Music while studying good for more sociable students

If you're like me and many of my Hopkins friends, your daily study routine probably involves getting your desk space all ready to go, your computer open, and a good iTunes playlist to help you through the next few hours of math, chemistry, English or whatever other subject you may be taking.

But is that such a good idea?

Researchers from the University College London released a study in 1997 that we college students should take a closer look at today. Although the paper did not receive much attention at the time of publication, its value is perhaps magnified in today's world where access to music has become incredibly easy.

Ipods, playlists and online radio stations have given students at work access to music well as the ability to customize music to personal tastes via a large variety of songs. As a result, the use of music in the work space raises an interesting topic of discussion.

In the study, researchers began with 88 undergraduate students, and from those selected 20 individuals for the research after tests ensured equal intelligence levels. Of the 20, there were 10 introverts and 10 extraoverts according to the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The participants were then given a series of images to memorize, first in silence and then with pop music playing.

Afterwards, the participants had to name the objects they were shown, first immediately after memorizing and then six minutes after memorizing. During the six minute interval the students were given a simple math quiz as a means of diverting their attention.

The results showed that immediate recall was similar for both the introverts and extroverts without music. However, when music was played the introverts had lower scores on the recall while extroverts actually increased their scores with music. The relationship held true for the recall test after a six minute delay. With music, the score was lower for introverts yet higher for extroverts.

Based on the data, it seems an obvious conclusion is that music can help extroverts during studying while it most likely hurts introverts. However, the data should be looked at a little deeper to get a full understanding of what it says.

It must be noted that in a pre-test questionnaire, the introverts showed they did not listen to music most often during studying while the extroverts were more likely to have music playing. As a result, it is possible that the difference in test scores was simply based on familiarity with music for the extroverts.

Furthermore, the researchers acknowledged that their results were very specific and narrow.

A change in type of music, type of test, and type of individuals could potentially yield new results, so a more comprehensive study would need to be performed in order to more fully understand how music effects the brain while studying.

So while some may be looking for a definitive answer of whether music should or should not be played while studying, perhaps there really is no straight solution. It seems that more than anything, personal preference is the major factor in whether music can help or hinder study sessions.

While the study aimed to find a sure relationship between music and its impact on studying habits, the researchers recognized that the study still offered a rather ambiguous answer.

Music can help many people study, while for others it can be a major distraction.