Music plays an important role in people’s daily life. Previous studies suggest that music positively affects people’s cognitive performance especially working memory. Many college students read, do homework or prepare for exams while listening to music. Background music is an important environmental factor in our learning context that may have impact on our attention span and later recall of information. However, whether background music serves as a distractor or enhancer on memory remain an open question. Some studies suggest that long-term music training positively related to improvements in working memory. For example, George and Coch conducted a study using event-related potentials (ERPs) and a standardized test of working memory
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Furnham and Bradley (1997) conducted a memory test with immediate and delayed recall and a reading comprehension test for two groups of students. The tests were completed while listening to pop music or in silence. They found that when pop music was played, there was a negative effect on immediate recall on the memory test. Their findings demonstrate that background pop music is a distraction and reduces cognitive ability. However, other studies suggest that the type of music is an important factor. For example, Salamé and Baddeley (1989) found that instrumental music did not affect cognitive ability. Participants were presented of a sequence of nine digits under silent, vocal music and instrumental music. Then they were asked to perform an immediate serial recall of the nine digits. They presented a sequence of nine digits to participants with two seconds warning time and asked them to immediately recall the sequences of nine digits in thirteen seconds. They discovered that vocal music had significantly more detrimental effects on the performance compared to instrumental music. However, the performance under instrumental music was not significantly worse than silent control condition. Thus, vocal music was the most detrimental to task performance, whereas the instrumental or classical music was significantly less detrimental or had no effect at
Furnham and Bradley (1997) conducted a memory test with immediate and delayed recall and a reading comprehension test for two groups of students. The tests were completed while listening to pop music or in silence. They found that when pop music was played, there was a negative effect on immediate recall on the memory test. Their findings demonstrate that background pop music is a distraction and reduces cognitive ability. However, other studies suggest that the type of music is an important factor. For example, Salamé and Baddeley (1989) found that instrumental music did not affect cognitive ability. Participants were presented of a sequence of nine digits under silent, vocal music and instrumental music. Then they were asked to perform an immediate serial recall of the nine digits. They presented a sequence of nine digits to participants with two seconds warning time and asked them to immediately recall the sequences of nine digits in thirteen seconds. They discovered that vocal music had significantly more detrimental effects on the performance compared to instrumental music. However, the performance under instrumental music was not significantly worse than silent control condition. Thus, vocal music was the most detrimental to task performance, whereas the instrumental or classical music was significantly less detrimental or had no effect at