Students Studying While Listening to Music Can Be Helpful

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Most teenagers prefer to listen to music while they are doing anything.  But is that a good or bad choice to make?

According to a student researcher on the TakeLessons team at takelessons.com, “On average, students score 90% on spatial reasoning tasks conducted in silence, 83% when listening to classical instrumental music, and 72% while listening to popular music with lyrics.”

When students were tested on whether they studied better in a quiet place or listening to music, they scored better when they were in a quiet place.

However, according to Sofia Castello y Tickell, a collegiate correspondent for USA TODAY at usatodayeducate.com, listening to music can help keep a student focused, and it will compliment study habits. Any type of music can boost studying habits.

In fact, slow, quiet music can reduce stress, says Jane Collingwood, whose information was reviewed by Dr. John M. Grohol at Psych Central (psychcentral.com).  Reducing anxiety might be helpful for a stressed out student preparing for an exam.

Researchers at Wales Institute in Cardiff say that to study, the best choice of music is songs that the person studying knows and likes because it is less distracting.  They also say a person should not listen to music that changes from loud to soft a lot because it can be distracting and can take the attention off of studying.

Macala Keli’Kuli, a student at BFA, listens to music while she studies.  She says that, when she studies, she makes whatever it is into the song that she listens to.