Are Mathematical and Musical Abilities Related Beyond Intelligence?

Michaela A Meier, Lara Spitzley, Serra Ulusoy, Alexandra Hubmann, Rylie DelaCruz, Roland H Grabner, Daniel Müllensiefen

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Article in Journal of Intelligence, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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7 authors.

Michaela A MeierDepartment of Psychology, University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria.ORCID 0000-0002-4183-0612

Lara SpitzleyDepartment of Psychology, University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria.

Serra UlusoyDepartment of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London SE14 6NW, UK.

Alexandra HubmannDepartment of Psychology, University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria.

Rylie DelaCruzDepartment of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London SE14 6NW, UK.

Roland H GrabnerDepartment of Psychology, University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria.ORCID 0000-0003-0385-8910

Daniel MüllensiefenDepartment of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London SE14 6NW, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7297-1760

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Numerous studies have aimed to improve mathematical achievement via musical interventions because it is argued that music and mathematics draw on related representations and similar skills. However, findings on their effectiveness are inconclusive. This might be because studies neglect to investigate the cognitive mechanisms that might link musical and mathematical abilities. Therefore, this study aimed to systematically investigate the relationships between facets of musical and mathematical ability while taking into account intelligence as a possible explanation for this link. Among 170 young adults with backgrounds in mathematics and/or music, as well as control subjects, we measured mathematical abilities using basic numerical abilities, arithmetic fluency, and higher mathematical competencies. Musical abilities were assessed using beat alignment, mistuning perception, and melodic discrimination. Intelligence was assessed using a verbal, figural, and numerical scale of an intelligence test. Using a latent variable model, we found a moderate to strong positive association between mathematical and musical abilities. However, after including intelligence as a predictor for both mathematical and musical abilities in our model, the relationship between mathematics and music became nonsignificant. These results imply that intelligence accounts for a substantial proportion of the association between mathematical and musical abilities.

Indexed as

expertiseindividual differencesintelligencemathematicsmusic

Identifiers

PMID41892881

DOI10.3390/jintelligence14030039

PMCPMC13027933

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