Music Influence on Cognitive Function among University Student: An Experimental Study Through a Randomized Controlled Trial

Engaging with music while studying can influence academic performance among students. Several studies have shown a negative effect of non-classical genres on short-term memory performance yet still limited to classical background music, especially in the context of Malaysian culture. Therefore, a present study investigated the impact of classical background music on short-term memory performance among undergraduate female participants (N=48) from Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI). The study employed a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) design where purposive sampling with inclusion and exclusion criteria was used to recruit the participants, which then randomly assigned into four groups: Solo piano, Orchestral, Operatic, and No music through single-blind method. The short-term memory task consisted of 20 trials of 5-letter nonsense syllables displayed for three seconds, with an 8-second gap between each trial and the scoring ranged from zero to 20. Classical music from the romantic period was selected, featuring five different short pieces looped in each condition. The results of one-way ANOVA and Tukey (HSD) post hoc analysis showed significant mean differences among the groups (F(3, 44) = 15.95, p < .001) with the Operatic group exhibiting the lowest accuracy in short-term memory compared to the other groups (Mdiff = 5.33, p < .001, Mdiff = 3.16, p = .002, Mdiff = –4.08, p < .001, α = .05, SE = .57). Future researchers should address the following improvements: larger and diverse sample size to avoid bias assumptions, suitable experimental design for task variety and cultural acceptance of background music, and alternative psychology analysis methods.