builds on decades of research confirming that music and visual arts help participants develop skills and practice ways of thinking that encourage learning not only in the arts, but also in academic areas, including mathematics, reading, and writing. Our program is constantly evolving, thanks to consistent – and welcome – input from teachers, parents, program leaders, and others who use it on a daily basis.

The following articles provide background into how and why works.

By Martin F. Gardiner, PhD

• What is the thinking behind Arts for Critical Thinking^® (ACT)?

• Gardiner, M. F. (2000). Music, learning, and behavior: A case for mental stretching. Journal for Learning Through Music 1: 72-93, New England Conservatory of Music.

• Gardiner, M. F., Fox, A., Knowles, F., & Jeffrey, D. (1996). Learning improved by arts training. Nature 381: 284.

• Gardiner, M. F. (2003). Music. In: Encyclopedia of human ecology, ed. R. M. Lerner, L.B. Schaimberg, P. M. Anderson, & J. Miller, Vol. II: 509-514. ABC-CLIO.

• Gardiner, M. F. (2008a). Skill learning, brain engagement, context and the arts. In: Simultaneity: temporal structures and observer perspectives, ed: S. Vrobel, O. E. Rössler & T. Marks-Tarlow, 195-214. Springer.

• Gardiner, M. F. (2008b). Academic progress in students receiving musical skill training. Presented at 2008 National Conference of the School Board Association, Orlando, Florida.

• Gardiner, M.F. (2008c). Responses to music: Emotional signaling and learning. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 31 (5): 580-581.

• Gardiner, M.F. (2008d). Music training, engagement with sequence, and the development of the natural number concept in young learners. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 31 (6): 652-653.

Other articles of interest

• Asbury, C. & Rich, B. (Eds) (2008). Learning, Arts and the Brain: The Dana Consortium Report. The Dana Foundation.

• Chase, W., G. & Simon, H., A. (1973). Perception in chess. Cognitive Psychology, 4: 55-81.

• DeGroot, A.D. (1965). Thought and choice in chess, Moulton.

• Dewey, J. (1934, reprint 1980). Art as experience. Perigee Books.

• Dewey, J, (1910, reprint 1991). How we think. Prometheus Books.

• Forgeard, M., Winner, E., Norton, A, Schlaug, G. (2008). Practicing a Musical Instrument in Childhood is Associated with Enhanced Verbal Ability and Nonverbal Reasoning. PLoS ONE, 3 (10): 1-8.

• Gaab, N., Tallal, P., Kim, H., Lakshnariyann, K., Glover, G. H. & Gabrielli, J. D. E. (2005). Rapid spectrotemporal processing in musicians and nonmusicians. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci, 1060: 82 – 88.

• Hyde, K., Lerch, J., Norton, A., Forgeard, M., Winner, E., Evans, A., Schlaug, G. (2009). Musical Training Shapes Structural Brain Development. Journal of Neuroscience, 29: 3019-3025.

• Juslin, P.N. & Vastfjall, D. (2008) Emotional responses to music: The need to consider underlying mechanisms. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 31(5): 559 – 621.

• Rauscher, F. H., Shaw, G. L., Levine, L. J., Wright, E. I., Dennis, W. R.. & Newcomb, R. L. (1977) Music training causes long-term enhancement of preschool children’s spatial-temporal reasoning abilities. Neurological Research 19: 1 – 8.

• Rips, L.J., Bloomfield, A., & Asmuth, J. (2008). From numerical concepts to concepts of numbers. Brain and Behavioral Sciences, 31 (6): 623 – 687.

• Robinson, K. (2001). Out of our minds. Capstone.

• P. Tallal and N. Gaab, (2006) Dynamic auditory processing, musical experience and language development. Trends in Neurosciences, 29 (7): 382 – 390.