Difference in Executive Functions Development Level between Two Groups: Preschool Children Who Took Extra Music Classes in Art Schools and Children Who Took Only General Music and Dance Classes Offered by Preschools

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that there is a positive correlation between attending music classes regularly and the development of executive functions. This paper discusses the results of a pilot study dedicated to determining the difference in the level of development of the components of executive functions (inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory), between 5–6-year-old children taking extra music classes, and children who participated only in general music and dance education in kindergarten. A total of 94 senior preschoolers from Moscow kindergartens took part in the study. Children were selected into an “extra music lessons” group and a “general preschool music and dance lessons” group based on the results of a questionnaire on supplementary education, which was filled in by parents prior to the research starting. The respondents from the “extra music and dance lessons” group attended music classes in art schools at least two times a week, both in individual and group formats. The current study revealed that children attending regular extra music classes had a higher level of inhibitory control, audio–verbal working memory, cognitive flexibility, and general coordination of the development of all executive functions. The obtained results support the value of regular extra music classes at preschool age. Moreover, this pilot study allows us to articulate the recommendations for further research in this direction.

Effects of music training in executive function performance in children: A systematic review

“…Preschoolers ( n = 9), school-age children ( n = 12), and adolescents ( n = 2) participated in these studies. Studies with preschool samples used one or more of the following tasks: Stroop, Go/No-Go, and NEPSY “inhibition” or “statue” subtests (Moreno et al, 2011 ; Bugos and DeMarie, 2017 ; Bowmer et al, 2018 ; Frischen et al, 2019 ; Shen et al, 2019 ; Bolduc et al, 2021 ; Kosokabe et al, 2021 ; Bayanova et al, 2022 ; Degé et al, 2022 ). Musical education at this age was primarily non-instrumental and centered on rhythm or pitch training.…”

“…Out of the eight studies on preschool children, only three showed significant improvement in a WM subdomain. Bayanova et al ( 2022 ) evaluated several EFs using NEPSY-II subtests in a Russian preschool sample by comparing children who received “extra music classes” ( n = 47) to those that did not ( n = 47). The results demonstrated significantly improved performance in the “Sentence repetition,” “DCCS,” and “Inhibition” subtests, which evaluate verbal WM, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control, respectively.…”

“…Failure to identify an effect of music training may be explained by the age-dependent effect that was previously hypothesized. In contrast, some casecontrol studies did identify an association between prior music training and EF performance (Degé et al, 2011;Bayanova et al, 2022;Chen et al, 2022). This raises the question of whether RCTs in school-age children are the ideal study design to evaluate an effect that is probably acquired early in life.…”

“…The results did not identify a significant group effect interaction in ANOVA, yet the completion time for musictrained children was faster. Comparably, 10 studies (three in preschoolers and seven in school-age children) did not identify a significant association between music training and performance in card-sorting tasks or NEPSY subtests (Degé et al, 2011;Schellenberg, 2011;Park et al, 2015;Sachs et al, 2017;Frischen et al, 2019;Kosokabe et al, 2021;Bayanova et al, 2022;Chen et al, 2022). Once again, the largest study in our review did not identify positive results in the cognitive flexibility tasks among 1,480 children who participated in a year-long, instrumentbased education program (Alemán et al, 2017).…”

Связь Оценки Музыкальных Способностей И Показателей Регуляторных Функций Детей, Посещающих Музыкальные Занятия

“…В связи с этим за счет развития умения соотносить ноты и звуки возможно и развитие зрительной рабочей памяти. Этот результат согласуется с некоторыми исследованиями, в которых также показано влияние занятий музыкой на зрительную рабочую память (Frischen et al, 2021;Bayanova et al, 2022). Например, в работе Frischen et al (2021) дети, которые участвовали в исследовании, обучались непосредственно игре на музыкальных инструментах, что подразумевает активность по изучению нотной грамоты и чтение нот.…”