Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of listening to music in exam-taking environments for engineering students

  • Published:
Education and Information Technologies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This research explores the effects of listening to music during exams for engineering college students. Students were given the option to listen to self-selected music while completing exams in three undergraduate engineering courses over four years. It was found that listening to music during an exam had no significant effect on the mean exam scores or completion times. However, when analyzing data from students who had taken exams both with and without music, it was found that these students performed significantly better in the music condition but at par with the mean score. Results indicate that allowing music during exams for students who study with music does not represent an advantage but rather an opportunity for equity in exam-taking environments.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Figure14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17
Fig. 18
Fig. 19

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

All data, materials, and software applications or custom code support the published claims and comply with field standards.

References

  • Ahlawat, S., Batra, P., & Sharma, A. (2012). Personality and music: An effect on arithmetic performance. Indian Journal of Positive Psychology, 3(1), 96–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Angel, L. A., Polzella, D. J., & Elvers, G. C. (2010). Background music and cognitive performance. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 110(3C), 1059–1064.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bridgett, D.J. and Cuevas, J. (2000). Effects of listening to mozart and bach on the performance of a mathematical test. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 90(3_suppl), 1171–1175.

  • Cassidy, G. G., & Macdonald, R. A. (2010). The effects of music on time perception and performance of a driving game. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51(6), 455–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chou, P. (2010). Attention drainage effect: How background music effects concentration in Taiwanese college students. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 10(1), 36–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cockerham, D., Lin, L., Zhengsi, C., & Schellen, M. (2019). Cross-sectional studies investigating the impacts of background sounds on cognitive task performance. Mind, Brain and Technology (pp. 177–194). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, H. J., & Strapp, C. M. (1994). Effects of vocal and instrumental music on visuospatial and verbal performance as moderated by studying preference and personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 16, 237–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Culbert, S. S., & Posner, M. I. (1960). Human habituation to an acoustical energy distribution spectrum. Journal of Applied Psychology, 44, 263–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daoussis, L., & McKelvie, S. J. (1986). Musical preferences and effects of music on a reading comprehension test for extraverts and introverts. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 62(1), 283–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Datta, H., Knox, G., & Bronnenberg, B. J. (2018). Changing their Tune: how consumers’ adoption of online streaming affects music consumption and discovery. Marketing Science, 37(1), 5–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Demorest, S. M., & Morrison, S. J. (2016). Does music make you smarter? Music Educators Journal, 87(2), 33–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dobbs, S., Furnham, A., & McClelland, A. (2011). The effect of background music and noise on the cognitive test performance of introverts and extraverts. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25(2), 307–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolegui, A. S. (2013). The impact of listening to music on cognitive performance. Inquiries Journal, 5(9), 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Etaugh, C., & Michals, D. (1975). Effects on reading comprehension of preferred music and frequency of studying to music. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 41, 553–554.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feller, W. (1948). On the kolmogorov-smirnov limit theorems for empirical distributions. Annals of Mathematical Statistics, 19, 177–189.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Furnham, A., & Strbac, L. (2002). Music is as distracting as noise: The differential distraction of background music and noise on the cognitive test performance of introverts and extraverts. Ergonomics, 45(3), 203–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez, M. F., & Aiello, J. R. (2019). More than meets the ear: Investigating how music affects cognitive task performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 25(3), 431–444.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurung, R. (2002). How do students really study (and does it matter)? Journal of Personality Teaching of Psychology Communication Quarterly Communication Education, 2, 149–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, J. C. (1952). The effect of background music on the reading comprehension of 278 eighth and ninth grade students. The Journal of Educational Research, 45(6), 451–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hallam, S., & Price, J. (1998). Research section: Can the use of background music improve the behaviour and academic performance of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties? British Journal of Special Education, 25(2), 88–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hallam, S., Price, J., & Katsarou, G. (2002). The Effects of background music on primary school pupils’ task performance. Educational Studies, 28(2), 111–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilliard, O. M., & Tolin, P. (1979). Effect of familiarity with background music on performance of simple and difficult reading comprehension tasks. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 49, 713–714.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jäncke, L., & Sandmann, P. (2010). Music listening while you learn: No influence of background music on verbal learning. Behavioral and Brain Functions, 6(1), 3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotsopoulou, A., & Hallam, S. (2010). The perceived impact of playing music while studying: Age and cultural differences. Educational Studies, 36(4), 431–440.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, N., Wajidi, M. A., Chian, Y. T., Vishroothi, S., Swamy, R. S., & Aithal, A. P. (2016). The effect of listening to music on concentration and academic performance of the student: Cross-sectional study on medical undergraduate students. Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological and Chemical Sciences, 7, 1190–1195.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, R. C., Wogalter, M. S., & Forlano, J. G. (1988). Reading comprehension in the presence of unattended speech and music. Journal of Memory and Language, 27(4), 382–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayfield, C., and Moss, S. (1989). Effect of music tempo on task performance. Psychological Reports, 65(3 Pt 2):1283–1290. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1989.65.3f.1283

  • Pinto, M., Sales, D., Fernández-Pascual, R., & Caballero-Mariscal, D. (2020a). Attitudes, perceptions and prospectings on mobile information literacy training: Design and validation of the MOBILE-APP questionnaire. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 52(1), 208–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinto, M., Caballero, D., Sales, D., & Fernández-Pascual, R. (2020b). MOBILE-APPS questionnaire: Developing and validating a scale to measure the attitudes and perceptions of undergraduate students on mobile information literacy. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 52(4), 1063–1072.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rauscher, F. H., & Shaw, G. L. (1998). Key components of the mozart effect. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 86(3), 835–841.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rauscher, F. H., Shaw, G. L., & Ky, C. N. (1993). Music and spatial task performance. Nature, 365(6447), 611–611.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rauscher, F. H., Shaw, G. L., & Ky, K. N. (1995). Listening to Mozart enhances spatial-temporal reasoning: Towards a neurophysiological basis. Neuroscience Letters, 185(1), 44–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rideout, B. E., & Laubach, C. M. (1996). EEG correlates of enhanced spatial performance following exposure to music. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 82(2), 427–432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salamé, P. and. Baddeley, A.D, (1989). Effects of background music on phonological short-term memory. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology A: Human Experimental Psychology, 41(1-A),107–122.

  • Schellenberg, E. G., Nakata, T., Hunter, P. G., & Tamoto, S. (2007). Exposure to music and cognitive performance: Tests of children and adults. Psychology of Music, 35(1), 5–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Solutions. (2013). Normality. Retrieved from https://www.statisticssolutions.com/academic-solutions/resources/directory-of-statistical-analyses/normality/. Accessed 9 Feb 2020.

  • Thompson, W. F., Schellenberg, E. G., & Letnic, A. K. (2012). Fast and loud background music disrupts reading comprehension. Psychology of Music, 40(6), 700–708.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughn, K. (2000). Music, and mathematics: Modest support for the oft-claimed relationship. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 34(3/4), 149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Widerman, M.S. (2013). Study habits and music: How they affect attention and academic performance. http://ebot.gmu.edu/handle/1920/8322. Accessed 8 Feb 2020.

  • Yau, N. (2011). Visualize this: The flowing data guide to design, visualization, and statistics, 1st ed. Indianapolis, Ind. : Wiley: Indianapolis, Ind.

Download references

Funding

The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA, 01854, USA

    David Claudio

  2. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59717, USA

    Morten Bakke

Authors
  1. David Claudio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Morten Bakke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors contributed to the study's conception and design. Material preparation, and data collection were performed by David Claudio. Analysis was performed by Morten Bakke and David Claudio. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Morten Bakke, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Claudio.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest/Competing interests

One of the researchers was also the instructor of all three courses mentioned in the article. The authors declare they have no financial interests. Ethical approval was waived by the local Ethics Committee of University A in view of the retrospective nature of the study and all the procedures being performed were part of the routine care.

Additional information

Publisher's note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Claudio, D., Bakke, M. Effects of listening to music in exam-taking environments for engineering students. Educ Inf Technol 28, 3977–4001 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11375-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11375-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation