The effects of music tempo on cognitive processing during an academic task

Streaming Media

Publication Date

2026

Presentation Length

15 minutes

College

College of Sciences & Mathematics

Department

Psychological Sciences and Neurosciences, Department of

Student Level

Undergraduate

Faculty Mentor

Michael Oliver, PhD

Metadata/Fulltext

Metadata ONLY

Presentation Type

Talk/Oral

Summary

Previous studies have demonstrated that background music can affect attention and cognitive performance. For example, Furnham and Bradley (1977) found that background music can impair performance on tasks requiring sustained concentration, particularly when the task is cognitively demanding. Additionally, Thompson, Schellenberg, and Husain (2001) demonstrated that characteristics of music, including tempo and mode, can influence arousal and subsequently affect cognitive task performance. Despite music and cognition being a common subject for research, tempo as an isolated variable has seldom been examined in depth. The current study investigates the influence of music tempo on cognitive performance of academic tasks with regard to completion time and accuracy. In this study, participants were asked to complete a simple timed math exercise under one of three conditions: fast, slow, or no tempo. After, they were presented with a post-assessment survey inquiring about relevant music listening patterns in the participants' day-to-day lives. We predict that faster tempo will result in lower accuracy compared to slow and no tempo. These findings can help in assessing finer details of music’s effect on study routines or in workplace settings, in which the choice of song can enhance or hinder performance and quality of work.

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