Exam Season: Can CogSci Help? (Part 2)
Jonathan Firth's Memory & Metacognition Updates #111
Last time, I discussed how cognitive science can be applied to the messiness of real-world independent study. A key point raised is that while students obviously do need to do difficult work, it can be more helpful if they focus on progress. This can mean prioritising work that’s challenging but not too hard. Read the post here!
Today, I’m going to focus on another issue that characterises real-world studying: listening to music, and its effects on cognition.
Music
It’s a common question, but not one that has the fullest research evidence – what effect does listening to music have on learning? There are at least two potential outcomes:
The music may be distracting or otherwise interfere with learning, leading to worse results.
Learners may find music motivating, and study more frequently or for longer, leading to better results.
It certainly is possible for music to interfere with learning. It can grab our attention, and attention is essential for learning tasks. We know that irrelevant speech can interfere with verbal working memory processing, and this could include music lyrics. If so, the music could be seen as adding to cognitive load, and learners might not be aware of the effect.
However, as mentioned last time, the messy nature of everyday studying makes it hard to directly apply such findings. There are so many factors — how distracting is the music, for example? How much does the student struggle with their work, or with motivation? It’s hard to make a call without knowing these things.
There’s also a shortage of work on this issue, perhaps in part because it is difficult to research in an authentic way. One study of university students by Lehmann and Seufert (2017) found little impact of music overall, but they did find that music harmed comprehension among students who scored low on tests of working memory. This supports the idea that it could act as extraneous load, but suggests that the majority of students probably don’t need to worry about it.
On balance, I’d encourage students to go ahead and listen to music if they find that they can concentrate ok and it motivates them to study more. If it was really distracting, they would probably notice. However, because of the possible interference with verbal processing, I’d suggest that if possible they opt for instrumental music rather than music with lyrics.
Next, I’ll discuss a couple of other issues that are relevant to independent studying, but to other educational practices too:
Varied practice
Exercise and cognition
Hope you have a great week,
Jonathan
Last time: Exam Season: Can CogSci Help? (Part 1)
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Jonathan,
There is a third possibility, one which I often use when traveling. I put in my earplugs and put on classical music (I am a 60's and 70's rock and blues lover) so that I don't hear other people talking in the train around me or in the restaurant or lounge where I am waiting.
Paul
Personal experience with music - music with lyrics is usually disturbing for me. But, there is a specific instrumental song that helps me go into a deep focus mode each time.
Considering the value of attention in learning or getting anything done for that matter, and our rapidly reducing attention span, this hack is very valuable to me personally.
Worth understanding that apart from helping cut other distractions, is there anything about the notes or other qualities of this music that makes it work so well!