Musical and cognitive abilities in children from disadvantaged backgrounds

Autores/as

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/LEEME.49.24089

Palabras clave:

Musical ability, cognitive ability, children, socio-economic status.

Resumen

Human beings are born with several abilities which are amenable to change. A growing number of studies have focused on the relations between musical and cognitive abilities but research with children from disadvantaged communities is scarce. This study explored the relations between musical and cognitive abilities in disadvantaged children. Participants were 169 children from deprived neighborhoods, attending the second year of primary education in public schools that do not offer music education. Children’s musical abilities (perception) were measured with the Melody, Rhythm, and Memory tests of Montreal Battery for the Evaluation of Musical Abilities and their cognitive abilities, with five WISC-III subtests (Similarities, Vocabulary, Cubes, Picture Arrangement, and Digits). Parental level of education was obtained from a questionnaire on the socio-economic status of children’s families. Results revealed (1) few and weak correlations between musical and cognitive abilities; (2) stronger correlations of Socioeconomic Status (SES) with cognitive than with musical abilities; (3) digit span predicts all musical abilities; 4) a clear factorial distinction between musical and cognitive abilities. Overall, results suggest that disadvantaged children’s musical and cognitive abilities, as measured by the present instruments, are partly independent regarding processing components.

Biografía del autor/a

Graça Boal-Palheiros, CIPEM/INET-md, Escola Superior de Educação, Politécnico do Porto Rua Roberto Frias, 602,  4200-465 Porto, Portugal

Professora Coordenadora na Escola Superior de Educação do Politécnico do Porto, onde leciona em cursos de Licenciatura e Mestrado e coordena o Mestrado em Educação Musical. É doutorada em Psicologia da Música pela University of Surrey Roehampton, Londres, mestre em Educação Musical pela University of London Institute of Education, bacharel em Pedagogia Musical pelo Instituto Lemmens da Universidade de Lovaina, e licenciada em Psicologia pela Faculdade de Psicologia da Universidade do Porto. Foi membro da Direção e Comissão Executiva da ISME-International Society for Music Education, presidente da Comissão INA e co-presidente da Comissão de Investigação da ISME (2008-2016). Foi presidente da APEM-Associação Portuguesa de Educação Musical (2006-2012) e diretora da Revista de Educação Musical durante nove anos. Co-fundadora e presidente da Associação Wuytack de Pedagogia Musical, coordena a formação docente e projetos musicais e editoriais desta associação. Co-fundou o CIPEM (Centro de Investigação em Psicologia da Música e Educação Musical, ESE-IPP) e integrou o CIEC (Centro de Investigação em Estudos da Criança, Universidade do Minho). Atualmente é diretora e investigadora integrada do CIPEM/ INET-md (Pólo do Politécnico do Porto), no qual coordena o Grupo Educação e Música na Comunidade. Os seus interesses incluem a audição musical de crianças, o canto na adolescência, formação de professores de música e projetos musicais para a inclusão social. Tem servido em Comissões Editoriais das revistas British Journal of Music Education, Eufonía, Frontiers in Psychology, Música, Psicologia e Educação, Opus, Revista de Educação Musical e Revista Internacional de Educación Musical. É coautora dos Programas de Educação Musical e Música para o 2º e o 3º Ciclos do Ensino Básico (Ministério da Educação, 1991) e autora de um dos primeiros livros de investigação em educação musical publicados em Portugal (APEM, 1993). Tem publicado em vários países e apresentado em conferências nacionais e internacionais. Lecionou em universidades na Bélgica, Brasil, Canadá, Espanha, Japão e Reino Unido.

Pedro Figueira, CIPEM/INET-md, Escola Superior de Educação, Politécnico do Porto Rua Roberto Frias, 602, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal

Pedro Figueira is a Post-Doctoral fellow at the Research Centre CIPEM/INET-md.

São Luís Castro, CPUP, Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Universidade do Porto.

São Luís Castro is full Professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the UNiversity of Porto.

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Publicado

2022-06-04

Número

Núm. 49 (2022): REVISTA ELECTRÓNICA DE LEEME

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