As is a very common phenomenon, students are listening to music while studying or doing homework. In libraries, many choose to isolate themselves from the outside wearing headphones, and the same is true of some offices. Whether or not there is isolation, however, what these people have in common is that they see music as a tool that can improve concentration and productivity in general.
But is it true? Does music really help us focus better on what we're doing, whether it's memorizing text, studying complex topics, or writing projects?
Scientific studies have been carried out on this subject for many decades among other things, because if music can be used to improve the performance of students or workers, this information can be very useful for organizations able to finance this type of study.
For example, the results of a study were published in 1972 and it was designed to try to better understand the relationship between listening to melodies and changes in productivity. Through a series of observations, there was an increase in the performance of workers when listening to music from loudspeakers.
However, this study was the daughter of its time, and was only used to study a very specific and representative working context of the time: that of factories. Workforce tasks were repetitive, predictable and boring, and the music acted as a stimulant of mental activity. As the work was more rewarding and enjoyable, the productivity results were also better.
Other research that took place later served to reinforce (加强) the idea that music improves the performance of routine tasks. This was good news, but what about the most complex and creative jobs — those which cannot be carried out by machines? What about studying complex academic programs, which cannot be memorized literally but need to be understood and mentally worked on?
