Music training, cognition, and personality
Open accessAbstract
Although most studies that examined associations between music training and cognitive abilities had correlational designs, the prevailing bias is that music training causes improvements in cognition. It is also possible, however, that high-functioning children are more likely than other children to take music lessons, and that they also differ in personality. We asked whether individual differences in cognition and personality predict who takes music lessons and for how long. The participants were 118 adults (Study 1) and 167 10- to 12-year-old children (Study 2). We collected demographic information and measured cognitive ability and the Big Five personality dimensions. As in previous research, cognitive ability was associated with musical involvement even when demographic variables were controlled statistically. Novel findings indicated that personality was associated with musical involvement when demographics and cognitive ability were held constant, and that openness-to-experience was the personality dimension with the best predictive power. These findings reveal that: (1) individual differences influence who takes music lessons and for how long, (2) personality variables are at least as good as cognitive variables at predicting music training, and (3) future correlational studies of links between music training and non-musical ability should account for individual differences in personality.
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Previous research suggests there are cognitive and personality differences in individuals who choose and continue with musical training.
“Previous research suggests that there are cognitive and personality differences in individuals who choose and continue with musical training as an activity (Corrigall et al., 2013).”
From Please don't stop the music: A meta-analysis of the cognitive and academic benefits of instrumental musical training in childhood and adolescence (2022) · cites this paper as Corrigall et al., 2013
A plausible alternative explanation for cognitive and academic advantages in correlational and non-randomized intervention studies is preexisting differences in children's intelligence, temperament, and environment.
“From this point of view, most of the cognitive and academic advantages observed in correlational studies and interventions without random assignment (where participants and their families chose musical activities) could be due to preexisting differences in children's intelligence, temperament, and environment.”
From Please don't stop the music: A meta-analysis of the cognitive and academic benefits of instrumental musical training in childhood and adolescence (2022) · cites this paper as Corrigall et al., 2013
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When and where do we apply what we learn?: A taxonomy for far transfer
Barnett, S. M., & Ceci, S. J. (2002) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.128.4.612 · Cited by 2,076 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Because far-transfer effects are very infrequent without substantial overlap in: (i) what is being transferred and (ii) the context in which such transfer will occur (Barnett and Ceci, 2002), the burden of proof should rest on those who claim systematic far-transfer effects from music lessons to cognitive abilities.”
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- Authors
- Corrigall, K. A., Schellenberg, E. G., & Misura, N. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Schellenberg, E. Glenn
- Venue
- Frontiers in Psychology
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2013
- Volume
- 4
- Pages
- 222-222
- ISSN
- 1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3639373
- OpenAlex
- W1981029429
- Cited by
- 358
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 41 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 41 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 10
- FWCI
- 562.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Music › Diverse Music Education Insights
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Music Perception
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
- Keywords
- musical training, music lessons, cognitive ability, personality, Big Five personality traits, openness to experience, individual differences, causal inference, music education, children, adults
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