Browsing by Author "Byfield, Elise"

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    Examining the relationship between music training and early reading skills in children
    (2018) Byfield, Elise; Corrigall, Kathleen
    Past research has found a unique relationship between musical perceptual abilities and reading skills. The literature is highly inconclusive as to why that relationship may exist, with many researchers reporting contradictory results. There are two main theories of thought that overarch the research in this area. One is that the relationship is of a domain specific nature, the other, that it is more domain general. There is evidence to support each of the previously mentioned hypotheses, which has created a very contradictory and confusing explanation of the relationship. However, the inconsistent findings may be due to a lack of clearly defined musical perception measures. The present study attempts to clarify some of the inconsistencies in past research by using real musical stimuli and age appropriate tasks for children, elements that have at times been overlooked in previous studies. The children completed a standardized musical perception task and an abridged version of the Mini Profile of Music Perception Skills (Mini-PROMS). This task assesses perceptual ability to detect changes in speed, tuning, accent and melody. Participants were also tested using the Beat Alignment Task and asked to identify drummers who are on versus off the beat. Musical perception scores were then compared to reading scores on standardized tests. We hypothesize that by examining musical perception and reading in this way, we will find evidence of a domain general relationship between music perceptual abilities and amount of training and reading.
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    Examining the relationship between music training and early reading skills in children
    (2014) Byfield, Elise; Corrigall, Kathleen
    Past research has found evidence of a link between musical perception and performance on literacy related tests, such a reading tests and phonological awareness measures. Particular focus has been on the correlation between musical skills and phonemic understanding, with few studies examining reading specifically. Thus far in the literature, it is unclear if the relationship between perception and reading is dependent on specific perceptual abilities or is more domain general. Past investigation is also limited in the musical tasks that are available for children, and this had led to very mixed results as to why the relationship between music and reading might exist. The present study tested 120 6- to 10- year olds on a variety of musical perception measures and word reading tests to examine the association when controlling for general cognition and length of music training. Our results revealed that speed and tuning perceptual abilities were the only significant predictor of word reading scores, and that music training was uncorrelated with reading ability.