Another failure to generalize the Mozart effect

Several studies have not replicated Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky's 1993 finding c hat 10 minutes of exposure to Mozart piano music temporarily enhanced perfo rmance on three spatial reasoning tasks. Later Rauscher and Shaw argued tha t enhanced performance is unlikely unless three conditions are met. The pre sent study was designed to meet those three conditions. 36 adults were expo sed to one of six listening orders and one of six test orders. Listening an d test orders had no systematic effect on spatial reasoning performance. A one-factor, repeated-measures analysis of variance yielded no significant d ifference on spatial reasoning performance after listening to classical mus ic, jazz, or silence. A reanalysis, using only those items most likely to t ap spatial reasoning, fell short of significance, and mean scores were in t he direction opposite to that hypothesized. These results were inconsistent with studies that have supported a Mozart effect.