Effects of Music on College Students

Music undoubtedly plays a large part in the lives of college students. Students are subjected to musical stimuli in a number of ways, from the music they prefer to listen to while studying to the music they may be impetuously subjected to while at a party. Many studies have been conducted to determine the effects of music on young students, from those aimed at determining its effect on intelligence, to those seeking to break down its emotional and psychological consequences.

Effects of Classical Music on Intelligence: The Mozart Effect

• One of the most famous studies conducted to determine the effects of music on the brain was headed by Francis H. Rauscher at the University of California Irvine in 1993. This experiment continued earlier research done by French researcher Dr. Alfred A. Tomatis, who believed that the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart could be used to heal and develop the brain, a condition he termed "The Mozart Effect." Rauscher had college students listen to either pieces by Mozart, silence, or a relaxation tape and immediately followed the music with an intelligence test. Rauscher found that the student's scores improved after listening to Mozart. While the improvement in mental imagery and temporal ordering only lasted a span of 10 to 15 minutes, the experiment has widely suggested that listening to Mozart increases IQ levels -- especially in children -- and has been used to defend this conception ever since.

Effects of Unwanted Heavy Metal Music on Emotion and Intelligence

• In 2008, psychologist Milton E. Becknell performed an experiment on 18 college women to determine the psychological (mainly the visceral or emotional) and physiological effects of heavy metal music. The study found that exposure to heavy metal music resulted in physiological reactivity or a physical response to stress characterized by a tensing of the masseter muscle (the muscle that controls the jaw) and the frontalis muscle (the muscle above the eyelid and across the brow). The music also caused the release of epinephrine and norepinephrine, hormones that increase heart rate and induce the fight-or-flight response.

Effects of Preferred Heavy Metal Music on Behavior and Intelligence

• Psychologist David S. Kreiner and his partner, K.A. Walker, conducted a study in 2006 on both male and female college students to determine the effects of preferred music on college students after a number of studies suggested that students who preferred heavy metal and other intense music performed poorly in school and suffered from emotional and behavioral problems. Kreiner and Walker found that students who preferred intense forms of music actually tended to score higher on intelligence tests, particularly where abstraction was concerned, suggesting that the metaphors and abstract language in the music held the listener's attention. Further, the tests showed no correlation between preferred music and aggression, suggesting that earlier studies were biased.

Effects of Techno Music on the Brain

• A study conducted by Psychologist G. Gerra in 1998 attempted to determine the arousing effects of techno music commonly found at dance parties and raves attended by college students. The study found that techno music produced higher pulse rates and increased blood pressure as well as the production of stress-related hormones like epinephrine, suggesting that music has a complex influence on the nervous system. The study also found, not surprisingly, that amphetamines heightened the arousing effects of the music and that the activity of the brain is literally altered when the music is introduced, causing the brain to switch from normal alpha patterns to the beta, theta and delta patterns associated with those in a vegetative state.