Researchers looking at group education sessions for 8 to 11 year old children have shown that engaging in regular music-based activities with others – from ensembles to simple rhythmic exercises – can conspicuously advance empathy development, increasing a child’s capacity to recognise and consider the emotions of others.
A total of 52 children – boys and girls – were split into three groups at random. One of these groups met on a weekly basis to interact through musical games devised by the researchers, while the other two acted as control groups – one met with the same regularity but activities focused on words and drama but not music, the other received no additional activities.
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Image: Festival of Ideas: Musical mayhem Credit: University of Cambridge
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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