The effects of a short-term music program on preschool children’s executive functions

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a short-term preschool music program with creativity, bimanual gross motor training, and vocal development on preschool children’s inhibition. Inhibition is the key factor in preschool children’s executive functions development between 3–5 years. Thirty-six preschool children were randomly assigned to music or Lego training, a comparable control task. We administered neuropsychological measures pre- and post-training. Results of a repeated measures ANOVA on the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT), a task requiring inhibition and visual discrimination, indicated a significant time by group interaction, with fewer errors committed post-training by the music group compared to controls. However, only a main effect of time was found for the second inhibition task, the Day/Night Stroop Task, a task requiring inhibition of a dominant verbal response. Music training in early childhood that includes an emphasis on bimanual coordination in gross motor movements may contribute to enhanced inhibition performance on complex tasks.

Keywords

early childhood executive functions inhibition music training

Playing a musical instrument in early childhood includes complex levels of sensorimotor integration, which necessitates high levels of attention and concentration. For instance, to play a xylophone the performer relies upon eye–hand coordination, auditory feedback, auditory cues, and the integration of these elements. When coupled with critical thinking skills in creative tasks, musical performance places additional demands upon attention. According to Posner and Patoine (2009), sustained short-term musical activity engages the brain’s attentional system resulting in benefits to multiple cognitive and learning domains.

Although there are many studies with findings that suggest the influence of complexity in long-term music training on cognitive transfer, less is known about the effects of short-term music training that occurs during early childhood, a period characterized by heightened cognitive development and brief attention spans. While most long-term music training programs for early childhood focus on training of a single instrument or musical skill (i.e., vocal skills) with some notable benefits to overall cognition, we hypothesized that a comprehensive program, a program that contains multiple musical activities (e.g., vocal and instrumental performance, and improvisation) would be more appropriate for young children with shortened attention spans.

The purpose of the present study was to examine whether preschool children who received short-term comprehensive music instruction in their classrooms would demonstrate differences in inhibition, a key aspect of preschool children’s executive functions, shown to develop between the ages of 3 to 5 years. We hypothesized that a comprehensive music training program with improvisational activities, bimanual gross motor training, and vocal development would enhance executive functions in preschool children.

Music training and cognitive transfer in children

Previous research in young children suggests that music training can confer benefits to multiple cognitive domains, particularly those with overlapping emphasis in aural learning (e.g., phonological awareness; Bolduc, 2009; Degé & Schwarzer, 2011). One theoretical model, the trion model (Leng, Shaw, & Wright, 1990) suggests that cognitively stimulating activities exercise multiple parts of the brain or cortices that are commonly linked to generalized cognitive processes. This theory was the impetus for several studies examining the effects of music training on spatial reasoning skills (Rauscher et al., 1997; Rauscher & Zupan, 2000). Hebbian learning theories follow a similar approach suggesting that neurological synaptic strength based upon the connectivity of cell assemblies contributes to cognitive performance (Hebb, 1940).

Music training has been shown to impact two types of transfer, near transfer (i.e., transfer of skills in the same domain) and far transfer (i.e., transfer to skills in an unrelated domain). Results of research with musicians showed near transfer effects on areas such as auditory processing (Strait, Slater, O’Connell, & Kraus, 2015) and pitch processing (Bidelman, Hutka, & Moreno, 2013). Far transfer skills were found in executive functions (i.e., cognitive skills responsible for regulatory behaviors) such as processing speed (Bugos & Mostafa, 2011) and working memory (Bugos, Perlstein, Brophy, McCrae, & Bedenbaugh, 2007). Furthermore, results demonstrated that executive functions serve as a mediating factor in the associations between music lessons and intelligence (Degé, Kubicek, & Swarzer, 2011). Specifically, inhibition and selective attention strongly contributed to these findings.

Inhibition refers to the ability to restrict automatic processes in light of goal-directed behaviors. For example, in music performance, the performer inhibits the continued response of an incorrect note or rhythm in favor of the correct note or rhythm. Musical practice has been shown to affect inhibition in adults with only four months of piano training (Seinfeld, Figueroa, Ortiz-Gil, & Sanchez-Vives, 2013). In young children, inhibition is measured in performing or verbalizing the opposite of a typical label for an item (i.e., saying “day” for a moon or “night” for a sun).

Music training in childhood is associated with higher levels of cognitive performance in areas such as verbal intelligence and overall IQ (Moreno et al., 2011; Schellenberg, 2004), phonological awareness (Degé & Schwarzer, 2011), verbal memory (Bugos & Mazuc, 2013; Ho, Cheung, & Chan, 2003; Rickard, Vasquez, Murphy, Gill, & Toukhsati, 2010), and spatial–temporal skills (Rauscher & Zupan, 2000). These studies examine music training resulting from private instruction on one instrument (e.g., vocal skills, violin performance) in young children. While focused music training on one instrument has many benefits for older children, preschool children have shortened attention spans, which necessitate a more comprehensive music curriculum.

A comprehensive music program includes a variety of engaging activities, which can include singing, playing, creating, and movement. Many early childhood programs (e.g., Kindermusik) advocate weekly comprehensive music classes and emphasize vocal development, as young children are better able to retain vocal melodies compared to instrumental melodies (Weiss, Schellenberg, Trehub, & Dawber, 2015). Results of a randomized controlled trial in preschool children found enhanced memory and abstract reasoning performance for children who had 30 weeks of Kindermusik training compared to children in the no-treatment control condition (Bilhartz, Bruhn, & Olson, 1999). In contrast, another randomized controlled trial in preschool children found no difference in cognitive performance after six weeks of music training compared to a visual arts class and no treatment controls (Mehr, Schachner, Katz, & Spelke, 2013). This research utilized a curriculum that focused upon parent–child play. Thus, the length and quality of the music instruction may influence the likelihood of far transfer. In the design of the present study, we sought to examine whether comprehensive music classes offered twice a week over a six-week period would transfer to generalized cognitive performance.

Most training studies to date have examined the benefits of long-term music training. For instance, neurological data obtained from preschool children who participated in 20 hours of computer-based music training or second-language learning demonstrated functional brain changes up to one year post-training (Moreno, Lee, Janus, & Bialystok, 2014). Thus, cognitively stimulating programs such as music training have the capacity to provide sustainable benefits.

Longitudinal data show that children who took private piano instruction demonstrated increases in their cognitive performance initially; however, benefits were not sustained over a three-year period (Costa-Giomi, 1999). In contrast, another study showed that three consecutive years of piano training offered as part of a comprehensive music program led to increased vocabulary and verbal sequencing skills in elementary children (Piro & Ortiz, 2009). It should be noted that children whose parents can afford the long-term commitment of private piano instruction may be a select group. This group may not be representative of all children in the population. In addition, attrition levels in long-term training studies are relatively high, with some studies reporting attrition over 35% (Costa-Giomi, 1999). High attrition rates can pose a threat to internal validity in experimental research. Thus, the results of short-term experimental studies examining the benefits of music training in a regular school setting may be more easily interpreted given the reduced likelihood for attrition.

Despite the well-documented benefits of musical training in older children with long-term training, the benefits of short-term music training in preschool children, as well as the magnitude of those benefits, are poorly understood. While most research places an emphasis on musical training in a unimodal context (i.e., development of skills on one instrument), we hypothesized that a program that included multimodal activities (e.g., gross motor skills, vocal performance, and improvisation) would generalize to broader cognitive outcomes. Since the development of executive functions begins during early childhood, opportunities to develop sustained attention in multimodal music activities were included in the music curriculum.

The development of executive functions in early childhood

Despite the preponderance of research on executive functions, the construct is difficult to define and measure due to difficulty in isolating each component skill (Jurado & Rosselli, 2007; Miyake & Friedman, 2012; Stuss & Alexander, 2000). Across the lifespan, the identified constructs of executive functions may include decision-making, goal maintenance, planning, processing speed, updating, shifting, inhibition, and working memory. For adults, researchers found both significant relations among all of the assessments (i.e., unity) as well as three discrete factors (diversity): updating (which some label working memory), attentional shifting, and inhibition (Miyake et al., 2000).

Early childhood is a key formative period in which executive skills develop. However, in younger children (ages 2–6), inhibition was a stronger predictor of problem-solving as compared to older children (ages 6 and up), who relied upon working memory. Researchers suggested more unity in completion of executive tasks than diversity, with inhibition serving as one overall factor in preschool children (Wiebe, Epsy, & Charak, 2008). Thus, (Senn, Epsy, and Kaufmann 2004) suggested that inhibition may be a more important factor early during the preschool period, while working memory may be more important later (after ages 5–6 years). Unitary models for early childhood were supported, since one factor encompassed measures of working memory and inhibitory control (Wiebe et al., 2008).

Interventions to assist young children in developing executive functions may be more critical during this developmental period. Research links executive functions in early childhood to overall academic performance (Diamond, 2012). Effective interventions for young children include those with repeated practice, progressive difficulty, bimanual coordination, and a positive social/emotional context. Inclusion of these elements produced programs with the greatest likelihood to impact children’s executive functions (Diamond & Lee, 2011). A comprehensive early childhood music program can include all of these components.

To date, few studies have evaluated the effects of music programs experimentally. Without random assignment of participants to the various conditions, it is not possible to separate the effects of the music program from any pre-existing differences among groups. Thus, it would not be possible in those studies to conclude that the music program alone caused any observed differences in the outcome measures. Thus, in the present research we conducted an experimental investigation of whether a comprehensive music program enhanced preschool children’s inhibition when compared to the active control condition, Lego training.

Method

Participants

Thirty-six preschool children (all between 4 years, 9 months and 5 years, 8 months; 20 females, 16 males; at least 12 who spoke Spanish as their home language; incomes of families ranging from < $10,000 per year to $110,000–$120,000 per year); were recruited from a diverse preschool in a large urban city in the Southeastern United States. Of the 60% who reported their native language, 48% spoke English and 52% spoke Spanish. For parents whose primary language was Spanish, the teachers read and translated the consent forms into the parents’ home language when parents brought or picked up their child.

The criteria for enrollment in the study included the condition that children had no pre-existing neurological impairment, learning disabilities, or formal music training. No children were excluded based upon these criteria. Only one child’s parents did not give consent for participation. Thus, there was a 97.3% participation rate. Informed written consent was obtained from all legal guardians, and verbal assent was obtained from preschool children in accordance with the policies of the University Institutional Review Board. A translator, who was one of the classroom teachers, was available to assist those children for whom Spanish was spoken at home during the assessments.

Parents’ self-reported education levels ranged from 12 to 15 years with 57% reporting 12 years, 7% with 14 to 15 years, 23% with 16 years, and 13% with 17 years. Fifty-seven percent completed the ethnicity/race demographic question. The ethnicity of the population consisted of 80% Hispanic and 20% Non-Hispanic children with diverse race including 37.5 % Caucasian, 37.5% African American, 12.5% Indian, and 12.5% Asian/other. Children enrolled in the study were predominantly right-handed (84%).

Children were randomly assigned (at the child level) to a musical training intervention or a Lego construction intervention. Eighteen were assigned to each group with the constraint that each group included eight males and 10 females. The membership of each group was shared with the preschool director and teacher to confirm group equivalence, language equivalence (equal number of children whose native language was English), and to ensure participation in the assigned groups. One-way Analyses of Variance (ANOVAs) were computed on each of the demographic factors with group (Music or Lego) as the between-subjects factor. The groups did not differ significantly (p < .05) on any of these. For example, the Lego group’s mean age was 4.97 (SD = .23) years, and the Music group’s mean age was 4.82 (SD = .41) years, F(1, 33) = 1.97, p = 0.17. Parent education levels also did not differ significantly between the groups. Parents of children in Lego group had 14.13 (SD = 2.20) years, and parents of children in the Music group had 13.40 (SD = 2.06) years of education, F(1, 28) = 0.89, p = 0.35.

Procedure

Six weeks of training for both groups consisted of two 45-minute weekly classes (90 minutes). The music condition was the experimental condition. Lego training served as a comparable attention-related control task. The advantage of employing a comparable attention and instructional control group is that school-based settings typically include only a portion of the class causing differences beyond intended outcomes (McMillan, 2007). Since Lego training includes similar elements to the music program in spatial awareness, bimanual coordination, and improvisational creativity, albeit in the visual domain, this task allowed us to isolate the role of the temporal complexity in the music program. Previous research data support the notion that temporal complexity may be a key element in the development of inhibition (Kaganovich, Kim, Herring, Schumaker, & MacPherson, 2013).

The demographic data that were collected included family socioeconomic status, parent education level, and music aptitude. Children completed two measures to examine executive functions, pre and post-training. Standardized cognitive measures were administered individually in a quiet testing room. A measure of music aptitude was conducted as a group-based measure.

Description of cognitive assessments

Three cognitive assessments were administered. The Primary Measures of Music Aptitude (PMMA) was administered as a pre-test to assess whether there were initial differences between the groups on their music aptitude. The other two measures assessed children’s inhibition, the Day/Night Stroop and the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT). These assessments were administered at pre-testing and post-testing time points. Both assessed inhibition through different types of performance; Day/Night Stroop required a verbal response, and the MFFT required visual discrimination and a motor response.

Primary Measures of Music Aptitude (Gordon, 1979) is a standard measure of musical aptitude that includes 40 pairs of computer-generated stimuli (20 tonal and 20 rhythmic). Children indicate if paired stimuli are the same or different by circling the appropriate same or different set of pictures. The PMMA is commonly used in early childhood music research and has split-half reliability coefficients ranging from .70–.91 for tonal scores and .68–.91 for rhythmic scores (Gordon, 1979).

Matching Familiar Figures Test (Egeland & Weinberg, 1976) is a standard measure of reflectivity–impulsivity that is appropriate for young children. Children point to one of the six pictures that matches a sample picture precisely in every way. To ensure children were not fatigued, we included only the two practice trials and three other trials. The time to make the first choice, and the number of errors before selecting the correct choice, were both noted and analyzed separately. In early research, this test was used to indicate whether children were more reflective (higher times and lower errors) or impulsive (lower times and higher errors), but instead we used time and errors as continuous measures to have detailed assessments of each of them.

Day/Night Stroop (Ikeda, Okuzumi, & Kokubun, 2014) is a short measure of inhibition using the standard Stroop paradigm adapted for young children. Children see pictorial representations of day and night. Children verbally describe the picture as day or night as quickly as possible. We collected baseline data by having the children say the correct labels that corresponded to five pictures and then to 10 pictures as quickly as possible. The trial of interest followed with children asked to say the names “the silly way.” This translated to having them say the opposite labels (e.g., “night” for day or “day” for night) for sample pictures. Before proceeding, we ensured that children were able to verbalize the silly label when instructed by pointing to them randomly prior to administering the trial. Children verbally stated the silly names for 10 pictures as quickly as possible. The time to say all 10 labels, and the number of errors committed on each trial were recorded.

Description of group conditions

Music training (Experimental condition)

Music training consisted of creativity exercises that each focused on gross motor coordination using various electronic and acoustic instruments (e.g., djembe drums, xylophones, iPads) with vocal development exercises, and improvisational activities to foster critical thinking skills. The curriculum for this program was replicated based upon a previous study (see Bugos, 2014). All lessons were taught by a university professor with a Ph.D. in Music Education with 17 years of teaching expertise and Kindermusik certification and a doctoral level Music Education student with 20+ years of teaching expertise in early childhood. Each lesson followed a routine beginning with a vocal development activity and concluding with vocal development. Improvisation was incorporated using acoustic (drums, xylophones) and electronic pitched (iPads) and non-pitched percussion instruments (shakers, maracas) to songs identified in the kindergarten and first-grade music basal series. Early childhood repertoire presents opportunities for creativity and conceptual development in rhythmic reading, musical accompaniments, and melodic improvisation through music education pedagogies such as Orff Schulwerk and Kodaly.

Lego brick training (Control condition)

Lego training included group-based activities focusing on problem-solving with spatial relationships. Children received training in building different shapes/numbers, forming patterns, sorting, and creative exploration. One highly-trained research assistant with expertise in early childhood administered the program. Similar to the music program, the Lego program included a routine. Children were instructed on how to build specific shapes and figures. Models were provided for each group activity. Children worked in small groups on each activity. There were also opportunities for creative building.

Results

Thirty-six children participated in the study; however, 34 completed the study. One child relocated from the control group, and one child left for vacation early and did not complete the final testing from the experimental group. Results of an independent samples t-test on music aptitude showed that both groups performed similarly pre- and post-training, t(33) = .0.71, p = .486; confirming aural skills similarities between groups. All repeated measures ANOVAs that follow included group (Music or Lego) as a between-subjects factor, and time (pre-test or post-test) as a within-subjects factor.

Changes in time and errors for the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT)

Results of a repeated measures ANOVA on the average number of errors committed when children searched for an identical picture for the three trials of the test on the Matching Familiar Figures Test revealed a significant group by time interaction, F(1, 31) = 4.89, p = .035, d = .987, with the music group showing reduced errors when compared with the Lego group post-training (Figure 1). There was no significant main effect of time, F(1, 31) = 0.01, p = .925, or of group, F(1, 31) = 1.43, p = .241. Although the children in the music group committed more errors on the pre-test, they made significantly more progress and committed fewer errors on the post-test than the Lego group.

Figure 1.

Mean errors for pre-test and post-test of the Matching Familiar Figures Test by group.

We also computed an ANOVA using time (in seconds) necessary to make the first choice of stimuli on the MFFT. Results demonstrated a similar pattern between groups as there was neither a significant main effect of time, F(1, 31) = 3.49, p =.071, nor group, F(1, 31) = 3.46, p =.072, nor a significant time by group interaction, F(1, 31) = 0.03, p =.858. Thus, a reduction in errors occurred despite similar reaction times found in both groups. Both groups had similar times to select their first choice at both time points; however, the music group took fewer selections to locate the identical picture than did the Lego group at post-testing.

Changes in time and errors for the Day/Night Stroop

A repeated measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was computed on the average number of errors committed on the Day/Night Stroop Task. For this task, children read a list of words and were instructed to say the opposite word for each stimulus (i.e., “day” for night and “night” for day). There was a significant main effect of time, F(1, 31) = 10.45, p = .003, d = .05, but there was not a significant main effect of group, F(1, 30) = 2.23, p = .146, or a significant interaction between time and group, F(1, 30) = 0.05, p = .831. Thus, both groups improved and committed significantly fewer errors on the post-test relative to the pre-test (see Table 1).

Table 1.

Mean response times and errors for pre- and post-training by group.

	Pre-training(N = 17)	Post-training(N = 17)
Day/Night Stroop Task: Mean Errors – Opposite Trial
Lego Group	3.00 (3.43)	1.47 (2.29)
Music Group	2.24 (2.84)	0.31 (1.01)
Day/Night Stroop Task: Mean Time to Read List of Words – Opposite Trial
Lego Group	12.73 (7.06)	12.13 (3.69)
Music Group	13.08 (3.33)	12.35 (5.20)
Matching Familiar Figures Test Time: Mean Errors – 3 Trials
Lego Group	2.67 (0.99)	3.11 (1.00)
Music Group	2.82 (1.20)	2.35 (0.43)
Matching Familiar Figures Test Time: Mean Time – 3 Trials
Lego Group	6.26 (2.72)	5.00 (2.41)
Music Group	7.93 (3.71)	6.89 (4.40)

When the same analysis was computed on the Day/Night Stroop using the time (in seconds) to read the list of 10 words in the “silly” condition, there was neither a significant main effect of time F(1, 30) = 0.36, p =.552, nor group, F(1, 30) = 0.01, p =.935, nor a significant interaction between time and group, F(1, 30) = 0.01, p =.993. Thus, both groups made significantly fewer errors on the post-test than at pre-testing. Both groups demonstrated similar times to read the words for this condition at both time points, and both groups demonstrated reduced errors on this condition.

Discussion

Previous research with older children and preschool children suggests that learning to perform a musical instrument contributes to enhanced auditory processing and cognitive performance (Putkinen, Saarikivi, & Tervaniemi, 2013; Wan & Schlaug, 2010). Our data support the notion that musical training can enhance executive functions (e.g., inhibition). However, Lego construction building tasks also involve spatial skills and creativity components shared by the music program. Thus, it was not surprising to find similar outcomes for both groups on one of the inhibition tasks (MFFT), which had more of a visual discrimination component.

Lego training served as a very powerful control task as it directly isolated the temporal elements of music training. Lego training is also associated with long-term benefits. For instance, participation in Lego construction tasks during the preschool years is associated with future achievement in middle and high school mathematics (Wolfgang, Stannard, & Jones, 2003). It is possible that building tasks increase the ability to rotate and visualize three-dimensional objects, which translate to increased performance on spatial reasoning skills. Since standardized cognitive measures employ spatial and mathematical problems to assess this construct, it is logical that relationships have been found between the frequency of block play in young children and spatial reasoning scores (Jirout & Newcombe, 2015).

Similarly, musical training has been shown to enhance spatial reasoning performance. Music shares similar thought processes with mathematics (e.g., proportions or fractions) and requires the ability to subdivide the pulse contributing to spatial reasoning and enhanced mathematical computations. Piano training during the preschool years has been shown to increase spatial reasoning performance (Rauscher & Zupan, 2000). Older children show similar outcomes in arithmetic performance when provided with music training compared to physical education classes (Bugos & Jacobs, 2012), Theoretical models such as the “trion” model may account for such overlap between spatial skills in Lego training and music training. The trion model suggests that all higher cognitive functions share some degree of cortical overlap in firing patterns related to engaging in complex tasks (Leng et al., 1990). Temporal–spatial elements in music and visual–spatial elements in Lego training may share common cognitive processing mechanisms in patterns, sequencing, and spatial relationships.

Another commonality between the Lego training and music training programs included an emphasis on creativity. Each music class included a creative task, a musical improvisation based upon a musical question answered by a vocal or instrumental phrase. Each Lego class included a creative building prompt in which children could elect to maintain portions of a figure to create a new figure based upon a prompt (i.e., a car or vehicle). Alternatively, children could elect to create an entirely new figure. Creativity movements in building and responding through bimanual instrumental performance rely upon motor creativity. Research examining associations between motor creativity and inhibition in children (ages 7–8) has shown that high originality in creative moving predicts high levels of inhibitory control (Scibinetti, Tocci, & Pesce, 2011). It is also possible that young children who participated in both programs demonstrated some benefit in inhibition due to the inclusion of motor creativity; however, despite similarity between programs, there were marked differences in terms of the temporal component of the music training program and error rates found between groups.

Children in the music group made fewer errors post-training on the MFFT compared to the Lego group. Although the groups did not differ in their time to select their first choice of the visual matching stimuli, the music group demonstrated fewer errors when making their selections. These data may indicate more careful selection by the music group compared to the Lego group with regard to visual discrimination on an inhibition task. Controlled responses are an important part of musical improvisation tasks requiring careful selection of notes or phrases prompted by aural stimuli. Children in the music group may have been more conscientious for fear of making a mistake on musical improvisations in front of their peers compared to the Lego training group. However, creative tasks served as an example of problem-based learning necessary to facilitate social development in early childhood.

No differences between group response times were noted on inhibition tasks. Since musical training includes a temporal component, these results were quite surprising. However, perhaps six weeks of training (12 class sessions) may not have been enough training to demonstrate differences in response times or processing speed performance. Previous research demonstrated a lack of far transfer stemming from six weekly 45-minute classes based upon vocal development commonly taught in most early childhood music programs when compared to a visual arts curriculum (Mehr et al., 2013). Research examining the effects of music training on other more closely related domains (e.g., phonological awareness) employs long-term training paradigms of 15–20 weeks (Bolduc, 2009; Degé & Schwarzer, 2011). Yet, this study represents a first step in uncovering the effects of a comprehensive preschool music program. Further research is necessary to define the appropriate training length necessary to detect cognitive transfer in preschool children.

The inclusion of iPads in a music training program with acoustic classroom instru-ments seemed to motivate preschool children to become more involved in music training. Improvisational tasks occurred on acoustic and electronic instruments. Perhaps the inclusion of different media (i.e., acoustic versus electronic) may have influenced the outcomes. Future research on creativity in young children should consider the creative media and the outlets for development (e.g., small group or large group) and the presentation to ensure that programs are parallel. While this study included an active control group, a limitation of this research is the lack of a no-treatment or wait-list control group. Due to the transient nature of the study population, we were unable to measure sustainable outcomes. However, the study is unique in that all children enrolled received the same type of attention as the experimental group. Future research with a no-treatment control group and a follow-up assessment to examine sustainability could help to clarify differences among the training outcomes.

In the present study, there was a powerful effect of treatment despite the small sample size. This population, which included children whose families were migrant workers, typically are not provided opportunities either to participate in research studies or to have formal music training outside the school setting. A translator who was a regular classroom teacher enabled us to include all children attending the preschool. A preliminary questionnaire confirmed that children had not previously been exposed to any formal music training. Perhaps these results highlight the need for children without opportunities for formal music training to be afforded opportunities for comprehensive music programs in their early childhood educational settings.

Conclusions

The present study included a diverse sample of children. Nearly every child enrolled at the preschool who was 4 or 5 years of age was included. The comprehensive, short-term musical training program or a control condition (i.e., Lego training) took place in the children’s regular preschool setting, and we conducted an experimental investigation of whether music training affected preschool children’s inhibition, which has been labeled a unified factor in executive functions of preschool children (4–5 years). Aspects of inhibition that were verbally based (Day/Night Stroop) improved for both groups. Aspects of inhibition that were visually based and which involved motor control changed significantly for the music group but not for the Lego group.

Additional experimental research is necessary to more fully evaluate the impact of comprehensive music training that includes improvisation, bimanual gross motor coordination, and vocal development, on cognitive performance in children under and over 5 years of age. Experimental designs are better suited for making causal inferences about what may have caused the results than are correlational methods. It is also important to conduct similar experimental studies with children who are older than 5 years of age to compare and contrast findings.

Music education programs should include musically integrated activities, even for the youngest children, as these can provide opportunities for musical learning that could contribute to cognitive development in areas such as inhibition. Engagement in musical activities may assist in attention maintenance, an important skill for learning in all domains.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank our students: Laura Mockensturm, Tracy Torrance, Nader Jamaleddine, and Heather Stewart, for their assistance with the collection and coding of data.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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