Table 1

Helping Students Understand the Article

Section

 Tips, Comments, and Problem Areas

Abstract

IQ subtests: the separate tests that, when combined, make up the IQ test. In the test used in this study, there are 12 subtests. These subtests are listed later in the article.

Index scores: scores on abilities thought to make up intelligence; in this case, the four index scores are (a) a verbal comprehension index: ability to reason using words and ability to demonstrate knowledge that the child has learned through words (tested by a vocabulary subtest that asks the child to define words, by a subtest measuring whether the child has learned basic information [e.g., temperature that water freezes], by a comprehension test that asks the child to show they understand the way the world works [e.g., knowing why we need laws], and by a similarities subtest that asks the child to explain how certain things are similar [e.g., oranges and apples]), (b) a perceptual organization index (storing and processing visual information—abilities needed to copy a figure, solve a maze, complete a puzzle, identify the missing part of a picture, put cartoon pictures  in an order that would tell a story), (c) a freedom from distractability index (measured by tasks that require the child to pay attention to information and keep it in short-term memory, such as having to repeat back a series of numbers as well as having to solve math problems in one’s head), and (d) a processing speed index (how quickly the child can process visual information, such as how long it takes a child to find an asterisk [*] in a row of other characters ). 

Introduction

1^st paragraph

The author summarizes the research about the so-called Mozart effect to (a) dismiss that effect and (b) to show that he is studying something else.

2^nd paragraph

collateral: additional

transfer effects: the influence of having previously practiced or performed a task on another task

highly plastic: easily changed; readily modified

3^rd paragraph

literacy: ability to read and write

aptitude: ability

parsimonious: simplest

affluent: wealthy

quasi-experimental studies: studies that manipulate a treatment and thus are closer to experiments (“quasi” means “similar to”) than typical correlational studies. Because quasi-experiments are closer to experiments, results from quasi-experiments are sometimes used to draw cause-effect conclusions. However, because quasi-experiments do not employ random assignment, researchers tend to be less confident about cause-effect conclusions drawn from quasi-experiments. For more on quasi-experiments, see Chapter 13 of Research design explained.

 Causal association: cause (in this case, increase)

Potentially confounding factors: factors, other than the suspected cause (in this case, music lessons) that may be responsible for the effect.

Note that the author makes a good argument for why we need experiments to make cause-effect conclusions.

4^th paragraph

Note that the author makes a good argument for needing to have good control groups (an argument made in Chapters 9 and 10 of Research design explained).

     transitory: temporary; not lasting

     pedagogy: teaching system; style of teaching

     group dynamics: interactions among group members; group “chemistry”; group’s effect on the group members

     efficacy: effectiveness

     auditory:  hearing; listening

Results

1^st paragraph

p >. 8: not statistically significant; there is little reason to believe that the difference is due to anything other than chance; if the manipulation had the same effect on both groups, we could expect to observe differences between groups this large (or smaller) more than 80% of the time.

2^nd paragraph

In this analysis, the author acted like he had a simple, two-group experiment.

3^rd paragraph: The two way mixed-design analysis of variance) used (music groups versus control groups) as the between factor and index scores as the within subjects factor. If there had been an interaction, it would mean that music had more of an effect on some subtests than others. (For more about mixed-design ANOVA, see pages 399-403 of Research design explained.)

Sign test :  the sign test is a very simple statistical test. Assume you have two basic outcomes: (1) a certain group (e.g., the music group) scores higher than the other  group: “success” or (2) that group does not score higher than the other group: “failure.” If the manipulation has no effect, you would expect that about half the time, your group would score higher than the other group (“success”), and about half the time, it would not (“failure”). If you don’t get 50% “successes” and 50% “failures,” what should you conclude? You need to be careful because even when flipping a coin you will not always get 50% heads and 50% tails. To answer this question,  you can use the sign test. If the sign test tells you that it is unlikely that you would get such results if the groups were equivalent  (p < .05) , then you would conclude that the groups probably are really different. Note that the sign test does not tell you whether the difference is big or small; it just tells you that there is a difference. You can repeat the authors’ sign tests by going to http://www.graphpad.com/quickcalcs/binomial1.cfm

then

(a) Entering 10 for successes and 12 for trials for first sign text (bottom of 3^rd paragraph), and then

(b) Enter ing 5 for successes and 5 for trials for second sign test (fourth paragraph).

4^th paragraph

K-TEA: Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement. For more information, you can explore the following links.

 http://www.agsnet.com/Group.asp?nGroupInfoID=a32000

  http://www.cps.nova.edu/~cpphelp/KTEA.html

5^th paragraph

BASC: Behavioral Assessment System for Children; parents rated

For more about the scale, look at the following site.

      http://www.agsnet.com/text/trs_prs.asp

Discussion

2^nd paragraph

Confer: provide, offer, give

 Recruiting or attrition rates: getting people to agree to be in the study (recruiting) or stay in the study (attrition). Note that attrition is also called mortality. Note further that if many children dropped out of the science lessons but no children dropped out of the music lessons, it would be difficult to compare the science and music groups.

3^rd paragraph

decode prosodic cues: interpret the meaning of changes in intonation; know what it means when a speaker changes the loudness, the pitch, or the rate of speech

paralinguistic: relating to tone of voice and other nonverbal vocal cues