THE RELATIONSHIP OF MUSICAL APTITUDE, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE IN MERIT (GIFTED) STUDENTS OF MURFREESBORO CITY SCHOOLS (TENNESSEE)
Abstract
Murfreesboro City School System, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, authorized a study of the relationship of musical aptitude to academic achievement and intelligence. Sixty-two gifted students enrolled in the Merit Program of Murfreesboro City Schools, grades one through six, served as subjects. The question of whether musical aptitude could be predicted in gifted students by academic achievement and intelligence considered together was investigated. Two corollary questions were posed: (1) Which of three variables (reading, mathematics, and intelligence) is the best single predictor of musical aptitude? (2) What is the magnitude of the relationship? All variables in the multiple correlation study were considered operationally in terms of measuring instruments. Musical aptitude was measured by standardized tests: Primary Measures of Music Audiation (Edwin Gordon) was administered to students in grades one, two, and three; and Seashore Measures of Musical Talents (C. E. Seashore) was given to students in grades four, five, and six. Reading and mathematics scores from either Metropolitan Readiness Tests or Stanford Achievement Tests were recorded from students' school files for the measures of academic achievement. Intelligence quotients were recorded from scores on either Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised or Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. The researcher's obtained R's were not found to be significantly different from zero, using the .05 level of significance. None of the beta weights for the predictor variables were large enough to justify the inclusion of that variable as a predictor in the prediction equation. The combination of reading scores, mathematics scores, and intelligence quotients did not appear to have been effective predictors of musical aptitude in Merit students. Intelligence had the strongest relationship to musical aptitude among Merit students in grades one through three; mathematics was next, and reading had the lowest. In grades four through six, the results indicated that mathematics had the strongest relationship with musical aptitude; intelligence was next, and reading was the lowest. There were over twice as many students in the three upper grades as in the three lower grades; therefore, the overall conclusion was that academic achievement served as a better predictor of musical aptitude in Merit students than intelligence. Mathematics was the best single predictor. Musical aptitude, intelligence, and academic achievement appeared to have involved different cognitive traits that required separate tests for measurement. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)
Subject Area
Curricula|Teaching
Recommended Citation
CYNTHIA BELCHER DRENNAN,
"THE RELATIONSHIP OF MUSICAL APTITUDE, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE IN MERIT (GIFTED) STUDENTS OF MURFREESBORO CITY SCHOOLS (TENNESSEE)"
(1984).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI8529568.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI8529568