From Mozart to Fleetwood Mac: music listening is not detrimental to reading comprehension in university students

Most university students choose to study with music, yet whether this is detrimental or beneficial for studying remains unclear. We investigated the impact of music listening with 279 participants who “often listen to music while studying”, using a reading comprehension task as an indicator of study performance. Students were randomly assigned to one of 3 conditions (participant-selected music, background noise, or silence) during reading. We measured reading comprehension test scores, and ratings of emotional positivity and energy before reading, after reading, and post-test. There was no effect of music listening on reading comprehension – participants performed equally well whether they listened to music, background noise, or silence. Music listening did impact emotion – participants in the noise and silence conditions reported decreased positivity after reading, while those in the music condition maintained their positivity. Participants in the music and noise conditions experienced no change in energy, while those who heard silence felt less energised after reading. Analysis of chosen music from participants in the music condition revealed no relationships between audio features and reading scores. These findings indicate that listening to self-selected music has no detrimental impact on reading comprehension and may protect against the decrease in positivity students experience during study.多数高校学生习惯伴随音乐开展学习，但此类行为对学习活动究竟存在损害还是增益效应，目前尚无明确结论。本研究针对279名“学习时常伴随音乐”的受试者，以阅读理解任务作为学习表现的测评指标，探究音乐聆听对学习的影响。阅读环节中，所有受试者被随机分配至三类实验条件：自主选择音乐（participant-selected music）组、背景噪音（background noise）组与静默（silence）组。我们分别在阅读前、阅读后及测试后三个时间节点，采集受试者的阅读理解测试得分，以及情绪愉悦度与精力水平的自评评分。研究结果显示，音乐聆听对阅读理解成绩无显著影响：无论受试者聆听音乐、背景噪音还是处于静默状态，其阅读理解表现均无统计学差异。但音乐聆听对情绪状态存在显著调控效应：背景噪音组与静默组受试者在阅读后报告的愉悦度显著下降，而自主选择音乐组受试者的愉悦度得以维持。音乐组与背景噪音组受试者的精力水平未发生显著变化，而静默组受试者在阅读后则感知到精力水平下降。对自主选择音乐组受试者所选用音乐的音频特征（audio features）分析表明，其音频参数与阅读理解得分之间无显著关联。综上，本研究结果提示，自主选择音乐聆听不会对阅读理解能力产生负面影响，且可缓解学生在学习过程中出现的愉悦度降低问题。