If you go to any of the many libraries on the Penn State campus, all that can be seen are countless students with headphones in, hard at work. To be fair that may be an exaggeration, but the majority of students are always plugged in while doing their work. As someone who loves to have music on while doing certain types of homework, this seems natural to me. However after a few minutes I began to wonder if listening to music actually helps you get work done.
The answer is that it depends. There have been many studies that point to something called the “Mozart Effect”. In short the Mozart effect says that by listening to Mozart before doing work, the music seems to improve the ability to focus and remember. Then in 1997 a group of researchers wondered if music could help in the long term. Their study, which focused on children aged 3-4, forced a group of kids to go through 6 months of piano lessons. At the end of the study the kids were given a test and they performed “30% better than that of children of similar age given either computer lessons for 6 months or no special training.”
Now let us flash forward almost 20 years, and it would seem safe to say that very few students are listening to Mozart of Bach while they study. According to Dr. Emma Gray who practices at the British CBT and Counselling Service in London, “listening to songs by Miley Cyrus or Justin Timberlake — or other pop songs with 50 to 80 beats per minute — allows the brain to learn and remember new facts more easily.” However the fast beat may not be the only thing that makes studying easier. A group of researchers did a study in 2014 and found that listening to music that you actually like, versus typical study music like Mozart or Bach, is crucial. They found that when you listen to music of your choosing, “alters the connectivity between auditory brain areas and the hippocampus, a region responsible for memory and social emotion consolidation.”
It seems that at the end of the day those who listen to music have an easier time to memorizing and remembering crucial information, than those who don’t. But as I previously stated before, the answer to this question is not black and white. There is too much that depends on personal preference, and study habits to prove this 100 percent. Personally, I have found that while doing something creative such as writing or working on a presentation, music is crucial. But when I do something analytical such as math or science, white noise is the way to go for me.
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I find it interesting that both the group who listened to both mozart and miley both raised their performance. From personal experiences, I find that it depends on the type of music that I listen to and if there are words or not. Personally, I cannot focus to songs that have lyrics but I have a friend who can only listen to pop, current lyric songs. It is a very interesting topic considering the fact that every person has a different learning style in which they succeed best at. In my psychology class, we learned about this and my teacher noted that research has proven that if you listen to songs with no lyrics you have a better chance for success. It is definitely subjective though in my opinion. Really well written- nice job!
I think it depends on whether music can help one concentrate. For example it has been known that classical music helps one to concentrate which at some point it does I mean compared to other types of music such as rap and hip-hop. Overall, though I don’t think music does help in studying humans were not made to multi task even though sometimes it may be necessary. In order to get the best results we must focus just one thing at a time.
I feel as though I would not be able to listen to classical music and study because I have absolutely no interest in that genre. I tend to see myself always listening to music while doing work and haven’t had many problems. I think it is based on the type of person you are and the best way you work. Your blog post was very interesting to see that those who do have a better time memorizing information and your statement about it not being a black and white subject is very true.
This is totally personal preference. Sometimes I find myself listening to music while other times I can’t stand noise while I am studying. I usually prefer music while I am trying to memorize massive amounts of notes, but while my brain is at working trying to problem solve I prefer complete silence. I think this topic is relevant because as you said it seems like everyone has their headphones on in the library. The only thing I do not support is the fact that classical music will help a child learn better. I think it comes down to preference again because some people hate that type of music, so it wouldn’t benefit them. Overall good topic, made me rethink my study habits.
I agree with your personal music preferences. While studying or doing homework i find it hard to focus when i listen to music that i normally listen to, such as rap, alternative, or electronic etc… But when i listen to music that is classical and has little to no lyrics i find myself focusing a lot more and being more productive. I normally listen to “Classical for Studying” radio on Pandora and it’s really helpful, check it out!
This is a very interesting topic. People have always said listening to classical music is beneficial when studying, but I have never believed this. I know the human brain has many capabilities but how is it possibly possible for it to listen to music while also learning to its greatest ability? Your research is very helpful, I have now learned that those who do listen to music have an easier time memorizing things over those who do not. However, this could all just depend on the person actually studying.