Publication:
The Effects of Music and Context on Mood and Learning

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ac.comp.abstractMusic is a ubiquitous aspect of college students' lives, often serving as a companion during activities such as walking to class, working out, and chief among all, studying (Stratton & Zalanowski, 2003). Previous research in the field of music and cognitive performance has shown that listening to background music while performing cognitive tasks can enhance task performance when compared to tasks performed without music (Cockerton et al., 1997). Additionally, music has been shown to heighten energy levels and induce positive mood arousal during cognitive tasks (Hirokawa, 2004). The current study aimed to investigate the impact of listening to subject-preferred background music on performance and mood during a memory recall task, as well as to explore whether potential positive mood arousal induced by music can further facilitate memory recall. Using a 2x2 experimental design, participants were randomly assigned to either listen to their preferred studying music during both an encoding and retrieval portion of a memory recall task, or not, with their mood assessed via a self-report scale after the encoding portion of the task. Recall performance was measured by the number of correctly recalled words from a studied list of 20 GRE vocabulary words. Results indicated that although listening to music increased positive mood and decreased negative mood states during the task, it did not have a significant effect on memory recall performance. Moreover, positive mood arousal induced by music was not found to be correlated with improved performance on the task. Limitations and implications are discussed. Future research on music, mood, and cognitive performance should be pursued to replicate findings and further clarify ambiguous results observed within the field of music and cognitions.en_US
ac.comp.awardPsychology, 2023en_US
ac.comp.firstreaderEckstein, Lydia E.
ac.comp.languageEnglishen_US
ac.comp.permissionformPublicen_US
ac.comp.secondreadersPickering, Ryan
ac.subject.academicyearAcademic Year 2022-2023en_US
dc.contributor.authorAlread, Hudson
dc.contributor.departmentPsychologyen_US
dc.date.accessioned2023-05-12T13:40:20Z
dc.date.available2023-05-12T13:40:20Z
dc.date.issued2023-04-05
dc.description.majorPsychologyen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://dspace.allegheny.edu/handle/10456/56876
dc.subjectmusicen_US
dc.subjectcognitive performanceen_US
dc.subjectmooden_US
dc.subjectarousalen_US
dc.titleThe Effects of Music and Context on Mood and Learningen_US
dc.typeSenior Project Paperen_US
dspace.entity.typePublication

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