The Influence of Music Reading on Spatial Working Memory and Self-Assessment Accuracy

Abstract

Background/objectives: Previous research has suggested that Western musicians, who generally demonstrate proficiency in reading musical scores, exhibit superior performance in visuospatial working memory tasks compared to non-musicians. Evidence indicates brain activation in regions such as the left inferior parietal lobe and the right posterior fusiform gyrus during music reading, which are associated with visuospatial processing. This study aimed to explore how musical training influences spatial working memory and to examine the relationship between self-assessment accuracy and cognitive performance.

Methods: A visuospatial working memory test, the Corsi block-tapping test (CBT), was administered to 70 participants, including 35 musicians with experience in music reading and 35 non-musicians. CBT performances were compared between groups, controlling for sex and age differences using analysis of covariance. Participants were also asked to self-assess their visuospatial capabilities.

Results: Musicians performed significantly better than non-musicians in the CBT and demonstrated greater metacognitive accuracy in evaluating their visuospatial memory capacities. A total of 46.34% of musicians who claimed good performance on the CBT did in fact perform well, in comparison with 14.63% of non-musicians. Sex influenced the outcomes of spatial working memory, while age did not significantly affect performance.

Conclusions: This self-awareness of visuospatial capabilities reflects a form of metacompetence, encompassing reflective thinking and the ability to assess one's cognitive skills. Furthermore, while differences in spatial working memory between musicians and non-musicians appear to be related to executive functions associated with general music practice, further investigation is needed to explore other potential influences beyond musical experience.

Keywords: Corsi block-tapping test; computer-based neuropsychological testing; metacognititon; metacompetences; music reading; spatial working memory; visuospatial capabilities.

Figure A1

Corsi block-tapping test’s experimental display. The coordinates (in cm) are measured from the center of each figure.

Figure 1

Example of a 3-block sequence in the CBT. The blocks light up in red in the order (1), (2), (3), as shown in panels (a–c). The task is considered correctly completed if the participant clicks on the blocks in the same order. However, if the participant does not recall the full sequence but clicks at least one block in the correct position within the sequence, such as (2), (1), (3) (e.g., panels b,c,a), the response would be considered partially correct, with the third block correctly identified. To advance to the next level, which involves a 4-block sequence, the participant must correctly complete the full sequence in at least one of three attempts.

Figure 2

Self-evaluation of metacompetences in musicians and non-musicians. Bars represent the self-assessment of participants: left—claimed to have good visuospatial capabilities and obtained good performance on the CBT (musicians 46.34% and non-musicians 14.63%); right—claimed to have good visuospatial capabilities and obtained poor performances on the CBT (musicians 9.76% and non-musicians 29.27%).

Figure 3

Results on the Corsi block-tapping test as a function of years of music reading practice: 54.84% of participants scored under 7 points (M = 6.44, SD = 0.34); 32.26% scored between 7 and 8 points (M = 7.48, SD = 0.10); and 12.9% scored over 8 points (M = 8.36, SD = 0.06). The black circles represent individual observations from different participants in the visuospatial task.