively and sometimes negatively, but it effects the brain nonetheless. Some positive effects on the brain can be seen from the study conducted by Rauscher, Shaw and Ky where they found a temporary increase in spatial reasoning after listening to a bit of Mozart. These findings are somewhat inconclusive, but cannot be ignored altogether. It shows how there is much more studying that needs to be done in the future on this subject. Music has been known to have a very direct effect on peoples moods. By just listening to music, peoples moods are easily altered. Several studies were conducted to test peoples mood changes after listening to certain kinds of music (Schoen 89-99). One large study of 20,000 people showed music changes mood and the changes in mood ere very uniform (89). A large number of people listened to classical music by various composers from various musical periods and were asked how the music made them feel. Another study showed that the effects of mood varied from person to person depending on their musicality. Non-musical people enjoy music rarely and when they do, the enjoyment is slight, while semi-musical people enjoy music quite often and when they do, it is enjoyable to them, while musical people enjoy music rarely, due to discriminating tastes, but when they do, it is with the greatest intensity (90). These studies also showed hat certain types of moods/emotions are characteristic with music while certain emotions are not such as anger, fear, jealousy, and envy (91). Certain emotions are more characteristic with vocal music because of the words such as: love, longing, reverence, devotion (91). Another study was done on 205 people testing the effects of major and minor modes. Minor mode gave the feelings of melancholy, mournful, gloomy, depressing while major mode most often gave the feelings of happy, sprightly, cheerful, joyous, and bright (99). Music is an important and extremely useful tool in the way we learn and to deny its ower is a waste of a truly wonderful resource. In recent years there have been concerns about some types of music such as street Rap having very negative effects on peoples minds and moods. This type of music imprints an extremely violent image into peoples minds and there has been growing concern about it and tying it in with violent crimes. In cases like this, it only shows how much more we need to study music to fully understand its full impact on the human mind. In these days where cutbacks are always eminent in peoples local schools, people need to fight to keep the music and art intact. Music and he arts are what make life worth living and without them, people lose hold of their culture and diversity. The ideal way to learn in the future would be to fully incorporate music into the curriculum of every school. If every school supported and encouraged their students to freely pursue music with the culture of music in their everyday lives, people would become much more efficient in their learning and would become much better students on the whole. Music is a power too great for man to comprehend at this point but through further study man can learn how to better harness its power and use it to