How Do You Study: Measuring Effects of Background Stimuli on Reading Comprehension

This study examined how auditory and visual stimuli affect reading comprehension. Participants, randomly assigned to auditory, visual, or control conditions, completed two reading comprehension tests. The auditory condition featured instrumental music, while the visual condition used a Minecraft parkour video, mimicking “sludge” content—a social media trend featuring primary and secondary visual stimuli. Results showed no significant difference between auditory and control conditions, although the control group significantly outperformed the visual condition. Future research could investigate more diverse or larger sample groups. This study contributes to findings on sensory stimuli in academic tasks and highlights directions for future exploration.