Music Background and Academic Performance
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Vincent Tomasulo
College:
The College of Health Professions and Human Services
Major:
Forensic Psychology
Faculty Research Advisor(s):
Christine Doyle
Abstract:
The art form of music and its influence can be found all around the world and can be traced back to our human origins. Music plays many different roles for individuals and holds a variety of significant uses for many people. Thanks to today’s technology, music can be accessed with ease and can be learned much easier. It is also known that music can have many effects on the human mind and behavior; making music a popular research area. Numerous studies over time have explored the relationship between music and education. To add to this topic, an experiment was conducted to examine if there was a relationship between an individual’s music background and academic performance. It was hypothesized that an individual who had a background in music would have higher academic performance. The study included 20 participants across different ages, races, and genders who completed a questionnaire regarding their experience with music and academic achievement. An Independent Sample t-Test was used to analyze the data and it was found there was no significant difference between people who have a background in music and people who do not have a background in music in relation to their GPA. The study hoped to find any connections between prior music education and academic performance but a low sample size posed as a serious limitation. It is recommended that future studies should include a higher participant count for more significant results that can help better understand the complex relationship between humans and music.