Music – it sets the mood for a great day and it serves as great motivation. You sit down and study with it on for hours upon hours and suddenly on test day – all the information you know you went over seems incomprehensible. How could this happen? How could so much time spent learning and relearning the material be gone in a flash? The answer to this – music. Music may shift one into a positive frame of mind and drive one to finish studying for just one more subject, but it also comes with a large downside on test day.
A brain works on stimulants. If a stimulant is constantly being used in any scenario, one’s brian will begin to rely on that stimulus when dealing with that scenario. When studying, music will serve as that stimulant. Upon the constant repetition of studying any material with the stimulant, the brain will associate the stimulant with the material learnt. Music also released dopamine – the ‘feel good’ neurotransmitter. Dopamine is associated with good thoughts and sensations. So this dopamine release triggered by music is also part of this musical stimulant which the brain is dependent on in a study session. So, given the typical silence of test-day (and lack of the musical stimenat), one will tend to prefer lower since the brain no longer has the stimulant to rely on. It is as though when there is no stimulant, the information learned with that stimulant cannot all be recalled. Simply put, the best way to ensure the recollection of information is to memorize the information with a stimulant that will be present on the day in which that information is needed (as in using silence as a stimulant since the test will be taken in silence).
However, if you must use music to study, listen to something without lyrics and preferably at a slower tempo. Do not go around basting Harry Styles while trying to memorize derivatives, but rather have Motzart quietly play in the background. Also, songs without a personal connection work best because the songs that stir emotion cause distraction and negatively affect your ability to concentrate. So, stick to some calm and quiet and preferably orchestra songs while trying to retain everything you (should’ve) learned in class.
- Katia Krishtopa ‘24
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