By now, it’s pretty commonly accepted that music treats anxiety and depression, and can increase cognitive abilities. However, it wasn’t until recently that a study looked at how we listen to music. Does listening to music before a task have the same results as listening to music during a task? Does it matter what kind of music is listened to? (Music that is liked or disliked, for instance.)
This particular study from Applied Cognitive Psychology done at the University of Wales Institute caught my eye, because I can listen to music while doing tasks like gardening or doing laundry, but music becomes totally irritating to me while I am doing taxes, writing, or reading. And it doesn’t matter if it is Allison Krauss or Dvorak.
I’m continually nagging my 11 year old to pull his earbuds out while he’s doing his homework. He swears he can listen and work at the same time. We are so not in agreement, but it wasn’t until this study I had some potential evidence on my side.
Keep in mind that in this study, the participants had to perform a serial recall (recall a list of 8 consonants in presentation order). They did this task with different sound environments. (Including music both liked and disliked.) The most accurate recall occurred when there was no music.
Lead researcher Nick Perham explains it this way: “The poorer performance of the music and changing-state sounds are due to the acoustical variation within those environments. This impairs the ability to recall the order of items, via rehearsal, within the presented list. Mental arithmetic also requires the ability to retain order information in the short-term via rehearsal, and may be similarly affected by their performance in the presence of changing-state, background environments.”
So, if you need to memorize and recall information (like when I’m working with numbers or technical writing), listen to music before you begin. It will put you in a better frame of mind to perform the task. But turn off the music when you start.
-posted by Miss Analiisa, who now knows the reason that she keeps putting the TV on pause when she gets to a particularly difficult “think through” moment while writing this blog.
QUICK LINKS
