1993-yilda Nature jurnalida Frensis Rausher va hamkasblarining qisqa maqolasi chiqdi. Talabalar Motsart sonatasini 10 daqiqa tinglagach, fazoviy fikrlash vazifalarida biroz yaxshiroq natija ko'rsatgan. Ta'sir vaqtinchalik edi va faqat bitta turdagi vazifaga tegishli edi.

Lekin ommaviy axborot vositalari buni “Motsart sizni aqlli qiladi” deb talqin qildi. Chaqaloqlar uchun klassik musiqa disklari sotildi, ba'zi joylarda esa bu g'oya rasmiy dasturlarga ham kirdi.

Hammasini yig'ib ko'rganda

2010-yilda Vena universiteti olimlari Yakob Pitshnig va hamkasblari bu mavzudagi 40 ga yaqin tadqiqotni (3000 dan ortiq ishtirokchi) birlashtirib tahlil qilishdi. Maqolaning nomi ham kulgili edi: “Mozart effect — Shmozart effect”. Xulosa: aynan Motsart tinglash fazoviy qobiliyatni oshiradi degan da'voni tasdiqlovchi dalil yo'q.

Kuzatilgan kichik ta'sir, ehtimol, musiqa umuman kayfiyatni ko'tarishi va odamni “uyg'otishi” bilan bog'liq — buni Motsart ham, boshqa yoqimli musiqa ham bera oladi.

Tinglash — dam olish. Chalish — mashq. Faqat ikkinchisi yangi ko'nikma beradi.

O'qish paytida musiqa-chi?

• So'zli musiqadan ehtiyot bo'ling. Matn o'qiyotganda qo'shiq so'zlari raqobatlashadi.
• Kayfiyat uchun — mayli. Tanaffusda sevimli musiqa energiya beradi.
• Jimjitlikni sinab ko'ring. Murakkab masala uchun ko'pincha eng yaxshi fon — sukunat.
• Musiqa chalishni o'rganing. Asbob chalish — haqiqiy, uzoq muddatli mashq.

Manba: Rauscher, Shaw & Ky, “Music and spatial task performance”, Nature, 1993; Pietschnig, Voracek & Formann, “Mozart effect–Shmozart effect: A meta-analysis”, Intelligence, 2010. Matn — o'zbek tilidagi erkin qisqacha bayon.

In 1993, Nature published a short paper by Frances Rauscher and colleagues. After listening to a Mozart sonata for 10 minutes, students did slightly better on spatial reasoning tasks. The effect was temporary and applied to only one type of task.

The media, however, turned this into “Mozart makes you smarter”. Classical-music CDs for babies were sold, and in some places the idea even made its way into official programmes.

Putting it all together

In 2010, Jakob Pietschnig and colleagues at the University of Vienna combined about 40 studies on the topic (more than 3,000 participants). The title was playful too: “Mozart effect–Shmozart effect”. The conclusion: there is no evidence that listening to Mozart specifically improves spatial ability.

The small effect that was seen is probably due to music lifting mood and arousal in general, something Mozart or any other enjoyable music can do.

Listening is rest. Playing is practice. Only the second builds a new skill.

What about music while studying?

• Be careful with lyrics. When you read, song lyrics compete for attention.
• For mood, sure. Your favourite music during a break gives energy.
• Try silence. For a hard problem, silence is often the best background.
• Learn to play. Playing an instrument is real, long-term practice.

Source: Rauscher, Shaw & Ky, “Music and spatial task performance”, Nature, 1993; Pietschnig, Voracek & Formann, “Mozart effect–Shmozart effect: A meta-analysis”, Intelligence, 2010. Text: a free summary.