Cognitive Effects of Music and Dance Training in Children

Cognitive Effects of Music and Dance Training in Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The study used a randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of two interventions (dance and musical training) for typically developing children. Interventions were run for three weeks in local community locations. Participants were tested before and after the intervention on a battery of cognitive and behavioural measures. They were compared across groups, and to a control group who do not receive the intervention.

The purpose of the current study was to assess the influence of dance and musical training on cognitive development. Research has indicated that musical training is associated with improve cognitive functioning, although the direction of such an association is unclear. Further, it is uncertain whether any benefits are specific to musical training or can also be demonstrated with other training activities. The current study used a randomized controlled trial to assess the causal effects of dance and musical training.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cognitive Change
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Music Training; Behavioral: Dance Training

Detailed Description

Participants Monolingual children aged between six and nine years old were recruited from two local communities in Ontario, Canada. Children with developmental delays, learning disabilities, or previous arts training were excluded from the study.

Participants were randomly allocated to one of two groups

1. Dance intervention group
2. Music intervention group

To establish baseline performance levels and have a comparison, a passive control group was collected from the same towns using the same exclusion criteria.

Data analysis Difference scores were calculated for each measure by subtracting each participant's second testing session data from the first. When appropriate, iterative trimming with a 3 SD cutoff was used, by subject and by condition, to remove outliers. Results for each measure were analyzed using one-way ANOVAs (analysis of variance) for the between-subjects factor of training group (music, dance, or control).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 75
• Phase: Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 6 years to 9 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Monolingual

Exclusion Criteria:

• Developmental delays or learning disabilities
• Previous arts training (in dance, drama, or music)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Music Training	Behavioral: Music Training; Training curriculums were developed using guidelines set by the Ontario Ministry of Education (The Ontario Curriculum, 2009) for teaching music to grades 1 to 3. Music was delineated into duration, pitch, dynamics and other expressive controls, timbre, texture/harmony, and form. training included direct instruction and group activities. All training programs had the same structure: a warm-up period, following by instruction from a teacher, and then group activities to practically demonstrate the concepts learned. Both programs involved working towards a variety of ensembles.
Active Comparator: Dance Training	Behavioral: Dance Training; As with music training, dance was operationally defined by fundamental concepts for the art form, namely elements for body, space, time, energy, and relationship. The intervention involved both individual and group activities, with a combination of instruction and practical activities, and preparation for a final performance.
No Intervention: Passive control group

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in visuospatial working memory	Self-ordered pointing task (Cragg & Nation, 2007)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in interference control on flanker	Flanker task (Bunge, Dudukovic, Thomason, Vaidya, & Gabriela, 2002)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in color-shape task switching	color-shape task (Wiseheart, Viswanathan, & Bialystok, 2015)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in verbal working memory	Digit span (Weschler, 2008)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in interference control on Stroop	Stroop task (Cepeda, Blackwell, & Munakata, 2013)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in quantity-identity task switching	quantity-identity task (Cepeda, Cepeda, & Kramer, 2000)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in processing speed using box completion	Box completion (Salthouse, 1993)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in Non-verbal intelligence	Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT-2; Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in Receptive vocabulary	Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-IV; Dunn, Dunn, & Lenhard, 2015)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in processing speed using digit symbol	Digit symbol (Weschler, 1991)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in processing speed using symbol copy	Symbol copy (Weschler, 1991)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: York University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 30, 2013
• Study Completion (Actual): November 30, 2013

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 6, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 17, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): May 19, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 19, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 17, 2017
• Last Verified: May 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: YorkU-MD1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: Undecided

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No