Educational Studies, Vol. 28, No.

2, 2002

The Effects of Background Music

on Primary School Pupils’ Task
Performance
SUSAN HALLAM, JOHN PRICE & GEORGIA
KATSAROU
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Institute of Education, University of London, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H

0AA, UK

SUMMARY Research on the effects of background music has a long history. Early work was
not embedded within a theoretical framework, was often poorly conceptualised and produced
equivocal Ž ndings. This paper reports two studies exploring the effects of music, perceived to be
calming and relaxing, on performance in arithmetic and on a memory task in children aged
10–12. The calming music led to better performance on both tasks when compared with a
no-music condition. Music perceived as arousing, aggressive and unpleasant disrupted perform-
ance on the memory task and led to a lower level of reported altruistic behaviour by the children.
This suggests that the effects of music on task performance are mediated by arousal and mood
rather than affecting cognition directly. The Ž ndings are discussed in relation to possible
practical applications in the primary school and the home.

Introduction
The effect of music on the moods, emotions and behaviour of both individuals
and groups has been noted throughout history. A number of writers have
discussed the functions of music (e.g. Merriam, 1964; Gaston, 1968), while
others have researched both the physiological and psychological effects (for
reviews, see Radocy & Boyle, 1988; North & Hargreaves, 1997; Hallam,
2001a). As a result of this research, music has come to be considered as lying
on a continuum from highly stimulating and invigorating to soothing or calming
(Gaston, 1968). There is strong evidence from a variety of sources that people
respond differently to stimulative and sedative music (Radocy & Boyle, 1988;
Hallam, 2001a). In the modern Western world, where music is readily available
to everyone through radio, recordings, TV and videos and where recorded
background music is routinely played in many public places, the need to
understand the effects of music on our behaviour and cognitive processing has
become increasingly important. While, research has been undertaken on the
effects of music on a variety of activities, it has been relatively unsystematic and
much of it has been inconclusive. This is, in part, because music can be

ISSN 0305-5698 print; 1465-3400 online/02/020111–12 Ó 2002 Taylor & Francis Ltd
DOI: 10.1080/03055690220124551
 112 S. Hallam et al.

processed in different ways (Hallam, 2001a). While there may be general trends
in our responses to stimulating or relaxing music, these are overlaid by individ-
ual cognitions which may mediate the immediate effects, for instance, associa-
tions of particular pieces of music with particular events or dislike of particular
musical genres.
With regard to children, we know little about the extent to which they are
exposed to music in their everyday lives or its effects on them. Given the overall
consumption of music within the wider community, we might expect that their
exposure is substantial (Hallam, 2001a). We know that in the adolescent years
music becomes increasingly important, with most teenagers listening to music
for approximately three hours a day, its role being perceived in relation to
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portraying an image to the outside world and satisfying their emotional needs
(North et al., 2000). We also know that much studying undertaken at home is
accompanied by music or the TV playing (Patton et al., 1983; Kotsopoulou,
1997). What is as yet relatively unexplored is the effect that the music may have
on behaviour or task performance in younger children.
We might expect that the effects of music on the behaviour and task
performance of children, unlike those of adults, would follow predictable trends,
as they would have had relatively little opportunity to acquire speciŽ c associa-
tions between particular events and speciŽ c pieces or types of music. We would
expect their responses to be based on relatively primitive mechanisms. This is
supported by evidence that different types of music can have differential impact
of the physiological responses of premature infants (Lorch et al., 1994) and the
activity levels of young children aged 3 to 4 (Reiber, 1965). Studies of children
with special educational needs have also shown that the introduction of back-
ground music into the classroom setting has a calming in uence on hyperactive
children and improved performance on mathematics tasks (Scott, 1970). Hal-
lam and Price (1998) found similar effects of music on children with emotional
and behavioural difŽ culties. Several studies have reported a music-induced
decrease in activity level in ADHD children (Cripe, 1986) and mentally
retarded children (Gregoire, 1984; Reardon & Bell, 1970), while Savan (1998)
has demonstrated improved behaviour and a greater concentration on school
work when Mozart was played during the science lessons of ten children with
learning, emotional and behavioural difŽ culties.
Other studies have explored the effects of music on children in mainstream
schools, but the type of music played and the ways in which it was expected to
in uence behaviour have not always been speciŽ ed. Mitchell (1949) compared
performance on a comprehension task of listening to a variety show, a musical
show or silence and found that reading achievement was not adversely affected
by the musical programme. In a later study, Hall (1952) found that performance
on reading comprehension tests was signiŽ cantly improved when background
music was playing. There were also ‘settling down periods’ at the beginning of
the morning and afternoon sessions and a mid-afternoon fatigue period when
music was of greatest assistance. However, no details were given of the kind of
background music which was used. Not all of the research has found positive
 Effects of Background Music on Task Performance 113

effects of background music. Fogelson (1973), assessing the reading test

performance of 8th graders when an instrumental version of Mantovani’s
‘Favourite Show Tunes’ was playing, found that performance was adversely
affected for all the students. The music had a more detrimental effect on the
children of higher ability than those of low ability. Kiger (1989), studying
older pupils aged 15 years who read a 1450-word passage on Japanese history
with high or low information load music or no music in the background,
found that reading comprehension scores were signiŽ cantly higher in the low
information load condition than in the silent or high information load con-
ditions.
Other work has focused on tasks which involve memory. Henderson et al.
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(1945) explored the effect of music as a source of distraction during the taking
of a test. Type of music and the complexity of the testing material both affected
performance. Mowsesian and Heyer (1973) studied the effects of music on
test-taking in 15 year olds using a control and groups listening to rock, folk,
symphonic music and opera. They were tested on mathematics, language and
spelling and also completed a self-concept of ability scale. The music had no
signiŽ cant effect on performance.
Explanations of the effect of music on learning and behaviour have tended
to look for explanations in terms of arousal and mood. The Yerkes–Dodson
law states that the arousal level of the individual increases performance up to
an optimal level beyond which over-arousal leads to a deterioration in per-
formance. The law also states that the deterioration occurs more quickly
when the task to be performed is complex or under-learned. A simple task
will require a higher level of arousal for concentration to be maintained.
Stimulating music is expected to increase arousal and improve performance on
simple tasks but, if the task is complex, the level of arousal may become too
great and performance deteriorate. Arousal levels may also be linked to person-
ality factors (Eysenck, 1967) and are responsive to a range of environmental
stimuli. They are not consistent over time. Some research has shown that
positive emotions may adversely affect cognitive reasoning tasks (Oaksford et al.,
1996), so music inducing a positive mood might interfere with task perform-
ance.
The research reported here attempts to establish the effect of music on
task performance in 10–12 year olds, while clearly deŽ ning the nature of the
musical content as perceived by the listeners in relation to its potential to evoke
particular states of arousal. In the Ž rst study, pupils’ performance on arith-
metic tasks was compared in a calming, relaxing music condition and a
non-music condition. In the second study, an attempt was made to disrupt
studying by comparing performance in three conditions, two as before, the third
with music perceived as arousing, aggressive and unpleasant. After completion
of the second task, pupils were also asked to respond to materials indicating
their reported level of altruism to explore the possible effects of music on their
mood.
 114 S. Hallam et al.

Study 1
The Music
The music for the study was selected from that suggested by Giles (1991) as
‘mood calming’ and included selections from Walt Disney Ž lms and other
childrens’ music. SpeciŽ c pieces were chosen by playing short excerpts (60–90
seconds) to a group of children who were asked to assess each piece on three
dimensions happy/sad, calming/exciting and like/dislike. The criteria for in-
clusion of any individual piece of music was that it should be interpreted as
calming by the majority of the pupils.
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The Sample
31 children took part in the study. They were aged 10 to 11 in year 6 in a
junior school in the London area. They were randomly allocated to two
groups, a music group and a non-music group. The teacher reported that
in maths lessons they were normally quiet and industrious. They had also
had some previous experience of working with background music in creative
subjects.

The Task
The class teacher selected the arithmetic problems to be undertaken to consol-
idate work already covered in the syllabus and to be within each pupil’s level of
competence. The problems all concerned fractions.

Procedure
The mathematics sessions took place during the Ž rst lesson of each day on
four consecutive days. For the Ž rst 15 minutes of each period, Group B
(no music) completed their arithmetic work in one area of the room. This
was followed by general mathematics work. During this time Group A
worked on general mathematics tasks. Later in the session, group A (music),
completed their arithmetic work for 15 minutes while group B continued
with general mathematics. This pattern was repeated over the four sessions
with the order alternated so that no group had a practice advantage. The pupils
were instructed to work independently on their arithmetic work without
talking to other pupils and to sit quietly and complete correctly as many of
the maths problems as possible in the 15 minutes. If the pupil required teacher
instruction to complete the work, his/her score was discounted from the
analysis. In each session, for each individual, the number of attempted maths
problems, the number correctly completed and the accuracy rate were
recorded.
 Effects of Background Music on Task Performance 115

TABLE I. Mean number of problems completed with and without music

With music Without music

Mean SD Mean SD SigniŽ cance

Day 1 37.5 9.23 28 9.3 0.007

Day 2 32.5 12.6 24.8 10.7 0.05
Day 3 33.8 7.8 28.4 6.1 0.026
Day 4 36.4 7.9 29 11.43 0.03
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Results
An examination of the mean number of problems completed during the 15-min-
ute session revealed that the mean for those listening to the background music
was 34.9 (SD 5 7.7) problems and without background music 27.3 (SD 5 7.8).
This difference was statistically signiŽ cant (p 5 0.02). When performance was
considered for each day separately, this pattern was repeated (see Table I).
When the number of correct problems was considered, the overall mean
with background music was 27.8 (SD 5 7.5) and without background music
23.5 (SD 5 2.8). This was not statistically signiŽ cant (p 5 0.12). However, there
was some variability within the sessions (see Table II).
A percentage accuracy level was established by taking the number of correct
responses and dividing them by the number of attempted responses. The
percentage accuracy rate with background music was 84% and without back-
ground music 80%. This difference was not statistically signiŽ cant (see Table
III). However, there was a signiŽ cant difference in the variance of the two sets
of scores. With background music, the standard deviation was 12.7, without
background music it was 5.57 (p 5 0.025). There was considerable individual
variation in the level of accuracy when music was being played.

TABLE II. Mean number of problems solved correctly with and with-
out music

With music Without music

Mean SD Mean SD SigniŽ cance

Day 1 28.8 10.2 19.7 8.1 0.01

Day 2 22.7 12 19.9 10.3 NS
Day 3 26.6 11.4 25.8 6 NS
Day 4 29.3 7.2 24.4 11.5 NS
 116 S. Hallam et al.

TABLE III. Percentage accuracy level with and without music

With music Without music

Mean SD Mean SD SigniŽ cance

Day 1 76.9 18.3 73.8 14 NS

Day 2 71.9 25.1 79 16.5 NS
Day 3 77.4 21.57 90 5.9 NS
Day 4 81.4 15.5 80.7 12.7 NS
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Commentary
The Ž ndings from this study suggested that background music could enhance
the speed of working on mathematics problems. It did not lead to greater
accuracy. This supported the arousal hypothesis of music’s effects on task
performance. It further suggested that children who were normally well behaved
and concentrated on their work could further improve their rate of working
when appropriately calming music was being played. These Ž ndings prompted
a further study to explore whether it was possible to disrupt learning by playing
music which was perceived as arousing, aggressive and unpleasant. The effects
on mood would be explored indirectly through responses to questions regarding
altruistic behaviour.

Study 2
The Music
The researchers selected a range of music which they believed would be
perceived as pleasant and calming or unpleasant, arousing and aggressive. These
pieces were played to a group of ten children of the same age range as the
participants, who were asked to rate them on a Ž ve-point scale on a number of
dimensions: calm/exciting; pleasant/unpleasant; happy/sad; lively/sleepy; re-
laxed/tense; and gentle/aggressive. The criterion for the inclusion of the music
in the study was that the majority of pupils should have attributed the same
extreme characteristics to the pieces of music. On the basis of this process, the
two pieces of music selected to be used in the study were: Albinoni’s Adagio in
G minor (pleasant, calming music) and from Meditations by John Coltrane
‘The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost’ (unpleasant, aggressive).

The Pupils
Thirty children from three Greek schools in England were selected to take part.
They were randomly allocated to three groups: a control group; a group
listening to quiet, calming music; and a group listening to exciting, aggressive
 Effects of Background Music on Task Performance 117

music. There were 15 boys and 15 girls, Ž ve in each group. All the children were
in year 6, age 11–12.

The Tasks
The memory task. The task was a moderately difŽ cult one, requiring the pupils
to remember a word from a sentence. Recall was cued by the remainder of the
sentence being presented. Each student was provided with a booklet of ten
stimulus sentence cards and a booklet of ten cued recall cards. The ten
sentences were selected from those used in a study by Pressley et al. (1987). The
sentences contained arbitrary relations in which particular men performed
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actions. The target words were the adjectives which described the men, e.g.
‘The ugly man bought some plastic.’
The booklet with the cued-recall cards consisted of the same sentences
presented, one on each page with a gap in place of the target word, e.g. ‘The
… man bought some plastic.’ Each participant was presented with a booklet
containing ten stories and a choice of response to them.

The task to assess the level of altruism. Children were presented with a series of
stories which were devised to include a balanced gender mix to which they were
given a choice of response. Two examples are given below:

Example 1: Tom and Nick are classmates. Tom is good at maths while
Nick is weak. Their teacher told them that everyone who Ž nishes their
maths’ exercises can go out to play. Tom has almost Ž nished his
exercises when Nick asks him for help. What do you think Tom is
going to do?’

A. Tom will stay and help Nick

B. Tom will tell Nick that he does not know the answers so that he can
to out to play

Example 2: Peter and Angela are going to the cinema to watch a Ž lm

and they are in a hurry because they are late. At the trafŽ c lights a blind
woman is standing next to them and asks them if they can take her to
the chemist, which is in the opposite direction to the cinema. What do
you think they are going to do:

A. They will refuse saying that they are in a hurry

B. They are going to help her knowing that they will miss the Ž rst 10
minutes of the beginning of the Ž lm.
 118 S. Hallam et al.

TABLE IV. Performance on the memory task

Control Unpleasant Pleasant, calming

(no music) agressive music music

Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD

Whole
sample 4.9 1.37 3.3 1.49 6.9 1.52
Boys 5 1.87 3.2 1.9 7.2 1.3
Girls 4.8 0.84 3.4 1.14 6.6 1.8
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Procedure
The children were divided into three groups on a random basis. They were
instructed as follows:
The purpose of this study is to Ž nd out how well you can learn
sentences. Please read the following sentences and try to memorise
them. You will have 10 seconds to read each sentence. Every ten
seconds I will tell you to turn the page to the next sentence. Do you
all understand? Are there any questions?
Every ten seconds the children were asked to turn to the next page. When the
sentences had been read, the booklets were collected and the cued-recall
booklets given out. The children were then instructed:
You have to Ž ll in the gaps with the missing word in every sentence.
Spelling mistakes do not matter. You will have 10 seconds to write the
missing word in each sentence. Every ten seconds I will tell you to turn
the page. Do you understand? Are there any questions?’
There were no questions from the children at any point in the study. Where the
background music was used, it was played during the whole procedure. Each
piece was repeated until the completion of the study.
In the second phase of the study, the children were given the booklet with
the stories. They were told:
Please read the stories in the booklet and tick the answers that describe
what the individuals in the story will do in the situation they are in. If
you need more explanation please raise your hand.

Results
The means and standard deviations for each group are given in Table IV. An
analysis of variance revealed highly signiŽ cant differences between the three
groups (F 5 15.17, df 5 2,27, p 5 0.0001). There were no signiŽ cant differences
 Effects of Background Music on Task Performance 119

TABLE V. Performance on the altruistic task

Control Unpleasant Pleasant, calming

(no music) agressive music music

Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD

Whole
sample 6.4 2.08 4.2 1.39 7.6 1.57
Boys 5.6 1.5 3.4 1.1 6.8 1.64
Girls 7.2 1.6 5 1.22 8.4 1.1
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in the performance of boys and girls or signiŽ cant interactions between gender
and music conditions.
The means and standard deviations for the three groups on the altruistic
task are given in Table V. An analysis of variance revealed that the differences
between the groups were highly signiŽ cant (F 5 12.09, df 5 2,27, p 5 0.0002).
There were also signiŽ cant gender differences (F 5 9.76, df 5 2,27, p 5 0.005).
The boys consistently indicated less helpful responses than the girls. There were
no signiŽ cant interactions between the effects of the different kinds of music on
boys or girls.

Discussion
The studies described above demonstrate that, where the type of background
music played can be clearly deŽ ned by a group of listeners as calming and
pleasant or arousing and unpleasant, it can have distinctive effects on task
performance and the reporting of intended altruistic behaviour. Calming relax-
ing music had a positive effect on the number of mathematics problems
completed, remembering words from sentences and on reported pro-social
behaviour in children aged 10–12 years. Music perceived as arousing, un-
pleasant and aggressive had a negative affect on performance on a memory task
and also led to a lower level of reported pro-social behaviour.
The Ž ndings suggest that the effects of music on task performance are
mediated through its effects on arousal and mood. However, the research
reported here provides only a very small contribution to our understanding of
the ways that music might affect behaviour and various forms of studying. Much
more systematic work needs to be undertaken which takes account of the
characteristics of the individual, the nature of the music being played, the
listening environment; recent life events of the individual, metacognition, and
task requirements. Hallam et al. (submitted) has outlined a model which
provides a framework for this. While in this instance, the music appears to have
provided an optimal level of arousal for the tasks to be completed, in other
cases, particularly where children have great difŽ culties with concentration, it
may provide a non-verbal distraction which is less absorbing than other possible
 120 S. Hallam et al.

distracters. If concentration is lost, attention becomes focused on the back-

ground music rather than in developing behaviour which completely disrupts
work and disturbs others. The student brie y listens to the music and then
returns to concentration on the task itself. This hypothesis requires further
study.
The Ž ndings also show that some music can disrupt concentration and
generate moods which may lead to less altruistic states of mind. This is
important for research because it means that in considering the effects of music,
account must be taken of the kind of music that is being played. It has proved
difŽ cult in the past to describe systematically the ways that music differs in
relation to mood and arousal. The method adopted here which relies on
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listeners’ perceptions may prove valuable as a means of categorisation for future

research.
The impact of the calming, relaxing music on task performance suggests
that in schools, appropriately selected music could be used to create an
optimum environment for children to undertake individual work. However, this
should be approached cautiously. Currently, we do not know whether the
calming effects of the music would habituate and lose their power if they were
used regularly, although Savan (1999) has reported consistent effects on chil-
dren with learning, emotional and behavioural difŽ culties over a long period of
time. As a Ž rst step, teachers might explore using music at times when children
are extremely over-aroused rather than on a regular basis, for instance, after
lunch or break times when there are severe weather conditions or when children
are excited about particular events, e.g. holidays, Christmas. Lively music could
also be used to increase arousal, for instance if children are exhibiting signs of
sleepiness.
Outside the classroom, music can also be used to promote desired behav-
iour, for example, a march to move pupils effectively round the school, quiet
re ective music while waiting for assembly to begin, pleasant, relaxing music
while meals are served. While some may feel that this undermines the value of
music for its own sake, there is evidence that much of what we learn is acquired
without our conscious awareness (Berns et al., 1997). Music is no exception to
this. Much of our knowledge of musical repertoire comes from listening in
informal settings while we undertake other activities. The music selected for use
in school to improve learning and behaviour could also enhance musical
knowledge and thinking (Hallam, 2001b).
The Ž ndings may have even greater importance for the child’s life outside
school. Parents need to be aware of the effects that music can have on
behaviour, particularly where they might be negative. Where the home environ-
ment is pervaded by highly arousing music, the child is likely to be more active.
If the music is, in addition, perceived as aggressive or unpleasant it may lead to
behaviour which is characterised as being antisocial. While older children and
adults are able to recognise the negative impact of certain types of music on
their behaviour and task performance, there is evidence that children of primary
school age cannot (Hallam et al., submitted). Parents therefore need to be
 Effects of Background Music on Task Performance 121

proactive in monitoring the music to which their young children are exposed
and also teaching them about the possible effects of music, so that they can
make appropriate choices of music when older for playing while undertaking
homework and private study, which will enhance rather than disrupt their work.

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