How Formal Music Training Affects Executive Functions in Middle School Band Students
Location
Statesboro Campus (Room 2044)
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis Presentation (Open Access)
Faculty Mentor
Professor Laura Stambaugh
Faculty Mentor Email
lstambaugh@georgiasouthern.edu
Presentation Year
2022
Start Date
16-11-2022 7:05 PM
End Date
16-11-2022 8:05 PM
Description
My thesis project explored the relationship between a formal music training experience and executive functions in a middle school band classroom. Executive functions are working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility which allow us to gain and focus our attention on specific tasks. Participants in the study were two groups of middle school students: a sixth grade class with no previous musical experience and an eighth grade class with two years of band classes. I measured changes in students' overall success on cognitive tests over a two month span to observe at what point music training begins to impact executive functions. I will use these results to develop hypotheses about why that occurs.
Academic Unit
College of Arts and Humanities
How Formal Music Training Affects Executive Functions in Middle School Band Students
Statesboro Campus (Room 2044)
My thesis project explored the relationship between a formal music training experience and executive functions in a middle school band classroom. Executive functions are working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility which allow us to gain and focus our attention on specific tasks. Participants in the study were two groups of middle school students: a sixth grade class with no previous musical experience and an eighth grade class with two years of band classes. I measured changes in students' overall success on cognitive tests over a two month span to observe at what point music training begins to impact executive functions. I will use these results to develop hypotheses about why that occurs.
