Music WAC

Music is a big thing in our lives today from listening to the radio while driving to listening while do your work. Music is everywhere. But music can also be a big issue with kids which can lead them to get distracted to other important tasks. It can become a bigger distraction then a helpful source. In my opinion kids shouldn’t listen to music while working. Here’s three reasons why.

Listening to music damages your performance on your tasks. According to the article by Sarah Briggs it states according to some new research music can damage your performance on other tasks. They had 25 people listen to 5 types of music: quiet, music that they liked, music that they didn’t like, voice repeating number 3, and a voice reciting random numbers as they try to remember a stream of random letters. The results showed that they did the best at remembering while it was quiet and when there was the voice repeating the number 3. This is strong evidence that music damages your performance on you tasks at hand.

The lyrics and notes in music you listen to disrupt your ability to focus on what you’re doing. According to the article by Sarah Briggs it states, “Music may impair cognitive abilities things in order, because you may get thrown off by the changing words and notes in your chosen song. That’s why they have dubbed this phenomenon the ‘irrelevant sound effect’ (ISE).” This shows that music throws you off with different notes and lyrics which can take your mind off of your task at hand. The article also states: “They did the best in the quiet and while listening to the repeated three.” This shows that you can remember things better and get things done if there is quiet or when the music you listen to is predictable.

Music can help you focus and help you with research. There have been studies where it shows that music can help with the brain. Sarah Briggs mentions a study from 2007 where they had people listen to 18th century music. It showed many benefits for the brain in the areas where paying attention, making predictions, and updating the event in memory are important. But most importantly, "...peak brain activity occurred during a short period of silence between musical movements..." This is evidence for the other side that listening to music can help the brain however this information isn’t consistent. But one strong piece of evidence is when peak brain activity was when nothing was happening. This is further evidence that you shouldn’t listen to music while studying.

Furthermore, you shouldn’t listen to music while studying. First, music damages your performance to other tasks at hand. Second, all the lyrics and notes in the music you listen to throws you off while studying making it harder. Finally, in the article by Sarah Briggs it shows strong evidence that peak brain activity occurred when seemingly nothing was happening. In conclusion, listening to music while studying takes your mind off other tasks, throws you off, and makes it harder to study.