A Study of the Effect of Phonological Loop Suppression on TMT-B Test Performance

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the impact of vocal music on cognitive performance using the Trail Making Test (TMT)-B. A sample of 90 participants was randomly assigned into two groups: one group listened to vocal music while completing the TMT-B, while the other group performed the task without any music. The TMT-B was specifically chosen as it incorporates the central executive, particularly the phonological loop, enabling more targeted findings. Our hypothesis posited that participants exposed to vocal music would exhibit lower performance on the TMT-B test due to the distraction caused and the suppression of the phonological loop. Statistical analysis was conducted using the Mann-Whitney U Test. Results revealed a significant difference in completion time between the two groups (with a large effect size d=0,95), with the group with vocal music taking longer to complete the test compared to the group without music. This suggests that vocal music interference has a negative impact on TMT-B performance. Keywords: Working memory • Phonological loop Suppression • Processing speed • Cognition • Trail Making Test