Cross-Sectional Studies Investigating the Impacts of Background Sounds on Cognitive Task Performance

Abstract

This chapter synthesizes findings from a series of five studies examining the impacts of different background sounds on cognitive task performance. Four out of the five studies compared background sounds of silence, white noise (rain), calm music without lyrics (Rachmaninoff's ``Vocalize, Op. 34''), and fast, energetic music without lyrics (Benny Goodman's ``Sing, Sing, Sing''). The other study examined task performance under different musical tempos (fast, slow) and pitches (high, low). Cognitive load and academic domain (arithmetic, language, spatial) varied between studies. Findings indicated that, in general, the participants performed better on lower cognitive load tasks while listening to fast music. Performance on tasks with higher cognitive loads did not vary significantly by different listening backgrounds. Implications and future directions are discussed.