Abstract
Music sometimes improves performance in sustained attention tasks. But the type of music employed in previous investigations has varied considerably, which can account for equivocal results. Progress has been hampered by lack of a systematic database of music varying in key characteristics like tempo and valence. The aims of this study were to establish a database of popular music varying along the dimensions of tempo and valence and to examine the impact of music varying along these dimensions on restoring attentional resources following performance of a sustained attention to response task (SART) vigil. Sixty-nine participants rated popular musical selections that varied in valence and tempo to establish a database of four musical types: fast tempo positive valence, fast tempo negative valence, slow tempo positive valence, and slow tempo negative valence. A second group of 89 participants performed two blocks of the SART task interspersed with either no break or a rest break consisting of 1 of the 4 types of music or silence. Presenting positive valence music (particularly of slow tempo) during an intermission between two successive blocks of the SART significantly decreased miss rates relative to negative valence music or silence. Results support an attentional restoration theory of the impact of music on sustained attention, rather than arousal theory and demonstrate a means of restoring sustained attention. Further, the results establish the validity of a music database that will facilitate further investigations of the impact of music on performance.
Highlights
Music impacts many aspects of everyday life including our ability to maintain executive control of attention, during sustained attention tasks
Berto found that participants who were shown natural environments performed significantly better than control participants on the second block of the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART)
Participants were compensated with a small amount of research credit for their participation in the study
Summary
Music impacts many aspects of everyday life including our ability to maintain executive control of attention, during sustained attention tasks. Kuhbandner and Zehetleitner [4] found that tempo and valence impacted different aspects of executive attentional control. Scolaro, Bailey, and Chen [5] observed that negative valence music enhanced processing of attentional cues while positive valence music had no effect. Pereira et al [6] found differential activation of specific brain regions as a function of music that is familiar versus unfamiliar and liked versus disliked.
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