Musical sophistication explains a good deal of cognitive performance. A cross-sectional study of musicians and non-musicians

Abstract

Musical sophistication is a psychometric construct that can be measured both in people with musical training and without training. Through backgrounds related to musical activities in their lifetime, and other indicators referring to their current events, the person’s musical sophistication can be estimated with a relatively high level of reliability (Cronbach’s α =.78). In turn, few studies have covered the relationships between variables of this type and cognitive performance, leaving an area of research with little evidence. This study explores the relationship between musical sophistication and cognition, taking a sample of 35 musicians and 35 non-musicians (N=70). The objective was to determine to what extent musical sophistication explains cognitive performance. The Ollen Musical Sophistication Index (Ollen 2006) was used to measure this variable, and a battery of tests enabled the measurement of cognitive performance, which considered verbal and visual-spatial working memory, inhibition, flexibility, a go/no-go test, processing speed, fluid intelligence, and divided attention. Exploratory factor analysis was run, showing two factors for cognition variables. Then regression analyses were run for factors 1 and 2, and both collapsed. The results show that 6 out of 8 cognitive variables correlate positively with musical sophistication, explaining 30% of cognitive performance, after controlling for demographic variables.