Effect of Preferred Background Music on Student Cognition

The purpose of this study was to see if background music influences the concentration level of students that is needed for better cognition and memory. Sixty undergraduate students were recruited from three different programs by going to the classes. They were divided into three groups randomly to participate in three study conditions with preferred, non-preferred, and no music in the background while taking a reading comprehension test on a sample SAT paragraph and a series of questions pertaining to their perceptions of the effect of background music while participating in the study. The comprehension scores for three groups were compared using ANOVA indicating differences in preferred and no background music condition with some interpretable relationships for music preferences and perceived effect on comprehension