The Effect of Music on Basic Human Reaction Time

Overview

Objectives/Goals The purpose of our project is to determine how music affects reaction time. We also attempted to determine what type of music would have the best affect on reaction time. The genres of music that we used in the experiment was Intense Classical, Metal, Folk, Calm Classical, and Electronic. Methods/Materials Twenty subjects were tested for our experiment using an online computer program that tests basic human reaction time. An iPod and headphones were used during the experiment so that the subjects could listen to the different types of music while taking the test. Each subject took the test five times and each time listened to a different type of music. The averages of each test were recorded as results. Results Folk music had the best results with reaction time. It was the only one to beat the control. The average reaction time of folk music was .32 seconds. And the second best music was Calm Classical that had a average reaction time of .34 seconds. Intense classical had the worst, with a average reaction time of .41 seconds. Conclusions/Discussion Our hypothesis was partially correct, in that music does have an effect on reaction time. However we were not correct on what type of music that would have the best result with reaction time. The music that had the best results and the only music that beat the control was Folk. However if you are trying to make your reaction time faster it is better to not listen to music. If of course you had to listen to music the best choice would be Folk.

Competition history

• CSEF 2013 Behavioral & Social Sciences · Entry S0403

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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