Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Does Lyrical Music Affect Cognitive Performance?, Andrew Stone

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

Many students listen to music while studying or doing homework, and many are looking for ways to maximize this time. Students at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO were asked to take two different basic math tests. One was taken with normal, lyrical songs playing in the background. The other was taken with the instrumental versions of these same songs playing in the background. I hypothesized that students would take longer to complete the test with the lyrical music in the background than with the instrumental music playing. The results showed no significant difference in the completion times between those …