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The Impact of Listening to Music on Cognitive Performance (2013)

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Re: The Impact of Listening to Music on Cognitive Performance (2013)

#21

Post by wildrhythms »

brucephillips wrote: post #4
wildrhythms wrote: post #3

tl;dr: "participants performed better in silence than they did in any music conditions" Personally, I cannot listen to music and work... I get too caught up in trying to follow the music. I end up just wearing my noise canceling headphones with no music playing and working in relative silence. That said, I'm interested to know if folks here on HN can relate.

Does all music distract you or just music with lyrics? Do you know music theory? I'm only distracted by lyrics, but maybe I knew more about music, I'd be distracted by instrumentals.

I used to be only distracted by lyrics, but now it's anything. I find myself trying to "conduct" the song with my fingers and focus on the rhythms and chords. I learned music from an early age so maybe you're on to something.

Re: The Impact of Listening to Music on Cognitive Performance (2013)

#22

Post by qwerty456127 »

WalterSear wrote: post #15
qwerty456127 wrote: post #12

The problem with this paper is that it ignores ADHD. It can be very difficult or impossible to maintain concentration for periods of time longer than some minutes (or even seconds) for an ADHD person and certain kinds of music can help mitigate this problem in some cases. BTW amphetamine works alike AFAIK: it induces hyperactivity and harms concentration in healthy people but calms ADHD people down and induces concen…

Amphetamines don't work like music.

But the results are alike at least in some cases.

Re: The Impact of Listening to Music on Cognitive Performance (2013)

#24

Post by barsonme »

manicdee wrote: post #8

As a music listener I will point out the obvious flaw in the study: the “choice” of music was from pop genres. I find music with distinguishable lyrics in a language I understand to be distracting while music with no lyrics, or lyrics indistinguishable from noise (cf Rammstein, Björk, Enya) are far less distracting. I use music to mask open office noise including customer support personnel on phone calls, ops people…

I'm the same way. My doctor said it's likely a symptom of my ADHD. It's funny, because as a kid I couldn't deal with small noises (tapping a pen and such) but I was totally fine listening to music while I worked.

Same now, as an adult, although obviously it's much easier to have self-control and ignore noises as an adult :-)

Re: The Impact of Listening to Music on Cognitive Performance (2013)

#25

Post by vanilla_nut »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #12

The problem with this paper is that it ignores ADHD. It can be very difficult or impossible to maintain concentration for periods of time longer than some minutes (or even seconds) for an ADHD person and certain kinds of music can help mitigate this problem in some cases. BTW amphetamine works alike AFAIK: it induces hyperactivity and harms concentration in healthy people but calms ADHD people down and induces concen…

I've heard that claim about amphetamines before, and I've always doubted it. I know many people who do not seem to have ADHD and who have never been diagnosed who have taken adderall before. They all claim to have used it to study for tests, work on huge projects, etc. with great success.

Besides, if amphetamines worked differently on the healthy/ADHD people, wouldn't you just give someone a small dose of amphetamine if you wanted to "test" them for ADHD? If they act calmer, they must have ADHD, if they get hyperactive, they don't. Right?

Apologies if I"m misunderstanding; I'm just hoping to get to the bottom of a claim that's always bothered me.

Re: The Impact of Listening to Music on Cognitive Performance (2013)

#26

Post by vanilla_nut »

wildrhythms wrote: post #3

tl;dr: "participants performed better in silence than they did in any music conditions" Personally, I cannot listen to music and work... I get too caught up in trying to follow the music. I end up just wearing my noise canceling headphones with no music playing and working in relative silence. That said, I'm interested to know if folks here on HN can relate.

I listen to a lot of classical music/soundtracks at work and that has been pretty good for my concentration. The key seems to be: not pop, no lyrics. Whenever I don't listen to music I tend to get distracted by conversations in my open office or even roped into talking with teammates (to be fair, this isn't a bad thing -- it just happens more with my headphones off).

Re: The Impact of Listening to Music on Cognitive Performance (2013)

#27

Post by qwerty456127 »

tylerhou wrote: post #18
qwerty456127 wrote: post #12

The problem with this paper is that it ignores ADHD. It can be very difficult or impossible to maintain concentration for periods of time longer than some minutes (or even seconds) for an ADHD person and certain kinds of music can help mitigate this problem in some cases. BTW amphetamine works alike AFAIK: it induces hyperactivity and harms concentration in healthy people but calms ADHD people down and induces concen…

> The problem with this paper is that it ignores ADHD. This isn't really a problem with the paper itself, per se. But probably a subset of the population which should be tested. > certain kinds of music can help mitigate this problem in some cases. Is this inferred/anecdotal evidence or rigorously tested? Many of my friends claim that music helps them concentrate, but (as this paper shows) it probably doesn't.

I just tend to loose conscious awareness and feel extreme urge (like the urge to breeze you feel if you stop breezing and wait a minute) to switch to a different task (procrastination usually, that's exactly why I am writing this now :-)) every couple of minutes and focusatwill.com helps a huge lot by putting me in the state of flow. Same story with my GF, she has introduced this app to me in fact.

Re: The Impact of Listening to Music on Cognitive Performance (2013)

#28

Post by dvtv75 »

wildrhythms wrote: post #3

tl;dr: "participants performed better in silence than they did in any music conditions" Personally, I cannot listen to music and work... I get too caught up in trying to follow the music. I end up just wearing my noise canceling headphones with no music playing and working in relative silence. That said, I'm interested to know if folks here on HN can relate.

I can listen to music and work, sometimes I get so focused that I don't even realize there is music, but I usually more effectively in silence. I hate background chitchat beyond a certain level, and when the people talking have to get louder to be heard over the level of noise, it causes me a ridiculous level of frustration.

I have experimented with various volumes and types of music while I'm studying, but overall, silence works for me.

For me, the best option is quite ridiculous: I wear a good set of (class 5) earmuffs. Even traffic just a few yards from me is almost silent. I'm wearing a pair right now, actually.

It's just so peaceful. If I could wear these things to bed, I would.

Re: The Impact of Listening to Music on Cognitive Performance (2013)

#29

Post by qwerty456127 »

vanilla_nut wrote: post #25
qwerty456127 wrote: post #12

The problem with this paper is that it ignores ADHD. It can be very difficult or impossible to maintain concentration for periods of time longer than some minutes (or even seconds) for an ADHD person and certain kinds of music can help mitigate this problem in some cases. BTW amphetamine works alike AFAIK: it induces hyperactivity and harms concentration in healthy people but calms ADHD people down and induces concen…

I've heard that claim about amphetamines before, and I've always doubted it. I know many people who do not seem to have ADHD and who have never been diagnosed who have taken adderall before. They all claim to have used it to study for tests, work on huge projects, etc. with great success. Besides, if amphetamines worked differently on the healthy/ADHD people, wouldn't you just give someone a small dose of amphetamine…

That's exactly what I mean. It (I mean racemic street amphetamine, you can't get medical adderall in Europe) makes the majority of those who try it very agitated but makes some of those with ADHD serene and tranquil as a pure water lake surface on a windless day. I doubt it works on everybody this simple though and there hardly is any scientific research on this subject.

Re: The Impact of Listening to Music on Cognitive Performance (2013)

#30

Post by matwood »

wildrhythms wrote: post #3

tl;dr: "participants performed better in silence than they did in any music conditions" Personally, I cannot listen to music and work... I get too caught up in trying to follow the music. I end up just wearing my noise canceling headphones with no music playing and working in relative silence. That said, I'm interested to know if folks here on HN can relate.

It's very common for me to put headphones in and have it trigger my 'work mode'. On Friday I had no meetings, put on my headphones, started some album, and hours later realized I was listening to the same song again for the 4-5th time. I just zoned out and went to work.

This might come from years of weight lifting with headphones. There are certain songs, albums, genres that when I hear them it's go time whether it be lifting or working.

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