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| 7 February 2005 |
| Mozart Effect |
| Meet some people who think that listening to classical music can make you feel better. |
MARIE JACKSON: He's brilliant. He was a child prodigy, and he gave to the world something that probably will never be able to be studied scientifically to perfection. People say that Mozart stimulates the IQ, raises the IQ, that it helps people with epilepsy or people who have diseases, maybe cancer as well. JEFF WATERS: Relaxed, yes. Stimulated, perhaps. But will the audience of the Queensland Choir's Mozart Effect performance walk away with greater intelligence? Does the effect exist? MARIE JACKSON: I think through this we're hoping to give the audiences a great experience. We want to let them feel the power and the impact that Mozart's music has on the mind. JEFF WATERS: A self-help book published in the late 90s, "The Mozart Effect" sent students scurrying with the promise of heightened intellectual ability. JEFF WATERS: Stimulating the body and brain through music therapy is long proven. Hal Carston was one of two people in his unit to survive the World-War-Two battle of Sananda, in New Guinea. HAL CASTON: Number one, war neurosis as you can well imagine, nightmares which you cannot do anything about, number three and after fifty years of married life, four years ago I lost my wife. And if it hadn't been for the doctors at the Psychiatric Unit at Greenslopes including me in this music group, I wouldn't be here today. JEFF WATERS: Music therapists like Dr Felicity Baker, a University of Queensland lecturer, are strong proponents of their own inexact science. DR FELICITY BAKER: For me it's this understanding that Mozart is . his music is so pure it can be so useful in so many ways. And obviously there's been a lot of books written about that. JEFF WATERS: Is it valid? DR. FELICITY BAKER: They haven't been able to come up with consistent results when those studies have been replicated. It's the gold standard in research is to replicate findings and they haven't been able to do that. I have nothing against Mozart, I'm a big fan of Mozart, and there's nothing wrong with using his music in therapy but I think it's kind of narrow minded to really think that Mozart is the only music that can be used in therapy. That's my opinion. |
story notes |
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Mozart Mozart was an Austrian composer who lived in the late 1700s.  stimulates Here, to stimulate means to encourage to grow. IQ IQ stands for intelligence quotient. An intelligence quotient is a measure of intelligence, or a way of seeing how clever a person is. It's based on a test. epilepsy Epilepsy is a disease of the nervous system. Queensland Choir's A choir is a group of people who sing together.  effect Notice that the noun is spelled e-f-f-e-c-t (effect). The verb that means to influence is spelled a-f-f-e-c-t (affect). more information: effect & affect we're The short of contracted form of we are. Be careful not to confuse this word with where. more information: where & we're self-help book A self-help book is a book that encourages people to solve their problems on their own and to help themselves. sent The past tense of the irregular verb send. more information: send scurrying If someone is scurrying, they're moving quickly or rushing. heightened intellectual ability Heightened intellectual ability means increased intelligence. written The past participle of the irregular verb write. more information: write come up with invent; think of; suggest Example: We need to come up with new ideas. more information: come up with consistent similar replicated If something is replicated, it's done again in exactly the same way. gold standard The gold standard is a way of saying the best or top level. replicate findings The best type of research is when you can replicate findings, or get the same results in lots of different studies. That's when scientists say something has been proved.
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