Data Visualization
Background Music Tempo and Typing Performance
This project was submitted as a part of the graduate data analytics course. The project involved coming up with a research question and either collecting the data through an experiment or finding an available dataset. It was required to create at least one figure using R, which is a programming language commonly used for statistical analysis. This study investigated the effects background music tempo has on typing performance.
Significance of Project
Any background music played while studying could help or hinder how someone may perform. Research on the effects of background music have various findings, some state positive effects while others state the opposite. This study was aimed towards individual findings, but future research can expand across a larger number of participants. Results could aid in creating a better study environment that leads to better performance in study or work tasks. One other feature of this project was the use of R to create an appropriate statistical figure. It is important to be clear and concise when visualizing data. Figures should be easy to understand and tell the story of your findings.
Summary of Project
People have a variety of music they chose to listen to when studying or doing other tasks. The actual effect of background music on work performance has varied throughout studies. Some studies report positive effects, such as relaxing music improving test performance and joyful music enhancing selective attention. Other studies have found that background music can have negative effects. Reading and recall performance is negatively impacted when listening to any sort of music. Background music can affect working performance at different levels.
This study examined the effects music tempo (measured in beats per minute or BPM) has on typing performance (measured in words per minute typed and typing accuracy). This study hypothesized that slower paced music would have a higher number of words per minute typed and a higher typing accuracy score. Faster tempo music would have the opposite effect, and no background music would have little to no effect on performance.
The method for this study was one subject performing five observations for each BPM group. There were four BPM groups: 0 BPM, 60 BPM, 120 BPM, and 180 BPM. A website was used to give random typing prompts and keep track of typing speed as well as accuracy. Pop music with no lyrics was listened to while typing prompts in a quiet area with noise cancelling headphones.
After data was collected, R was used to create a scatter plot along with a box plot. The scatter plot graphed WPM vs. BPM along with the third variable of typing accuracy (out of 100%). Differences in typing accuracy was shown using a range of colors. A linear model was also graphed in this plot show a relationship between BPM and WPM. The box plot shows the medians of the data.
This study found that when compared to faster paced music, slower paced music did have a higher number of WPM typed along with a higher accuracy score. However, no background music (0 BPM) had the highest WPM type and the best typing accuracy. This goes against our second hypothesis about no background music. Due to time and resources, this experiment was only done on one participant with a limited number of observations. Future research should expand upon participants and observations and should study different genres of music, lyrics vs. no lyrics, and different typing tasks.
References
Cockerton, Moore, S., & Norman, D. (1997). Cognitive Test Performance and Background Music. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 85(3_suppl), 1435–1438. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1997.85.3f.1435
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Fernandez, Trost, W. J., & Vuilleumier, P. (2019). Brain networks mediating the influence of background music on selective attention. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 14(12), 1441– 1452. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaa004
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Gillan, D. J., Wickens, C. D., Hollands, J. G., & Carswell, C. M. (1998). Guidelines for Presenting Quantitative Data in HFES Publications. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 40(1), 28–41. https://doi.org/10.1518/001872098779480640
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Kumar, Naveen & Wajidi, M.A. & Chian, Y.T. & Vishroothi, S. & Ravindra, Savithri & Aithal, Ashwini. (2016). The effect of listening to music on concentration and academic performance of the student: Cross-sectional study on medical undergraduate students. Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological and Chemical Sciences. 7. 1190-1195.
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Perham, & Currie, H. (2014). Does listening to preferred music improve reading comprehension performance? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 28(2), 279–284. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.2994
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Perham, & Vizard, J. (2011). Can preference for background music mediate the irrelevant sound effect? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25(4), 625–631. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1731
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Shih, Y. N., Huang, R. H., & Chiang, H. S. (2009). Correlation between work concentration level and background music: A pilot study. Work, 33(3), 329-333.