The effects of music on cognitive performance
By Jessica Berget, Staff Writer
If you listen to as much music as I do, chances are you have probably tried to convince yourself that studying while listening to music would help you. While it has been shown that listening to music before performing a task can be beneficial in many areas, does playing music while studying actually help your grades? The fact is that, depending on the speed, tempo, genre, and volume of the music, it could either hinder or benefit your performance.
Music has been shown to significantly impact mood, making you feel more relaxed, which is the best mood to study in. Studies have shown that listening to music before performing a task improves attention, memory, and the ability to do mental math. It can even lessen symptoms of anxiety and depression. However, listening to music while you are studying is an entirely different story. Studying while listening to any stimulative music has been shown to have negative effects on the effectiveness of studying, especially when it comes to memorizing things in order. Music with lyrics is especially difficult in this sense, as your cognitive abilities are thrown off when trying to read or memorize things in a certain order, because your brain is too busy focusing on the various words and notes in the music.
This doesnât mean all music is bad for studying. On the contrary, instrumental or âsedativeâ music is known for being beneficiary to cognitive performance. Research from the University of Dayton found that students performed better at spatial or linguistic tasks if Mozart was playing in the background. Lyrical or stimulative music is a strong distraction and impedes cognitive processing more than sedative music, so next time you feel like listening to BeyoncĂ© while you study, try putting on some Chopin or soft jazz instead.
Many people have a preferred genre of music to listen to as they work, without realizing the harmful effects it could have on their studying abilities. Unfortunately, listening to music you like while studying can actually obstruct your cognitive performance. In the 1977 study Effects of Stimulative and Sedative Music on Cognitive and Emotional Components of Anxiety by Carol A. Smith and Larry W. Morris, students were asked to study while listening to their preferred genre of music, but ended up performing at their worst in these cases. Furthermore, these students performed their best in a no music environment. This is due to the fact that cognitive resources are less available when your mind is occupied on a songâs lyrics, rhythm, the memories it invokes, or when youâre trying not to scream the lyrics to your favourite My Chemical Romance song.
Music may help in some aspects of cognitive performance, but when it comes to the question of whether or not it helps you study, the answer is… it depends. The effects of music on studying habits will vary from person to person depending on the genre, how loud it is, the speed, tempo, or whether or not you even enjoy the music. Personally, when I want some background music, instrumental jazz and classical help me to focus. Everyone has different studying habits and preferences; you just need to figure out what works best for you.
