The Effects of Sedative Music on Alpha Rhythms and Focused Attention in High-Creative and Low-Creative Subjects

Abstract

The ability to focus attention after a treatment of sedative or stimulative music was observed in high-creative and low-creative subjects. The study was conducted on a sample of psychology students at the University of Miami. The performance on a task of focusing attention was significantly better with those subjects receiving sedative music than with those subjects receiving stimulative music. Creativity played no significant role in the ability to focus attention. A correlation between percent of time spent in alpha and performance on the task of focusing attention was found. Statistical comparisons of sedative and stimulative treatments with respect to alpha production showed no significant difference in the alpha production between stimulative and sedative treatments. Implications for surrounding aural stimuli are discussed as well as recommendations for future research.