Several years ago, researchers examined the effect of listening to music from Mozart on psychological test performance. It appeared that those people who had listened to Mozart performed better on tasks of spatial reasoning than did those people who listened to a relaxation tape or had experienced silence. Later research revealed some problems with these findings. Specifically,

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The results of the original study were not consistently replicable, which suggests that the initial findings may not have been reliable.

Answer: B 
 The original study did not include a control group, which makes it impossible to rule out alternative explanations or factors that may have influenced the results.

Answer: C 
 The original study was not a double-blind study, which could have introduced bias or expectancy effects that may have affected the results.

Answer: D 
 The independent variable (listening to Mozart music) was not clearly defined, which makes it difficult to determine how much exposure or what type of music was necessary to generate the reported effects.

Several Years Ago, Researchers Examined the Effect of Listening to Music