The effect of background music on the cognitive performance of musicians: A pilot study

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate how background music with different instruments affects trained musicians’ performance on cognitive tasks. Participants completed three sets of cognitively demanding intelligence tasks in a Latin Square design where each group listened to a different piece of music, involving their own and other musical instruments. The results showed that musicians’ performance on cognitive tasks is more impaired when listening to music featuring their own respective instruments than when not. These results are congruent with previous research and the central experimental hypothesis. Implications and limitations are noted.