The effects of expressions of fear induced by background music on reading comprehension

• Published in: Journal of research in reading Vol. 46; no. 2; pp. 143 - 162
• Main Authors: Wong, Agnes S.K., Moreno, Matthew, Burns, Samantha, Woodruff, Earl
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Wiley 01.05.2023; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Affect (Psychology); Autism; Cognitive load; College Students; Fear; Fear & phobias; Foreign Countries; individual difference; Influence; Intervention; multi‐level modelling; Music; music tempo; Predictor Variables; Reading Comprehension; Reading processes; Special Needs Students; Teaching Methods; Canada
• ISSN: 0141-0423; 1467-9817
• DOI: 10.1111/1467-9817.12418

Background Research has suggested that background music can have a positive or negative effect that can influence the affective state of individuals. Although research has demonstrated that fear negatively influences our cognitive performance, there is a research gap in understanding the combined effects of different background music tempo and fear in influencing reading comprehension performance. Methods Data were collected from 70 participants enrolled at a public university in Canada. Participants were required to listen to background music of varying speeds with three conditions (no music, slow music and fast music). We adopted a cross‐sectional multi‐level modelling approach for the main analyses, and further analyses using t‐test and ANOVA. Results Results indicated that expression of fear was not a significant predictor of participants' reading comprehension performance (Model 1). However, when music condition was added (Model 2) in addition to expression of fear, a significant relationship between reading comprehension performance and music condition was found, showing better reading comprehension performance in the slow music condition than in the no music condition. Furthermore, there was a significant interaction effect between music condition and expression of fear on reading comprehension performance (Model 3). Importantly, not all individuals were affected by the music to the same extent, with the possibility that baseline level of fear being the key issue in influencing comprehension performance. Conclusions Considering both expression of fear and music condition is required to understand the combined effects on cognitive performance. Expression of fear during cognitive tasks such as reading could be an essential signal that interventions should be applied. Such strategies may be especially beneficial for task performers with higher baseline levels of fear and possibly provide us with insights for best practice and research implications in the field of reading comprehension among individuals with special needs. Highlights What is already known about this topic Background music can influence our emotions, including fear, which in turn affect learning, whereas certain affective states such as fear can potentially negatively affect learning. Music tempo can influence reading comprehension performance, which could be the result of cognitive load. There is no consensus about the combined effect of background music and fear on our mind during cognitively demanding tasks such as reading comprehension. What this paper adds Expression of fear itself was not a significant predictor of reading comprehension performance in different background music conditions. There was a significant interaction effect between music condition and expression of fear on reading comprehension performance, with the negative relationship between fear and reading comprehension performance was reduced in the no music condition or amplified in the fast music condition. Not all participants were affected to the same extent by the background music, with the individual's baseline level of fear hypothesized to be the key issue. Implications for theory, policy or practice We need to consider both the individual's affective state (expression of fear) and the environment (different background music conditions) for understanding the impacts on cognitive performance (e.g., reading comprehension performance). Although expression of fear itself cannot predict cognitive performance, expression of fear is still crucial for understanding the potential impacts by background music, because it affects the degree of impacts on cognitive performance. Interventions such as offering noise‐cancelling headphones and teaching relaxation strategies may be especially beneficial for certain task performers (e.g., some typically developing individuals and people with special needs such as autism) who perceive music/noise as distracting or for those with higher or unstable baseline levels of fear who need to work in a non‐quiet environment.