| The purpose of this study was to determine the impact that increased music notation instruction has on the visual perceptual speed of third grade students. Numerous studies have indicated a strong link between music and spatial abilities. Perceptual speed, a spatial skill, has been linked to student performance in the areas of reading and mathematics.; While music instruction should not be justified solely on non-musical outcomes, it is hoped that empirical results connecting music instruction with cognitive gains in other curricular areas will provide music educators with a strong advocacy tool for program preservation.; A pre- and post-test, control group design was employed in order to test the effects of the music instruction. The participants were 48 third grade students enrolled in a public school in Central Florida. The control group was a strong demographic match for the experimental group, taking into account the following factors: gender, race, musical aptitude, mathematics achievement level, reading achievement level, and membership in an extracurricular music ensemble.; The participants in the experimental group received three additional, thirty-minute music lessons per week for eight weeks. The lessons focused on the reading of traditional music notation, using the soprano recorder as the performance tool.; The Identical Pictures Test, found in the Kit of Factor-Referenced Cognitive Tests, published by Educational Testing Service (Ekstrom et al., 1976), was administered before and after music instruction. The results showed a statistically significant relationship between increased music notation instruction and students' perceptual speed. The other factors, including gender, race, music ability, mathematics achievement level and reading achievement level did not account for the increase in perceptual speed skills. |
