music helps you study

Question

This article claims that music can help you study.

Comments

I think that this could be a good factcheck however you could provide slightly more information rather than just stating what the article is claiming.

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I think that your source is good and credible because of the sources that your source states.

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This is source is really interesting, because personally music doesn't help me that much to focus, but the source highlights how certain types of music, like instrumental or ambient, can actually improve focus and memory while studying. It’s fascinating how music, when chosen carefully, can reduce anxiety, block distractions, and create a better environment for concentration. This could be a useful strategy for students looking to improve their study habits.

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To make your post better, I would suggest that you elaborate on what the article is talking about. Simply linking the article is not enough. It is a credible source, as it is coming from a .edu website, however, it would be even stronger if you actually explained what the article was talking about.

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Music can make studying harder because it distracts your brain from focusing. Songs with lyrics can interfere with reading and understanding, while even instrumental music can take attention away from learning. Studies show that silence or white noise helps people remember information better. Music might improve your mood, but it doesn’t always help you study.

Sources:
https://www.apa.org/https://
www.healthline.com/

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While I do agree with you, I think you should look into the source I provided below as it is important to acknowledge that personal taste factors into the predictability of listening to certain music/noise while studying. A list of music types and tips are listed that allow an individual to dabble in trial and error that would best align with them during the studying process. Additionally, trial and error in this context would probably help with studying in general as you are reviewing material in a multitude of ways and simply just finding the one that works the best.
source:
https://www.nu.edu/blog/can-music-help-you-study-and-focus/

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The article provides the best way for music to help people study and provides some evidence that supports their claims, but the article never claims that everyone gets better by studying. Many people get distracted by music when they are studying and the article never claims that those people are wrong just that those who do study with music end up doing better with their studying. It could be that the music is not what is actually making people study better but rather people that can listen to music and study effectively get better results on their exams. What I mean is that it is possible that people with a mind that has the ability to drown out the music and distractions have greater knowledge on their subjects.

Answer 1

Yes, music does help you study. According to the article by Theresa Schempp and Mike Sanders, “How Music Can Help You Study,” they found studies that people who listened to music, had higher scores on mental wellbeing and reduced levels of anxiety. Music also helped them focused better on the task at hand. The article also says that listening to ambient or instrumental music helps students focus because there are no words to focus on and also can help their academic performance. And in the article by Christopher Bergland, “Music Participation in Linked to Teens’ Academic Achievement,” studies show that students that listened to music have a higher academic exam score than students that didn’t. So, if you listen to the right kind of music, either wordless music, or music from your own playlist, it will not only increase your mental well-being, it will also help you study and focus more.

Sources:

How Music Can Help You Study

Music Participation Is Linked to Teens' Academic Achievement

Answer 2

Yes, music has been shown to aid focus in studying by stimulating the brain, but not all music has these affects. It depends on specific parts of the music like the rhythms and pitch qualities, and how we perceive them.

An analysis of 132 studies on PubMed looked at music's interaction with the limbic system and how it affects important neurological processing. It is known that music activates the parts of the brain related to memory and emotional processing, and that different modes (major, minor and chromatic) stimulate different parts of the brain.

Specifically classical music like Bach, is said to have numerous benefits improving concentration and focus because of its complex syncopation, and melodic motifs. Studies have shown listening to classical music can even release alpha brain waves which are understood as stress relieving waves in therapeutic research.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10605363/

https://medium.com/newosis/why-i-listen-to-a-lot-of-mozart-and-bach-and-why-they-do-the-trick-28b89e990df1#:~:text=The%20complexity%20and%20structure%20of,reasoning%20and%20creativity%20%5B1%5D.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(17)30168-0/abstract

Answer 3

With this claim, it’s complicated. In short, yes. Music is a powerful tool for humans with regards to passions and emotion. The right song at the right moment can help you feel almost anything you want from sadness to focus. You could use music to give yourself a burst of motivation for example. In most use cases, listening to music beforehand could be said to be helpful. The mental state in which you enter studying beforehand can have a tremendous effect on the actual results of the studying. So indirectly, music can help in that regard, helping you get in the right mood. Directly, listening to music while actively studying has little benefits and may even prove to be distracting. Texas A&M University states that one of the possible benefits of listening to music while studying is that music may have a pavlovian effect on the listener, helping them to recall what they studied while listening to the music again. 

Sources: https://www.umgc.edu/blog/how-music-can-help-you-study, https://www.healthline.com/health/does-music-help-you-study#negative-effects, 

https://www.nfhs.org/articles/how-music-primes-the-brain-for-learning/, 

https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/blog/2021/03/10/does-listening-to-music-really-help-you-study/

Answer 4

This factcheck claims music helps you study, while this can be true for some its not true for all. A study done by the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the National Institute of Health "showed that listening to 15Hz binaural beats during a working memory task increased the response accuracy of the subjects by about three percent over five minutes." This statistic shows that on average a person will have some improvement cognitively from binaural beat which is considered music. Althoug the average person expericed an increased that doesnt mean all participants in the study did in fact in another study it showed "An estimated 50 to 60% of students across the United States listen to music while studying and report it to be helpful." according to The Feris State Torch further showing while some students feel music is helpful for studying not all do.

https://fsutorch.com/2024/01/10/listening-to-music-while-studying/

https://www.umgc.edu/blog/how-music-can-help-you-study

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5125618/

Answer 5

Music can help you study, but not everybody will feel the same sort of comfort and relaxation from the same song. According to the main source, an article written by the University of Maryland, music can be a tool used to block out distractions and improve concentration when studying. When compared with other articles online about the subject, I found that researchers agreed that music can have a strong effect on ones emotions, helping them to complete certain tasks were distractions are common. Levine Music found that music could even help people fall asleep when other distractions/ thoughts were keeping them up. I found the university of Maryland website that this claim refers to, to be legitimate as it is a .edu, it was resently updated in September 2024, and it is written by Theresa Schempp and Mike Sanders who are graduates from the University of Maryland with degrees in english and mass communication. Overall I found that music can indeed influence ones emotions and mental state in a way that would be beneficial to studying, confirming this claim.

Sources:

https://www.levinemusic.org/about/news/the-neuroscience-of-music/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA2JG9BhAuEiwAH_zf3ra0ae7fa1S0urwuN9Jodxk05pyHXokTmPxEixf6zc_XQY6YDtG-wRoC5LAQAvD_BwE

https://www.umgc.edu/blog/blog-author-biography.Theresa-Schempp

https://www.umgc.edu/blog/blog-author-biography.Mike-Sanders

https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/blog/2021/03/10/does-listening-to-music-really-help-you-study/

Answer 6

The sources used in the article, including studies on the psychological effects of music, lend much credibility to the claim made. The intention behind this article appears to be to inform students about potential strategies to enhance their study effectiveness and well-being. It is important to remember that the impact of music can vary for each individual or the task assigned. For example, the complexity of the task, type of music chosen, or lyrics said can deeply affect studying.

Answer 7

To quote the reference article itself (or more specifically, to quote Phyllis Medina, PhD) “folks respond to music differently”. I am so so glad that I got to see this claim because this article was fascinating! This being said, Texas A&M University’s newspaper interviewed their very own Professor Brian Anderson (a psychology professor researching affective science and cognition), and he’s quoted saying “‘multitasking is a fallacy… so when you’re doing two things at the same time, like studying and listening to music, and one of the things requires more cognitive effort, there will be a cost to how much information you can retain doing both things”. So, to that effect, music can become more of a distraction than an aid for studying. Yet, I’d like to point out that the cited article acknowledges that music can be a distraction too (“‘even calm music is a distraction if it is too loud’ says Medina”). It’s more nuanced.

John Hopkins affirms that “research has shown that listening to music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and pain as well as improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, and memory.” Meanwhile, the NIH asserts that “excessive worry, intrusive thoughts, and impaired focus accompanied by anxiety leave youth at risk of lower academic scores.”

So, with all that information, I’d propose that the claim “music helps you study” is false… and yet music can certainly can help you study, when used appropriately and depending on the individual. 

https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/blog/2021/03/10/does-listening-to-music-really-help-you-study/

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/keep-your-brain-young-with-music

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9524334/

https://www.umgc.edu/blog/how-music-can-help-you-study (the source)

Answer 8

While I do believe this to be true a while ago, the more I had started thinking about it and the more I talked to others about it, music with lyrics especially doesn't help you study because you can get caught up with the lyrics. Although I do notice that music without lyrics and or instrumental music can help slightly. 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2024/12/19/should-i-listen-to-music-while-studying/76931192007/

Answer 9

Yes this is true, music does help you study better but under certain circumstances. In the article published by The University of Maryland, it states that certain tempos and kinds of music can help you study. The updated version of the article was posted on September 16, 2024 which allows viewers to notice its relevance since its so recent. The points stated are not opinion based and use scientific facts that affect the brain rather than just stating that music helps studying. They take into account the frequencies, tempos, and different types of music that can reach different students preferences. Obviously not all students will have music be beneficial in their studies just because of preference but I think this website provides a good idea of how the genres listed can influence better studying. 

https://www.umgc.edu/blog/how-music-can-help-you-study

Answer 10

I believe this article to be true because of the sources provided in the article itself and the author and site of the article. The article comes from the University of Maryland and the author is Theresa Schemppis who provides her credentials as writer and editor for the school. Schemppis even goes as far as to provide hyperlinks that are formatted in a way that makes sense in the article that links to other universities backing up her claims, for example, Colorado State University which provides more insight and backs up Schemppi's claims. However, there is one thing that remains absent in this article due to my research and that is that this study is very dependent on a lot of factors, two of those factors being music taste and the fact that not everyone listens to music while studying because they feel it doesn't help them. Part of that is that the noise can distract the brain and do the opposite for studying rather than helping. The recentness of this article backs this up as well, being only published in 2024.

https://www.umgc.edu/blog/how-music-can-help-you-study