Children who take music lessons tend to have better-educated, higher-earning parents, and to do more extra-curricular activities than other children their age
Sending your child to piano or violin lessons in a bid to boost their academic achievement is a waste of money, according to scientists.
Although research has shown that youngsters who take music lessons are more likely to be top of their class, psychologist Glenn Schellenberg claims this link is misleading.
Instead, improved academic performance may be because brighter children from privileged backgrounds are more likely to learn an instrument, rather than music classes helping to boost their intelligence.
‘Music may change you a bit, but it’s also the case that different children take music lessons,’ said Professor Schellenberg of the University of Toronto, who added that parents’ education was the most influential factor on musicality.
‘Children who take music lessons come from families with higher incomes, they come from families with more educated parents, they also do more extra-curricular activities, they have higher IQs, and they do better at school.’
In tests on 167 children who played piano or other instruments, they found their answer to personality tests could predict how likely it was for them to continue their music lessons.
Those who were more outgoing and conscientious were more likely to continue to play.
‘We were motivated by the fact that kids who take music lessons are particularly good students, in school they actually do better than you would predict from their IQ, so obviously something else is going on,’ Professor Schellenberg told the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual conference in Boston.
‘So we thought that personality might be the thing.
Asked if so-called helicopter parents were wasting their money sending their children to music lessons in the belief they could boost their school results, he said ‘yes’.
‘Clearly studying music changes the brain, but so does any learning. In fact, that is what learning is,’ he said.
科学家称，为了提高孩子的学习成绩而把孩子送去学弹钢琴或拉小提琴，纯属浪费钱。
尽管有研究显示，学音乐的小孩更可能在班上名列前茅，但心理学家格伦•舍伦贝格指出，将这两者联系在一起有误导性。
事实上，更优秀的学习成绩可能是因为这些家庭背景更优越的小孩更聪明，更可能去学习乐器，而并非学音乐有助于提高他们的智力。
多伦多大学的舍伦贝格教授说：“音乐也许能让你有些改变，但是实际情形是，学音乐的小孩本就不同。”他补充说，父母的教育是对音乐才能最重要的影响因素。
“上音乐班的小孩来自收入更高的家庭，他们的父母受教育程度更高，他们参加的课外活动也更多，而且他们的智商也更高，在学校的成绩也更好。”
研究人员对167个弹钢琴或其他乐器的小孩进行了性格测试，发现从他们的回答可以预测出他们继续学音乐的可能性。
那些性格更外向、更认真的小孩更可能继续弹奏乐器。
舍伦贝格教授在波斯顿举行的美国科学促进会年会上说：“我们因为上音乐班的小孩学习成绩特别好的事实而受到鼓舞，实际上这些小孩在学校的学习成绩超出了他们的智商让人产生的预期，所以显然还有其他一些因素在起作用。”
“因此我们认为这一影响因素可能是性格。
在被问及那些送孩子去上音乐班、以为这样能提高孩子学习成绩的“直升机父母”是否在浪费钱时，舍伦贝格教授回答说“是的”。
他说：“无疑学音乐会改变大脑，但是学习其他任何东西也会这样。事实上，学习本就如此。”
musicality: 音乐才能
conscientious: 认真的；尽责的
helicopter parents: 直升机父母，用来形容过度焦虑和宠爱孩子的父母，他们无时无刻不盘旋在孩子的周遭，插手大小事。