The Effect of Background Instrumental Music On Emotion and Performance

Music affects the listener behavior and emotion, but this condition depends on variables of music design. In this regard, the present study aims to compare the emotional state, task load and performance under three different sound conditions determined by the tempo, articulation, mode, and metre of the songs. To achieve this end, we implemented a web-based tool in which the users’ interaction was designed to be counter-intuitive and difficult. The tool collected several types of events during the interaction to measure the performance. The results revealed that the interaction was complicated and that required attention and effort to achieved a desired result. Besides, in general, the emotional state was not negatively affected by the condition. Nevertheless, outcomes illustrated important trends in task performance (i.e. final decisions, number of bad submissions, scroll direction changes, time spent, and time perceived) and task load (i.e. frustration) when comparing the three sound conditions. Thus, it is important to widen the experimental sample size to test for significance in the difference among different sound conditions.

Rodriguez, B. M., Arce-Lopera, C. A., Arboleda, A. M., Diaz Cely, J. G., Correa, J., Montoya, P. (2018). The Effect of Background Instrumental Music On Emotion and Performance (pp. 334-338). Lisboa: Iadis

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