Cognitive and academic benefits of music training with children: A multilevel meta-analysis
We checked this card's citation and the finding we state against the source's own page or record in October 2026.
What it found
Once study quality was taken into account, music training programs had no effect on children's general cognitive skills or their literacy and math achievement, consistently across studies. Small effects appeared only in studies without random assignment and without an active comparison group.
What kind of study it is
- Design
- Meta-analysis
- Weight
- A synthesis: it pools or weighs many studies, so it carries the most weight on the evidence meter.
- Sample
- 54 studies, 254 effect sizes, 6,984 children
- Who
- School-age children (K–12)
- Limits
- About transfer to other skills; it says nothing against learning music for its own sake.
Read it
doi.org/10.3758/s13421-020-01060-2
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Cited in the Library
Cite this study
Sala, G., & Gobet, F. (2020). Cognitive and academic benefits of music training with children: A multilevel meta-analysis. Memory & Cognition, 48(8), 1429–1441. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-020-01060-2
Checked against the source in October 2026. All studies · How we rate the evidence · Something wrong? Tell us.