In this blog post, we’ll examine the effects of studying while listening to music, based on various arguments and studies regarding whether it actually aids learning.
These days, if you visit a library, it’s not hard to spot people studying with earbuds in. You can also easily find people studying in cafes where music is playing. Does listening to music while studying really help you concentrate better? You can easily get a sense of this by thinking back to self-study periods in high school. While teachers often discourage studying with music, students frequently prefer to do so. Although there has been extensive research on studying with music for a long time, the results remain inconsistent. Some studies report that music under certain conditions can have a positive impact on learning, while others suggest that memory and learning efficiency may decline in environments where multiple tasks are performed simultaneously. Even considering these conflicting findings, I agree with the argument that listening to music hinders studying, and in this article, I’d like to explain why.
The aforementioned studies on music and learning suggest that slow, calm music can be helpful for subjects requiring logical thinking; exciting music for activities requiring creativity; and classical music with a steady beat for subjects requiring computational skills. As this shows, the music identified as effective in these studies is music that meets specific conditions. However, the music we actually listen to while studying is rarely selected to meet these conditions; instead, it is mostly the latest pop songs or a variety of music based on personal preference. Therefore, even if music under specific conditions may have a positive impact on certain types of learning, it is difficult to conclude that general pop music improves study performance. A past study by the University of North Texas in the U.S. also reported improved memory and recall when studying while listening to music, but that study was also conducted with restrictions on the type of music. Thus, research findings suggesting that music aids in studying are limited in that they mostly restrict the genre or specific conditions of the music.
Now, let’s examine the stimulation of the brain. When we receive sensory input, that information is processed in the sensory areas of the cerebral cortex, followed by recognition and perception. The function of language comprehension is primarily handled by Wernicke’s area in the temporal lobe, while learning and memory involve several brain regions, including the hippocampus. When listening to music through earphones, the language processing process may be influenced by the music, which could also affect the retention of learned material. Furthermore, the results may not differ significantly even when listening to music through speakers rather than earphones. This is because, generally, the human brain tends to have its attention divided when performing multiple tasks simultaneously. Therefore, listening to music while studying may result in lower concentration levels compared to focusing on a single task.
Another reason is state-dependent memory. State-dependent memory refers to the phenomenon where memories are recalled more easily when the environment or mood present at the time of an event is recreated. A representative study related to this is the scuba diver experiment conducted by Godden and Baddeley. The researchers had divers memorize words and confirmed that they showed higher recall rates when tested in an environment identical to the one in which they had learned the words. In other words, the more similar the environment during learning is to that during testing, the better people can recall the information. In South Korea, people are often evaluated on their learning levels through exams, and test scores serve as an important measure of academic achievement. Even if someone studied while listening to music, they will typically take the actual exam in an environment without music. Therefore, even among individuals with the same learning ability, those who studied in a music-free environment are more likely to achieve better results on the exam. From this perspective, studying without listening to music can be considered more effective.
Some counter this argument by citing study duration. They claim that while concentration is higher when not listening to music, listening to music increases the total study time, leading to the perception that one has studied more effectively. However, this argument varies greatly from person to person. People accustomed to studying while listening to music may experience little decline in concentration, whereas others may see a significant drop. Furthermore, it is difficult to clearly confirm whether the time spent listening to music actually leads to an increase in study time. Even if one feels that studying is going well, one must also consider the possibility that music distracts attention and affects long-term memory formation. In other words, while it may feel as though studying is going well in the moment, it is difficult to conclude that this is necessarily advantageous in terms of long-term learning outcomes. Therefore, it is unclear whether actual study time increases, and one cannot assume that the momentary sense of satisfaction equates to long-term learning effectiveness.
While some studies have suggested that studying while listening to music is effective, most of these had limitations in that they restricted the genre of music or other conditions. Furthermore, from the perspective of the brain’s information processing and state-dependent memory, music may have a negative impact on learning and memory; in actual assessment situations, such as exams, studying in an environment without music may yield better results. Of course, as mentioned in the counterarguments, there are significant individual differences, so we cannot assume that this applies equally to everyone. However, in general, for these reasons, it can be said that you can concentrate better on your studies when you are not listening to music. Even if you feel that studying while listening to music helps you perform better, I encourage you to try studying without music for a while, compare the results yourself, and find the learning method that works best for you.
