This is part 2 of my interview with Dr. Kenneth Steele of Appalachian State University on his research on the so-called Mozart Effect. Listen to Dr. Steele talk about how rats were brought into the lab to listen to Mozart music. Did it make them smarter? Find out in this episode of The Psych Files podcast.
Mozart Effect Resources
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- The Mozart Effect Doesn’t Work…but here are some things that do by Kimberly Sena Moore from her Psychology Today blog
Uzi Paz
June 24, 2008While I agree with the general conclusion, the frequency analysis that Dr. Steele mentioned is wrong.
When Dr. steele speaks about frequencies of a piano, he speaks about the base frequency. For example, the base frequency of the middle A, is 440 Hertz. But what makes this note sounds differently when played on different instruments is the shape of harmonies. This key does not generate only 440Hz but rather all multiplications of it (880, 1760, 1320, etc, up to very high frequencies. It is truth that a typical digital recording does not hold information about harmonies higher that 22,500 Hz, but up to that frequencies one can identify the melody even without hearing the base frequencies. Including rats.
Mozart Effect | The Psych Files
June 24, 2008[…] Here’s part two of this fascinating interview with Dr. Steele. […]