Performing cognitively demanding tasks while listening to music?

I'm always fond of  listening to music while performing tasks. The act of listening to your favorite jam while performing a task can motivate you and even easen the task at hand.But recently I discovered something weird.

When I was reading (with music playing in the background)an  eBook I had downloaded from the rcg.org  ,I found it harder concentrating that I just closed the book minutes after opening it.This was rather strange. How comes when I was performing less cognitively demanding tasks like cleaning my room while listening to music ,I would get motivated to perform it effectively and efficiently?




Well,In 2010, researchers at the University of Wales Institute
showed that when adults were asked to complete a relatively complex task of recalling a series of sounds presented in a specific order, their performance decreased while listening to music.
The study concluded that your ability to learn something new that is cognitively demanding decreases when you listen to music.
The eBook I had downloaded from the rcg website was cognitively demanding.This needed my mind to be fully concentrated on the  new resource.Listening to music would drive away my concentration from the material and this would lead to my inability to read it.




That's why you'll find it easier reading old literature while listening to music since it's not cognitively demanding as compared to new material.



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