{"id":{"repo_id":"rowan","oai_identifier":"oai:rdw.rowan.edu:etd-1351"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/rowan/oai:rdw.rowan.edu:etd-1351","repository":{"repo_id":"rowan","name":"Rowan University","base_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"The differentiated effects of lyrical and non-lyrical music on reading comprehension","abstract":"The present study seeks to observe the effect of background music on reading comprehension, specifically searching for possible differences between effects brought on by different genres (i.e. classical and rock) and the presence of lyrics. Research on task performance in the presence of background sound is mixed, in part due to the large number of possible applications. An overview of existing research on this topic is presented, including articles on the relationship between music and cognitive ability, distractors and processing resources, and pre-existing studies on music and reading comprehension. University students participated in a randomized experiment, taking the Reading Comprehension portion of the Nelson Denny Reading Test in the presence of either (1) classical music with lyrics, (2) classical music without lyrics, (3) rock with lyrics, or (4) rock without lyrics. One-way analysis of variance revealed no significant main effect for both variables of genre and lyrics. A significant interaction was found between these two variables. Implications and possible explanations for these findings are discussed. Limitations of the present study and future improvements and directions are discussed.","abstract_html":"The present study seeks to observe the effect of background music on reading comprehension, specifically searching for possible differences between effects brought on by different genres (i.e. classical and rock) and the presence of lyrics. Research on task performance in the presence of background sound is mixed, in part due to the large number of possible applications. An overview of existing research on this topic is presented, including articles on the relationship between music and cognitive ability, distractors and processing resources, and pre-existing studies on music and reading comprehension. University students participated in a randomized experiment, taking the Reading Comprehension portion of the Nelson Denny Reading Test in the presence of either (1) classical music with lyrics, (2) classical music without lyrics, (3) rock with lyrics, or (4) rock without lyrics. One-way analysis of variance revealed no significant main effect for both variables of genre and lyrics. A significant interaction was found between these two variables. Implications and possible explanations for these findings are discussed. Limitations of the present study and future improvements and directions are discussed.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Miller, Cameron"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A. School Psychology-Professional School Psychology","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dihoff, Roberta"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-09-09T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-09-09T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:09Z","subjects":["Music; Reading comprehension","Student Counseling and Personnel Services"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/352","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dihoff, Roberta"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Miller, Cameron"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-03-03T19:59:01Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A. School Psychology-Professional School Psychology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Music; Reading comprehension","Student Counseling and Personnel Services"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/352"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The present study seeks to observe the effect of background music on reading comprehension, specifically searching for possible differences between effects brought on by different genres (i.e. classical and rock) and the presence of lyrics. Research on task performance in the presence of background sound is mixed, in part due to the large number of possible applications. An overview of existing research on this topic is presented, including articles on the relationship between music and cognitive ability, distractors and processing resources, and pre-existing studies on music and reading comprehension. University students participated in a randomized experiment, taking the Reading Comprehension portion of the Nelson Denny Reading Test in the presence of either (1) classical music with lyrics, (2) classical music without lyrics, (3) rock with lyrics, or (4) rock without lyrics. One-way analysis of variance revealed no significant main effect for both variables of genre and lyrics. A significant interaction was found between these two variables. Implications and possible explanations for these findings are discussed. Limitations of the present study and future improvements and directions are discussed."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The differentiated effects of lyrical and non-lyrical music on reading comprehension"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dihoff, Roberta"],"dc:creator":["Miller, Cameron"],"dc:date.available":["2020-03-03T19:59:01Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The present study seeks to observe the effect of background music on reading comprehension, specifically searching for possible differences between effects brought on by different genres (i.e. classical and rock) and the presence of lyrics. Research on task performance in the presence of background sound is mixed, in part due to the large number of possible applications. An overview of existing research on this topic is presented, including articles on the relationship between music and cognitive ability, distractors and processing resources, and pre-existing studies on music and reading comprehension. University students participated in a randomized experiment, taking the Reading Comprehension portion of the Nelson Denny Reading Test in the presence of either (1) classical music with lyrics, (2) classical music without lyrics, (3) rock with lyrics, or (4) rock without lyrics. One-way analysis of variance revealed no significant main effect for both variables of genre and lyrics. A significant interaction was found between these two variables. Implications and possible explanations for these findings are discussed. Limitations of the present study and future improvements and directions are discussed."],"dc:identifier":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/352"],"dc:subject":["Music; Reading comprehension","Student Counseling and Personnel Services"],"dc:title":["The differentiated effects of lyrical and non-lyrical music on reading comprehension"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A. School Psychology-Professional School Psychology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:09Z"}