Can music exposure enhance computational thinking? Insights from the findings on the music-creativity relations

This study aimed to uncover the underlying mental processes that might facilitate creative thinking after listening to a 10-min music excerpt. A qualitative component was incorporated in a quantitative study regarding the effect of music listening on creative thinking. Among 192 participants, a total of 24 college students were interviewed immediately after they listened to the 10-min music excerpts and completed some creativity tasks. The results suggested a possible facilitative role of music listening on creative thinking through optimizing individuals’ arousal level, and strengthening individuals’ associative abilities, holistic perception and abstraction. As these mental processes are also important attributes of computational thinking (CT), the findings may shed light on the favourable impact of music listening on CT. Copyright © 2017 The Hong Kong Jockey Club.