Differences in Listening Comprehension with Tonal and Atonal Background Music

Abstract

This study investigated the ability of subjects to complete a listening comprehension test in the presence of background tonal and atonal music. Ninety college freshmen participated in the study. The subjects were divided into three groups. Each group was administered the Sequential Tests of Educational Progress Listening Comprehension Test, Level J, under one of three experimental conditions: (a) no background music, (b) tonal background music, and (c) atonal background music. An analysis of variance revealed that scores obtained under tonal music conditions were significantly lower than scores obtained under no music conditions. It was concluded that tonal music distracted subjects because of its tonality. These findings suggest that attention may be activated by auditory stimuli that have predictable outcomes in a temporal dimension.