Every time I sit down to do some work, I absolutely must put on some music in my headphones in order to zone in on the task at hand. While my music choice for studying is probably different from most of my peers– Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus– I still have the same need to listen that they do. Because I so often use this study technique, I came to wondering if it was actually good for me or not.
Luckily for me, I am not the only one who is interested in this topic, but also hoards of scientists. Because this technique is so often used, scientists are very interested to see whether or not it is effective. So, they designed an experiment where researchers placed people into five different categories and had them take a memory test. This test was designed as a simple random experiment, with all the students participating in the experiment hating metal. The first group took the test in complete silence. The second with one single word repeated over and over again through the test, called a “steady state” of speech. The third was a “changing state” of speech, which was very much akin to someone having a conversation while you tried to take the test. The fourth group listened to the music of their choice, which included Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and other pop stars. The fifth group was forced to listen to a metal song. Researchers hypothesized that the group that was subjected to the changing state of speech would do the worst, since it is quite hard to focus your memory with a fully fledged conversation going on right next to you.
The results, however, showed very little difference between the three last groups. With a changing state of speech, music of their choice, or music against their will, students did much worse than those either in the quiet environment or those subjected to the steady state of speech.
Several other studies have been done showing this, but all the groups that have poor results have one thing in common, they listen to music with lyrics. The jazz that I listen to has no lyrics, and therefor falls under the category of the “Mozart Effect”. This is where listening to lyric-less music can actually help bring about success due to the positive emotions it brings without the negative distraction that lyrics bring.
After looking at several studies, I can determine that while it is a poor choice to listen to pop music while you study, any music without lyrics seems to have a positive impact on study habits. It is an especially good idea when there is a lot of conversation or other auxiliary noise surrounding you, and you need to focus. This supports my choice of music, and hopefully it helps you to create better study habits!
Your post is really interesting! It reflects my personal experience. Actually, I preferred to complete silence when I was studying. But sometimes I found that listen to some music without lyrics can actually help me focus more on studying. And when I listened to some pop music, it is really hard for me to concentrate. It’s good to see your post so that I know how I can study better now. By the way, I’ve found a post . It’s interesting and it said that music can help people focus but only if he or she like the music. You probably want to read it!
I was intersted in this post as I am a firm believer in studying with playing. Almost every time I am doing homework, there is music playing in the background. I also agree that pop music is not ideal and that music without lyrics helps as well. When I listen to music with lyrics, I find that I become distracted by the words and not focused on competing my work. Also when I am typing an essay, it can be hard to type words while hearing other words. When I study I usually listen to some type of dance or techno without lyrics, I find that the fast paced beats help me work faster.
I found this blog post very interesting because I love to listen to music while I study. I think it is interesting that songs with lyrics actually have a negative effect on the way that you study. I can certainly see how lyric-less music would have a better effect on studying habits. It looks like I have to go make a new study playlist that has no lyrics.
I found this blog post very interesting because I love to listen to music while I study. I think it is interesting that songs with lyrics actually have a negative effect on the way that you study. I can certainly see how lyric-less music would have a better effect on studying habits. It looks like I have to go make a new study playlist that has no lyrics.
I found this blog post very interesting because I love to listen to music while I study. I think it is interesting that songs with lyrics actually have a negative effect on the way that you study. I can certainly see how lyric-less music would have a better effect on studying habits. It looks like I have to go make a new study playlist that has no lyrics.
I found this blog post very interesting because I love to listen to music while I study. I think it is interesting that songs with lyrics actually have a negative effect on the way that you study. I can certainly see how lyric-less music would have a better effect on studying habits. It looks like I have to go make a new study playlist that has no lyrics.
I found this blog post very interesting because I love to listen to music while I study. I think it is interesting that songs with lyrics actually have a negative effect on the way that you study. I can certainly see how lyric-less music would have a better effect on studying habits. It looks like I have to go make a new study playlist that has no lyrics.
Thats very intersting how music such as pop impact on studing. When ever I listen to pop music while studying I tend to listen to just the beat, instead of the lyrics. It helps me, plus it makes me wish I could create a beat. I suggest listening to this group called pretty lights! The beats in all of their songs are amazing
As I am responding to this blog post, I am actually sitting in the library listening to music, while everyone around me also has headphones in. It is interesting to think that sometimes, things that seem really helpful (such as blaring loud music while I study) is actually really detrimental to the task at hand. From now on, I am going to start listening to classical music while I study or no music at all.
I did do a similar study with this in my blog discussing this in a little bit of detail but i also tied the concept to learning while sleeping and how playing a certain sound while studying then playing the same sound while sleeping you actually study as you sleep if you are interested in this click here .