Running Head: EFFECTS OF MUSIC ON TEST ANXIETY EFFECTS OF MUSIC ON TEST ANXIETY AND SCORE 12 The Effects of Music on Testing Anxiety and Performance Jane Doe University of Southern Mississippi The Effects of Music on Testing Anxiety and Performance Stress and college go hand in hand, and oftentimes a student’s most stressful day is the day of an exam. Test anxiety is nothing new, yet it is a real issue among university students. Universities are already a high stress environment, and the fear of failing can be overwhelming (Smyth & Banks, 2015). Constant stress can be not only be detrimental to a young person’s health and emotional wellbeing, but can also affect that person’s performance (Chapell, et al., 2005). Music is simple tool that could be used to aid in decreasing test anxiety and increase success for students (Lilley, Oberle, & Thompson, 2014). Anxiety can be described as a natural reaction to uncertainty, fear, or a perceived threat in one’s environment. Test anxiety is a common and real worry that university students suffer from; they have psychological and physiological responses to the uncertainty of their testing performance and the implications of their scores (Lilley, Oberle, & Thompson, 2014). Research can support that exams are a legitimate source of anxiety for students. In a study done by Smith and Banks (2015), interviews they conducted with students in an Irish school system shows that the vast majority of students surveyed placed heavy personal burden on their performance in their final examinations due to the effect the results had on their future. The anxiety related to the fear of failing this examination pushed some students in Smith and Bank’s study to spend copious amounts of time on homework and studying, causing an excess amount of stress on their mind and body. On the opposite end of the spectrum, some students felt they were unable to focus on completing an acceptable amount of work, and that that their anxiety kept them from preforming as well. Physical manifestations of anxiety, such as upset stomachs, and feelings of hopelessness were reported as well (Smyth & Banks, 2015). Testing anxieties can lead to a decrease in academic performance for an otherwise successful student. In one study lead by Chapell (2005), 5,551 graduate and undergraduate students were assessed for anxiety level as well as grade point average. The participants in Chapell’s study were split into groups of graduates and undergraduates; male and female; and low, moderate, and high test anxiety. Students were asked about their cumulative grade point average and were administered a questionnaire that assessed their testing anxiety. Generally speaking, the results showed that students who reported having low test anxiety also had an average 3.77 GPA, while students who showed signs of high test anxiety had an average GPA of 3.61 (Chapell, et al., 2005). Stress can not only cause drops in performance, but also can be de ...

1. Running Head: EFFECTS OF MUSIC ON TEST ANXIETY
EFFECTS OF MUSIC ON TEST ANXIETY AND SCORE 12
The Effects of Music on Testing Anxiety and Performance
Jane Doe
University of Southern Mississippi
The Effects of Music on Testing Anxiety and Performance
Stress and college go hand in hand, and oftentimes a student’s
most stressful day is the day of an exam. Test anxiety is
nothing new, yet it is a real issue among university students.
Universities are already a high stress environment, and the fear
of failing can be overwhelming (Smyth & Banks, 2015).
Constant stress can be not only be detrimental to a young
person’s health and emotional wellbeing, but can also affect
that person’s performance (Chapell, et al., 2005). Music is
simple tool that could be used to aid in decreasing test anxiety
and increase success for students (Lilley, Oberle, & Thompson,
2014).
Anxiety can be described as a natural reaction to
uncertainty, fear, or a perceived threat in one’s environment.
Test anxiety is a common and real worry that university
students suffer from; they have psychological and physiological
responses to the uncertainty of their testing performance and the
implications of their scores (Lilley, Oberle, & Thompson,
2014). Research can support that exams are a legitimate source
of anxiety for students. In a study done by Smith and Banks

2. (2015), interviews they conducted with students in an Irish
school system shows that the vast majority of students surveyed
placed heavy personal burden on their performance in their final
examinations due to the effect the results had on their future.
The anxiety related to the fear of failing this examination
pushed some students in Smith and Bank’s study to spend
copious amounts of time on homework and studying, causing an
excess amount of stress on their mind and body. On the
opposite end of the spectrum, some students felt they were
unable to focus on completing an acceptable amount of work,
and that that their anxiety kept them from preforming as well.
Physical manifestations of anxiety, such as upset stomachs, and
feelings of hopelessness were reported as well (Smyth & Banks,
2015).
Testing anxieties can lead to a decrease in academic
performance for an otherwise successful student. In one study
lead by Chapell (2005), 5,551 graduate and undergraduate
students were assessed for anxiety level as well as grade point
average. The participants in Chapell’s study were split into
groups of graduates and undergraduates; male and female; and
low, moderate, and high test anxiety. Students were asked
about their cumulative grade point average and were
administered a questionnaire that assessed their testing anxiety.
Generally speaking, the results showed that students who
reported having low test anxiety also had an average 3.77 GPA,
while students who showed signs of high test anxiety had an
average GPA of 3.61 (Chapell, et al., 2005).
Stress can not only cause drops in performance, but also can be
detrimental to a student’s health. In one longitudinal study,
results show stress during young adult years can cause health
risks such as increase in BMI and increase in blood pressure
later in life (Farrell, Simpson, Carlson, Englund, & Sung,
2017). Stressful situations can cause a person’s heart rate and
blood pressure to increase, and prolonged exposure to stress
over time can cause stiffening of the arteries (Trapp, et al.,
2014). Using coping mechanisms can aid in settling test anxiety

3. in students. Not only can finding ways to cope with anxiety
help students stay healthier physically, but it is also reported
that students with lower self-reported stress levels experience
greater amounts of happiness and life satisfaction (Ruiz-Aranda,
Extremera, & Pineda-Galán, 2013).
Using music as a method for relieving stress and quieting the
mind is a common practice among most people. We listen to
music in our everyday lives during all sorts of activities.
Listening to music can cause muscles and nerves to relax, slow
blood pressure, and alleviate the symptoms of anxiety and
depression (Yang, et al., 2016). This phenomenon can be
credited to the pathways in the brain. Emotions in the human
brain are localized in the thalamus, and when a person listens to
music, their thalamus is stimulated and then impulses are
transmitted to the cerebral cortex where the music has a
soothing or exciting effect on emotions (Cook, 1986). One
study was conducted in a psychiatric hospital to look at the
effects of music on varying levels of anxiety. The participants
suffered from a variety of mental disorders, but they were
divided into groups based on level of anxiety intensity: mild,
moderate, and severe. Music intervention was introduced into
the participant’s routine for 10 consecutive days and consisted
of the participant sitting in a sound proof room and listening to
calming music for 20 minutes. The results concluded that
anxiety levels dropped for all three groups after exposure to the
music therapy. The researchers credit this response to a series
of functions in the brain. When the brain is exposed to multiple
stimuli at the same time, the stimuli compete with each other.
This competition can allow the positive reaction to music in the
brain, such as the release of endorphins, to mask unpleasant
feelings of anxiety (Yang, et al., 2016). This positive response
to music can be even greater when the music is chosen by the
individual. Each person has their own preferences on which
kind of music relaxes them and makes them feel better. In a
related study, results show that people who are exposed to
music they select for themselves as relaxing experienced a

4. greater decrease in anxiety, heart rate, and respiration than
those who had the relaxing music chosen for them (Labbé,
Schmidt, Babin, & Pharr, 2007).
Music can be applied to a variety of real world situations that
are considered stressful, and research shows that in most cases
it is successful in relieving anxiety. Plenty of people fear the
dentist, and the time spent waiting in the room for the dentist to
appear can be the most nerve wracking. One study used music
as a way to decrease anxiety before dental treatment, and they
found that music has an effect on decreasing anxiety levels
when compared to silence (Thoma, et al., 2014). Similar results
can be found in studies addressing sports anxieties. One group
of researchers exposed a group of competing athletes to music
before having them preform a task and found that while the
music had no effect on the level of competitive stress the
athletes felt, the music did lesson their general anxiety about
the situation (Elliott, Polman, & Taylor, 2012). This practice
can even be stretched as far as applying it to consumers in the
retail industry. In a study done by Feng, Suri, and Bell (2014),
customers were observed in stores while they decided on
purchases they wanted to make with different types of music
playing in the background. Calming music produced the most
sales, so it can be inferred that the soothing music created an
environment that decreased anxiety about spending (Feng, Suri,
& Bell, 2014).
Applying the soothing effects of music to the anxiety that
students feel prior to an exam could greatly increase
performance and decrease levels of anxiety. In a relevant study
done by Lilley, Oberle, and Thompson (2014), researchers
tested 80 students on the effect of music, either soothing or
obnoxious, prior to a mathematics exam. Blood pressure, heart
rate, and anxiety levels were recorded throughout the study.
Lilley and the rest of the researchers found that the soothing
music produced lower anxiety levels, blood pressure, and heart
rate and the obnoxious music produced the opposite. These
findings could be expanded and applied to see the result on

5. grades acquired when combined with music to relax prior to
examination (Lilley, Oberle, & Thompson, 2014).
Music as stress relief has been explored, but examining the
effect of incorporating music into the routine of students prior
to examinations to relieve test anxiety could possibly have
monumental effects on the student population. Not only is
testing anxiety is a serious problem among college students, but
overall morale is low and seems to keep getting lower in
students. Success is a weight that young people carry on their
shoulders, and on test days it is a heavy burden. If what we
already know about the calming effects of music can be applied
to students with test anxiety, then we might see an increase in
performance as well as a decrease in anxiety.
In this study, the goal will be to measure the effect that
music has on testing anxiety before an examination as well as
the effects of this method on the student’s performance. The
sessions will be composed of six parts: consent and
introduction, a pre-assessment of anxiety levels, a period of
study with or without music, a post assessment of anxiety, an
exam on the materials given, and then a debriefing. Anxiety
assessments will be calculated using the State-Trait Anxiety
Inventory (STAI) (Julian, 2011). The predicted outcome is that
participants who are exposed to music will produce lower post
assessment anxiety levels as well as higher scores on the
examination.
Method
Participants
Participants for this study will be recruited through a
convenience sample of 100 students (N = 100), 50 males and 50
females (n=50), by advertising participation through flyers
passed out around campus. In order to qualify for participation,
students will have to be in the 18-24 age range and be a current
undergraduate student at the university. For participating,
students will receive points that can be used for classes that
accept research participation as extra credit. Students who test
with special accommodations will be excluded from this study.

6. Materials
For this study, a heart rate monitor will be used to measure
heart rate and a timer will have to be used to time the 30-minute
study period. Students will listen to music that is projected
through a speaker connected to a laptop with a music streaming
program such as Spotify. Students will study and be tested on
the first two chapters out of a general college biology text book.
The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaire will be
used to measure anxiety levels. A computer with SPSS data
analysis will be required to calculate the results.
Design
This study will be set up in a mixed factorial experimental
design and the data will be analyzed through a mixed effect
ANOVA. Music, with two levels of music and no music, and
the before and after assessments are the independent variables.
The dependent variables being measured in this experiment are
level of anxiety prior to exams and performance on exams, heart
rate, and performance on the test.
Procedure
The study will consist of one meeting that will last about an
hour and 45 minutes. Students will first be told that the purpose
of the study is to measure testing anxiety and memory prior to
an examination. To produce a realistic anxiety level,
participants will be told that their score on the exam at the end
of the study will determine how many extra credit points he or
she will be awarded. They will then be asked to sign an
informed consent form. The participants will be randomly
assigned to a condition, either music or no music during the
study period. The study will be conducted in a research lab with
multiple rooms in order to provide a private place for the
student to study while allowing the researcher to be on hand.
Pre-Study Session Assessment. The first part of the experiment
will last about 15 minutes. The participant will be brought into
the study room assigned to them and the research assistant will
record their heart rate using the heart rate monitor. The STAI
questionnaire will then be administered, which takes an

7. estimated 10 minutes to complete.
Study Session. Once the pre-assessment is completed, the
student will be instructed to study the material their exam for
30 minutes. The material will be taken from the first few
chapters from a general biology book. Participants assigned to
the no music condition will sit in silence during this period.
Participants assigned to the music condition will be taken to a
room with music playing from a small speaker at a moderate
volume. The research assistant will leave the student to study
alone.
Post-Study Session Assessment and Exam. After the 30 minute
study period is over, the research assistant will record heart rate
one last time and the STAI will be administered again,
estimated to take another 15 minutes. An examination of
randomized multiple choice questions from a test bank for the
textbook will be administered and the student has 10 minutes to
complete it.
Debrief. Following the exam, the student will be debriefed on
the true purpose of the study, which is to compare study with
music opposed to study without music and the effect of that
condition on the performance on an examination. Participants
will be told that their score on the exam does not affect the
amount of points be awarded to them, and the reason for
misleading them was to produce a realistic anxiety level without
negatively impacting them. The full extra credit points will be
awarded upon completion of the study. The scores that will be
analyzed are heart rates before and after the study session, STAI
results before and after study session, and performance on the
examination. The between subjects and within subjects
conditions will be analyzed using a mixed effect Analysis of
Variance (ANOVA).
Discussion
There are limitations to this experiment due to the
subjective nature of music. The most obvious foreseeable issue
is that not everyone enjoys music in the same manner, and one
student might rely upon using music in their everyday lives

8. while another prefers complete silence or background noise.
The possible implications that music might have for decreasing
test anxiety and increasing performance overshadows this, and
might even be eliminated by prescreening participants for those
who prefer silence and excluding them from the study. Another
limitation is using a biology textbook as the study and
examination material, and the examinations might be harder or
easier for some than others. The data is also only taken from
one test and one situation, so a longitudinal study would be
more accurate in observing the effects that music has on testing
anxiety
Proposed Budget
The researcher will need the following resources to complete
the study:
Supplies
· Consent Forms (N= 100,
$0.10).……………………………….…$10
· STAI
Questionnaires………………………………………..........$600
· Heart Rate
Monitor……………………………………………….$15
·
Timer……………………………………………………………...$10
·
Speaker……………………………………………………………$30
· Biology
Book……………………………………………………..$130

9. · Exams (printed, N= 100, $0.10 per
sheet)………………………..$10
Technology
·
Laptop……………………………………………………………$150
· IBM SPSS Statistics Grad Pack 24.0 Standard 6
Month…………$50
Personnel Salary
· Research Assistant (N=2) $10 per hour, 133
hours……………..$2,670
Grand
Total……………………………………………………………..$3,6
75
References
Chapell, M. S., Blanding, Z. B., Silverstein, M. E., Takahashi,
M., Newman, B., Gubi, A., & Mccann, N. (2005). Test Anxiety
and Academic Performance in Undergraduate and Graduate
Students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97(2), 268-274.
doi:10.1037/0022-0663.97.2.268
Cook, J. D. (1986). Music as an intervention in the oncology
setting. Cancer Nursing, 9(1). doi:10.1097/00002820-
198602000-00004
Elliott, D., Polman, R., & Taylor, J. (2012). The effects of
relaxing music for anxiety control on competitive sport anxiety.
European Journal of Sport Science, 14(Sup1).
doi:10.1080/17461391.2012.693952
Farrell, A. K., Simpson, J. A., Carlson, E. A., Englund, M. M.,
& Sung, S. (2017). The impact of stress at different life stages
on physical health and the buffering effects of maternal
sensitivity. Health Psychology, 36(1), 35-44.
doi:10.1037/hea0000424
Feng, S., Suri, R., & Bell, M. (2014). Does Classical Music

10. Relieve Math Anxiety? Role of Tempo on Price Computation
Avoidance. Psychology & Marketing, 31(7), 489-499.
doi:10.1002/mar.20710
Julian, L. J. (2011). Measures of Anxiety. Arthritis Care &
Research, 63(S11): 10.1002/acr.20561. doi:10.1002/acr.20561.
Labbé, E., Schmidt, N., Babin, J., & Pharr, M. (2007). Coping
with Stress: The Effectiveness of Different Types of Music.
Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 32(3-4), 163-168.
doi:10.1007/s10484-007-9043-9
Lilley, J. L., Oberle, C. D., & Thompson, J. G. (2014). Effects
of music and grade consequences on test anxiety and
performance. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain,
24(2), 184-190. doi:10.1037/pmu0000038
Ruiz-Aranda, D., Extremera, N., & Pineda-Galán, C. (2013).
Emotional intelligence, life satisfaction and subjective
happiness in female student health professionals: the mediating
effect of perceived stress. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental
Health Nursing, 21(2), 106-113. doi:10.1111/jpm.12052
Smyth, E., & Banks, J. (2015). ‘Your whole life depends on it’:
academic stress and high-stakes testing in Ireland. Journal of
Youth Studies, 18(5), 598–616, 598-617.
doi:10.1080/13676261.2014.992317
Thoma, M. V., Zemp, M., Kreienbühl, L., Hofer, D., Schmidlin,
P. R., Attin, T., . . . Nater, U. M. (2014). Effects of Music
Listening on Pre-treatment Anxiety and Stress Levels in a
Dental Hygiene Recall Population. International Journal of
Behavioral Medicine, 22(4), 498-505. doi:10.1007/s12529-014-
9439-x
Trapp, M., Trapp, E., Egger, J. W., Domej, W., Schillaci, G.,
Avian, A., . . . Baulmann, J. (2014). Impact of Mental and
Physical Stress on Blood Pressure and Pulse Pressure under
Normobaric versus Hypoxic Conditions. PLoS ONE, 9(5).
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0089005
Yang, C., Miao, N., Lee, T., Tsai, J., Yang, H., Chen, W., . . .
Chou, K. (2016). The effect of a researcher designated music
intervention on hospitalised psychiatric patients with different

11. levels of anxiety. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 25(5-6), 777-787.
doi:10.1111/jocn.13098
Figure 1. Heart rate before and after study sessions.
Figure 2. Anxiety levels before and after study session.
Heart Rate Before and After Session
With Music Before Session After Session 88 75
Without Music Before Session After Session 88 84
Column1 Before Session After Session
Heart Rate

12. Anxiety Levels Before and After Study Session
With Music Before Session After Session 40 20
Without Music Before Session After Session 40 40
Column1 Before Session After Session
STAI Score
Psychology 475, SPRING 2020 (Dr.Hajnal) GRANT GRADING
RUBRIC
Midterm Grant Proposal
DUE DATE: MARCH 12th 5PM upload on Canvas80 points
total
General APA Style (4 points)
1 point: title page
1 point: labeled sections (.5) on corresponding pages (.5)
2 points: correct usage of fonts and headings/running head
Background and Significance/INTRO (30 points)
5 points: Clearly state the research question(s)
5 points: Novelty of the research question(s)
5 points: Describe what has already been done in past
literature to address this question
5 points: Explain why your question(s) are important to answer/
would represent a real advance of knowledge
2.5 points: In the last paragraph, explain briefly how the
question will be addressed
2.5 points: State your predictions/hypothesis
5 points: At least 10 peer-reviewed articles are cited
Plan of Study/Methods + Results + Discussion (25 points)

13. 3 points: Participants
4 points: apparatus and materials/justification for materials
5 points: procedure
3 points: State the kinds of statistical tests you will use/justify
2 points: IV is stated clearly
2 points: DV is stated clearly
2 points: experimental study design is described
2 points: future tense for current study/methods and results
2 points: potential problems are stated and alternative
measures to address them are explained
References (6 points)
3 points: correct citation of references in text
3 points: correct citation of references in reference section
Supplemental Figures/Tables in Appendix (5 points)
NOTE: no more than 2 graphs, and 1 Table allowed!
2.5 points: correct APA formatting of figures and tables in
Appendix
2.5 points: relevance and clarity of figures/tables
Budget section (5 points)
2.5 points: all necessary supplies, technology, expert
salary, etc. are listed
2.5 points: realistic prices are provided for each item
Grammar and Spelling (5 points)
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