Music Negatively Affects Creativity, Study Finds

A new study claims that music negatively affects creativity. Psychologists from different universities in Europe determined the effect of background music on one’s ability to do verbal creative tasks. To test this, the researchers assigned 30 participants to different settings: a quiet environment, a room that had background music with foreign lyrics, another room with only instrumental music, and a room with music that has familiar lyrics. There was also a room with library noise. In each setting, the participants completed Compound Remote Associate Tasks (CRATs), a test that measures a person’s ability to solve problems creatively. In CRATs, participants are given three words. Afterward, they must come up with a word that can be connected to each given word. The results of the experiment showed that the participants were able to solve more problems when they worked in a noiseless environment. In contrast, the participants performed poorly in rooms that had music, regardless of what type of music was playing. Additionally, the participants’ performance was not negatively affected by library noise. The researchers believe that this is because library noise is far less distracting than music. The scientists are not certain why music negatively influences creativity. However, they suggested that listening to music might be interfering with the verbal working memory of the participants. Verbal working memory refers to the ability of people to understand information and use it to solve problems. When this type of memory is interrupted, people have a harder time gaining the insight needed to complete tasks that require creativity.