Classical Background Music as an Effective Studying Technique It is that time of year again.

Exams are plaguing various universities; kids are powerless to stop its attempt at swallowing them whole, due to the amount of studying that must occur. All of the cubbies in the library are taken; little is left for the solemn student, who just simply wants to do well, and there is no solace or quiet place to study. They sit down at their desk, pick up their various textbooks and start cracking away at the reading. Frustrated, the ambiguous background noise of annoying college students talking in an acoustically active area is overwhelming. Even slight snippets of the conversation are distracting enough; the student slams the textbook down in frustration, ready to raise the white flag of defeat. This seems to be an all-too-common problem, especially in places of higher education. Sure, one can Google ideas on how to study productively, but many are just hearsay, and dont quite exactly work for everyone involved. What I am about to provide to you today is no secret, rather, a method that has been used time and time again, but never truly looked into as a method of exceptional focus-creation. The simple answer is Classical music. It is beautiful, calms the soul, takes you on a journey, and can heavily increase the amount of focus when it comes to studying for exams. The aim of this article is to share with you why this works, provide supportive evidence, and help spread the word about this essential technique. When the term Mozart Effect is mentioned, many folks, even those who are not musically inclined, have a rough idea of what it is about: a study conducted with various groups of children, showing proof that temporary increase in performance on spatial relations tasks were experienced following listening to Mozart. In specific regard to high school students, Martin H. Jones and David B. Estell state that, [the] results have been mixed, and no work to date has attempted to examine this phenomenon in high school students. The present study sought to address these gaps in the extant literature by examining the neurological and arousal hypotheses in this previously unstudied population of adolescents. Toward this end, 86 high school students were randomly assigned to Mozart or control (silence) conditions, and then assessed on arousal levels and spatial reasoning. Results indicated that those in the Mozart condition had higher spatial reasoning scores, but were not systematically more or less aroused. Decreased arousal, regardless of listening conditioning, was related to lower spatial reasoning. While arousal and listening condition were not related to each other, inclusion of both in a single model negated these direct effects. Implications for future work on these phenomena are discussed (Jones and Estell 2007, 219). A popular topic for obvious reasons, the idea is not to force this particular study method upon the reader, but rather to inform them of another means of an effective alternative study method. Scholars have hypothesized that musical stimuli is actually transmitted directly to the human cerebral cortex, and elevation of mood and emotion are recorded via brain mapping imaging when music is playing in the background. Along with that hypothesis, additional studies have shown that secretions of beta-endorphins increased while listening to music, resulting in an uplifted mood, as well as diminished

anxiety and pain levels. Further more, and what has led me to believe that Western-style classical music is beneficial in test performance of high school adolescents, is the discovery that classical music positively enhances a section of the alpha-brain wave, causing the individual that was once anxiety-ridden and nervous, to become calm and relaxed (Shih, Y., R. Huang, and H. Chiang 2009, 329-333). In direct contrast to classical music, the current generation of 12-18 year olds seems to be affixed to pop music. Rarely will one see one of these adolescents walking down the street without earphones in their ears, plugged into a music player of some sort. It should not come as a surprise then, that pop music actually has a negative effect on performance of students when used as background noise during studying. Illustrated in the figure below, the results from Adrian Furnham and Anna Bradleys independent study on adolescent introvert and extrovert students indicate that although the level of immediate recall is no different between the introverts and the extraverts, performance is marginally lowered in the presence of [pop] music, though it should be pointed out that only one of the three analyses produced a significant effect the recall of the pictures after 6 minutes was worse for the introverts who observed them with the music on (Furnham and Bradley 1997, 445-455).

Source: Data Adapted from Adrian Furnham and Anna Bradley, Music While You Work: The Differential Distraction of Background Music on the Cognitive Test Performance of Introverts and Extraverts Applied Cognitive Psychology 11, no. 5 (October): 445-455. The difference between the effects classical music has against popular music is quite apparent, and more importantly, demonstrates the increased focus it can create. Especially in our modern society, where music is readily available through the form of portable MP3 players, the understanding of musics cognitive processing has become increasingly important. However, much of the research conducted on this topic has proven to be inconclusive, due to the many different ways that each individual processes music. Some students may find that rock music helps put their overactive minds at ease, where the latter would need to rely on melodically predictable lines to encourage their brain to produce the serotonin needed to relax. Though, conclusive research has shown that it is difficult for the brain to relax when background music that associates with a

particular traumatic event or memory, or when familiar music is heard; this is a common issue that arises with musicians that are involved in private study on their respective instrument(s). In Kotsopoulous study, she informs us the YerkesDodson law states that the arousal level of the individual increases performance up to an optimal level beyond which over-arousal leads to a deterioration in performance. The law also states that the deterioration occurs more quickly when the task to be performed is complex or under-learned. A simple task will require a higher level of arousal for concentration to be maintained. Stimulating music is expected to increase arousal and improve performance on simple tasks but if the task is complex the level of arousal may become too great and performance may deteriorate(Kotsopoulou, 432). It is common knowledge if you take a look around coffee shops, or even places of home for these students that much of the studying done at home is accompanied by music or background TV noise. Throughout much of the research I combed through, many of the conclusive results exhibited that classical music played while studying was most strongly reported to relax, alleviate boredom and help concentration. According to Kotsopoulou, Mowsesian and Heyer (1973) studied the effects of music on test taking in 15-year-olds using a control, and groups listening to rock, folk, symphonic music and opera. They were tested on mathematics, language and spelling and also completed a self-concept of ability scale. The music had no significant effect on performance. In contrast, Hallam, Price, and Katsarou (2002) found that 1011-year- olds, performance on memory and mathematics tasks was enhanced by calming music playing in the background (Kotsopoulou, 432). In my own personal observation, 9 out of 10 students in a library setting have headphones on when they are working on light assignments, such as summary analyses, question and answer responses, and occasional exams. 7 out of these 10 students were playing some form of classical music, and when asked why they chose that particular genre to listen to, they stated that it just removed the distractions and made the focus feel sharper. Only four of these students were music majors, and of those that were music majors, they did state that they are not able to listen to a piece they have studied before, such as a solo with instrumental accompaniment, but rather that they are able to listen to many well-known symphonies and other classical works studies in various music history courses. Through the information and evidentiary support provided in this article, one can concur that music is often associated with satisfying the emotional needs of the respective audience members, therefore it makes sense that when students are stuck in the limbo of a studying crisis, music can be used to soothe the soul and set their mind at ease, making it easier to focus on the academic work that lies ahead. If such an answer to a plaguing question were so simple, why would anyone not want to try out this technique? The choice is up to you whether or not to try this method of studying, but I encourage you all to do so. If the outcome surprises you, and your academics become increasingly productive, do not thank me; rather, thank your ears and your brain. I know they will be thanking you, too.

References
Furnha, Adrian, and Anna Bradley. Music While You Work: The Differential Distraction of Background Music on the Cognitive Test Performance of Introverts and Extraverts Applied Cognitive Psychology 11, no. 5 (October): 445-455. Hallam, S., J. Price, and G. Katsarou. 2002. The effects of background music on primary school pupils task performance. Educational Studies 28, no. 2: 11122. Jones, Martin H., and David B. Estell. "Exploring the Mozart effect among high school students." Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts 1, no. 4 (November 2007): 219-224. Kotsopoulou, Anastasia, and Susan Hallam. 2010. "The Perceived Impact of Playing Music while Studying: Age and Cultural Differences." Educational Studies 36, no. 4: 431-440. Mowsesian, R., and M.R. Heyer. 1973. The effect of music as a distraction on test-taking performance. Measurement and Evaluation in Guidance 6, no. 2: 10410. Shih, Y, R Huang, and H Chiang. 2009. "Correlation between work concentration level and background music: a pilot study." Work 33, no. 3: 329-333.