Should you listen to music when you work?
Do you like to listen to music when you work?
Ask this question at a party, and you'll probably get 1 responses. Some will say they love it, claiming that it improves their performance; others will say they find it distracting （分散注意力的) and cannot work 2 with music playing in the background.
Interestingly enough, our research has found that both of these viewpoints can be true. It just3 on what sort of work you're doing.
In a recent study, we brought participants into our lab to perform a variety of tasks. They included a（n) 4 task一searching through word lists and crossing out words containing the letter "a" and a more difficult task memorizing word pairs and 5 each word to its partner. Some participants completed all of the tasks in silence, 6 others completed the tasks with instrumental music that was either loud or soft, and either simple or complex, the latter meaning music with more instruments being played. Several key findings 7 from our study.
We found that participants who listened to simple music or no music performed about the same on the easy task. However, participants who listened to 8 music performed best on the easy task.
On the contrary, participants performed worse on the more difficult task when they listened to any music, regardless of complexity or volume, compared to those who didn't listen to any music.
How should we 9 these findings?
We suggest that people have limited mental resources from which both 10 and tasks can draw. We can become 11 and our minds may wander when these resources are not fully used. But we also can become over-excited and 12 when these resources are used up.
Not surprisingly, we typically need to use fewer of our mental resources when we perform ceasy tasks, whereas demanding tasks require more brainpower. However, because we might be less 13 during easier tasks, there is a greater risk of drifting off. Music might give us the extra 14 we need to overcome the monotony （单调)。 However, difficult tasks already demand a lot of our resources. Listening to music can become too much.
So best 15 should appear when we strike a "sweet spot," which may depend on the type of music and the type of task.
