Haley Egan and Jason Lazarz

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to learn more about the impact that screens and different music have on physiological arousal and task performance. This experiment utilized a 2×2 factorial design, in which participants completed a series of mazes while listening to music that was either distracting or calming, and on either a bright computer screen or on paper. Some mazes were not solvable, in order to see how long participants would work on the task before giving up. Their skin conductance was measured to examine levels of physiological arousal in each condition. A follow up questionnaire was also taken to look at self-reported stress and typical music behavior. Participants were not told that some mazes were not solvable, or that other participants listened to other music/completed the maze on a computer or paper.