The Associations Between Music Training, Musical Working Memory, and Visuospatial Working Memory

Prior research studying the relationship between music training (MT) and more general cognitive faculties, such as visuospatial working memory (VSWM), often fails to include tests of musical memory. This may result in causal pathways MT other variables being misrepresented, potentially explaining certain ambiguous findings literature concerning executive functions. Here we address this problem using latent variable modeling study a triplet related memory: MT, (MWM), VSWM. The framing allows for potential application d-separation (similar mediation analysis) V-structure search, which is particularly useful since, absence expensive randomized control trials, it can test hypotheses cross-sectional data. We collected data from 148 participants battery MWM VSWM tasks well questionnaire. Our results suggest: 1) are unrelated, conditional on MWM; 2) by implication, there no far transfer without near transfer. However, unable distinguish an unambiguous structure. conclude discussing possibility extending these models incorporate complex or cyclic effects.