There are opinions for all tastes, but many studies defend the suitability of listening to music to study while others advise against this practice arguing that it reduces concentration.
Studying while listening to music is a common practice among many students, but is it good?
Many people "isolate" themselves from the prevailing silence during their studies by playing some music and using headphones so as not to disturb anyone around them, as may be the case when studying in a library.
Whether they do it as a form of isolation or not, what is clear is that music symbolizes a tool to increase productivity and improve concentration. But using songs to improve performance does not necessarily have to be effective.
So what's the truth in turning to tunes to improve the ability to concentrate? Read this research from MagicLearning and recognize the truth about listening to music during the study.
Benefits of listening to music for studying
They are memorizing, studying, or writing projects. Many students concentrate better when listening to their favorite music than when surrounded by complete silence.
Numerous studies claim that music brings multiple benefits to the brain. Scientific findings have determined that learning to play an instrument during childhood improves some aspects of cognitive performance.
In addition, researchers have demonstrated that listening to music produces a substantial improvement in mental well-being and significantly improves physical health, awakening our intellect and our senses.
Music stimulates brain functions related to concentration and attention. Studying music allows for greater engagement by managing information more fluidly and quickly.
These studies have shown that listening to music reduces stress levels before exams as a method of study relaxation while the brain remains alert.
Disadvantages of listening to music to study
On the contrary, some students are more easily distracted and find it impossible to concentrate on the subject matter if they listen to music in the background.
Many people believe that it is not good to listen to music to study and that it is a harmful habit that can be a distracting factor.
Studies have shown that the heartbeat is synchronized with the rhythms of different musical themes so that the most moving songs will complicate the relaxation necessary to study.
In addition, the concentration will fall on the lyrics of the song we are listening to instead of the subject of study, so its effect will be counterproductive. In conclusion, numerous investigations affirm that music harms studies, with particular incidence if we understand the language of the song's lyrics.
To study with music or without music, here is the question.
Multitasking is distracting, and we often wonder how we can improve our concentration while studying. However, listening to music while looking causes your brain to conflict. It must be split into two different actions: retaining the subject's content and following the music thread.
Memory is based on 3 fundamental aspects: reading, attention, and fixation. You will do it more superficially if you listen to music while you study since your memory will not perform correctly.
However, it has been proven that listening to music during a mechanical or repetitive task increases motivation and avoids falling into the monotony of routine and boredom.
It depends on the task
If we analyze all of the above, we conclude that the more complicated the study task requires greater concentration, the better it is to opt for silence. The presence of ambient music ends up being a burden when the memory must function at total capacity.
Thus, the effect of music on the ability to retain information and memorize content depends directly on the complexity of the content.
In more mechanical tasks, such as completing projects or analyzing blocks of exercise information, music can yield more significant progress.
In both cases, personal-psychological characteristics are of significant influence and the ease of managing the attentional focus.
In the case of simple processes, music makes the activity more pleasant and perpetuates the way we get involved in it. In contrast, in the case of more complex routines and complex contents, it is not good to listen to music to study, as it is counterproductive and interrupts the achievement of the objectives.
When studying, especially when we are in the midst of final exams, it is essential to have 3complete control of the attentional focus so that distractions, whatever they may be, do not detract from the potential for mental work.
In short, music has positive and negative effects on studying, but its degree of influence depends on the type of student and the type of study they are doing.
MagicLearning Research "Is it Good to Listen to Music to Study?"
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