The Effect of Music Preference on Complex Task Performance

This study examined the relationship between music preference and extraversion on complex task performance in a sample of 34 college students from a small, Christian, liberal arts university. Separated into two groups of high and low extraversion, these 34 participants were invited to participate in the experimental phase of the study. For the experimental phase, each participant experienced three different music conditions (Preferred, Preset, and Silence) while performing a complex reading comprehension task. The results revealed a significant interaction effect between level of extraversion and music condition. Individuals with higher levels of extraversion performed marginally significantly better listening to preferred music during the complex task compared to silence and a preset music selection; all other sound conditions were not significant. The Effect of Music Preference on Complex Task Performance Music, like all other art forms, is unique to human beings. It expresses emotion shared by all cultures, closes the gap between eras of time, and reflects attitudes and progression. The power of music holds a strong influence over many human functions and recent technological advances of the 20 and 21 centuries have made music highly accessible. In addition, the ubiquitous nature of music accessibility in modern society raises important questions about the pervasive presence of music in work and educational settings. Studies searching for the distracting or facilitating effect of music on task performance have generally been inconsistent. Despite inconclusive results, public acceptance of claims that support the facilitative function of music in task performance is common. The highly publicized study by Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky conducted in 1994 for example, found significant results “proving” Mozart music increased spatial reasoning performance in college students. McKelvie & Low (2002) conducted a 1 Mcdonald: The Effect of Music Preference on Complex Task Performance Published by Pepperdine Digital Commons, 2013