The effect of music on arousal, enjoyment, and cognitive performance

The present study examined the relationship between arousal and cognitive performance after musical experience via different music activities. Participants performed four musical tasks as music activities - listening, singing, rhythm tapping, and keyboard playing - in addition to a non-musical task. In order to examine music-induced arousal, the arousal level of each participant was measured before and after the musical task. Participants' recall of lyrics was measured, along with the ratings on the task difficulty and enjoyment of the musical task. While arousal changed after active musical tasks, the arousal change did not contribute to recall. Instead, an indirect relationship between arousal and recall was found: arousal change after a musical task was related to enjoyment of the task and enjoyment mediated the relationship between arousal and recall by predicting recall. These results do not support the direct effect of music on recall. Instead, the present findings suggest that enjoyment of musical experience plays a critical role in the relationship between music-induced arousal and memory.