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> I discovered the information on the 'Mozart' effect while
> doing some online
> research related to background noises. I then promptly bought:
> 1. A great pair of earphones for my computer.
> 2. Several CD's of the well-recommended Mozart titles.
> I printed the research results so that anyone asking about my
> listening
> habits would soon learn that the music I had chose has been
> 'proven' to
> boost learning and performance.
The research to which you refer, did it highlight increases
in performance WHILE listening to the music? Or was it that
subjects who listened for a certain amount of time prior
to a task then performed better at the task?
The reason that I ask is that when I hear complicated
music, I have to either pay attention to it or exert
myself to tune it out (like any other noise). If I'm
paying attention to it, I'm diverting attention from
my tasks.
Bland, easy-listening music works ok for me, as an
innocuous background, but Mozart is generally much too
engaging/distracting.