Effects of music on the spatial reasoning skills of grade-one pupils

Desiree B. Castillo, Allen A. Espinosa

Abstract


The study determined the significant effect of different types of music on the spatial reasoning skills of children aging from 6-8 years old. 21 grade one students (13 males, 8 females) of Colegio de San Juan de Letran were selected to complete a puzzle-solving task to assess their spatial reasoning skills under the two different conditions based on the independent variable of music. These two types of independent variable were Instrumental Music (Binaural Beats) and Nursery Rhymes (Old McDonald). The results were all calculated using Wilcoxon’s Matched-Pairs Signed Rank Test. Findings show that nursery rhymes do stimulate the brain in processing images more accurately than that of instrumental music. Children ranging from 6-8 years old are more likely to perform better on a spatial reasoning task if they are listening to fast-beat nursery rhymes, than that of instrumental music. Limitations and suggestions for further studies were discussed.


Keywords


spatial reasoning, music, jigsaw puzzle, children

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References


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