An investigation on the effects of music training on executive functions of preschool children in China

© 2015 Dr. Zirui QiuNumerous studies in the areas of neuroscience and music have reported effects of music instruction on the brain, such as increasing the size of the cerebellum, neural plasticity and structural change. More specifically, it has been suggested that music instruction may improve children’s executive functions, the collection of processes that are responsible for guiding, directing and managing cognitive, emotional and behavioural functions to solve problems, especially novel problems. There has been, however, very limited research on the relationship between executive function development and music. Previous studies have mainly focused on the relationship between music lessons and human memory, including working memory in adults, verbal memory and visual memory. This study used a mixed methods approach including pre- and post-tests of BRIEF-P (preschool version), classroom observations, and interviews to gather data. It was conducted in Beijing, China with two groups of preschool children who both had received no piano instruction initially. 112 three year old preschool children in total participated in this study. 56 in the treatment group were exposed to daily piano instruction for 40 weeks in a one year time frame, while the other half assigned into the control group did not received any piano instruction. Their executive functions were measured before and after the treatment by following the psychological test-BRIEF. The pre- and post-tests consisted of rating forms with 63 items in five non-overlapping scales that measured various aspects of executive functions including: Inhibit, Shift, Emotional Control, Working Memory and Plan/Organise. T-test analyses were then used within and between groups to find out whether piano instruction can make a significant improvement to the executive functions of preschool children. It was found that while the executive functions of both groups improved significantly in every aspect, the group receiving piano lessons outperformed the control group in terms of Shift, Emotional Control, Plan/Organise, Inhibitory Self-Control Index (ISCI), Flexibility Index (FI), and Global Executive Composite (GEC), the summary score of all clinical scales of the BRIEF-P test. The empirical findings showed that piano instruction is positively associated with executive function development and supported the hypothesis that piano instruction can help in executive function development of preschool children in China. Further empirical analyses showed that, except for Plan/Organise, all the scales and indexes of executive functions showed a greater improvement for the children with teachers who were more effective in piano instruction. The results support the importance of effective teachers in piano instruction. The moderating effects of teaching effectiveness on the relationship between piano instruction and executive function improvement in preschool children can be classified into four categories: (1) Inhibit, Working Memory and EMI – piano instruction alone cannot improve, but more effective teachers can enhance the impact of piano instruction and make the improvement significant, while less effective teachers cannot; (2) Shift, ISCI and GEC – piano instruction can improve marginally, and high teaching effectiveness level can further enhance the effect of piano instruction, while low teaching effectiveness level can reduce the effect and make the improvement insignificant; (3) Emotional Control and FI – piano instruction can improve marginally, and high teaching effectiveness level can further enhance the effect of piano instruction, while low teaching effectiveness level will reduce the effect, but the improvement remains significant; and (4) Plan/Organise – piano instruction can improve marginally, but teaching effectiveness cannot alter the effect of piano instruction