The effects of background music on the learning of a motor skill

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of easy listening popular music on the learning of a perceptual motor task by elementary school aged children. Specifically, forty nine grade four children were analyzed on learning five variables of a dribbling task either with or without background music.The students' social behaviour for the nonmusic and music groups was also observed and analyzed. Finally, the subjects completed a written questionnaire which helped determine their personal preferences with respect to learning with background music.A Group (2) by Trial (2) by Dribbling Variables (5) ANOVA with repeated measures on Trial was conducted on the dribbling performance scores. Results showed that there was no significant difference between the nonmusic and the music groups on these dribbling performances for four out of the five dribble variables. However, scores of the music group increased more than those of the nonmusic group for three of the five variables. Subjects in the music group demonstrated a more desirable social behaviour than the subjects in the nonmusic group. In addition, the subjects' responses to the questionnaire showed that an overwhelming number of subjects in both groups preferred to have background music played during activity. Therefore, background music may have an important place in the learning environment in terms of behaviour and attitude, which might ultimately enhance learning