The Influence of Streamlined Music on Cognition and Mood
arXiv Preprint Archive October 13, 2016 preprint
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Series of online experiments |
|---|---|
| Population | Primarily listeners who felt they benefited from streamlined music |
| Intervention | Streamlined music |
| Duration | 2-month period |
| Keywords | Q-bio.nc |
| Key findings | Streamlined music significantly outperformed plain music on perceived focus, task persistence, precognition, and creative thinking, with borderline effects on mood, but did not significantly affect visual attention, verbal memory, logical thinking, self-efficacy, perceived stress, or self-transcendence. Improvements in perceived focus over two months correlated with improvements in emotional state, including mood. The authors suggest streamlined music may benefit cognition without obvious costs for people who enjoy using it as a focus tool. |
Abstract
Recent advances in sound engineering have led to the development of so-called streamlined music designed to reduce exogenous attention and improve endogenous attention. Although anecdotal reports suggest that streamlined music does indeed improve focus on daily work tasks and may improve mood, the specific influences of streamlined music on cognition and mood have yet to be examined. In this paper, we report the results of a series of online experiments that examined the impact of one form of streamlined music on cognition and mood. The tested form of streamlined music, which was tested primarily by listeners who felt they benefited from this type of music, significantly outperformed plain music on measures of perceived focus, task persistence, precognition, and creative thinking, with borderline effects on mood. In contrast, this same form of streamlined music did not significantly influence measures assessing visual attention, verbal memory, logical thinking, self-efficacy, perceived stress, or self-transcendence. We also found that improvements in perceived focus over a 2-month period were correlated with improvements in emotional state, including mood. Overall the results suggest that at least for individuals who enjoy using streamlined music as a focus tool, streamlined music can have a beneficial impact on cognition without any obvious costs, while at the same time it may potentially boost mood.