Why do some people insist silence is required for studying/learning?

[Dr Strangelove]

Often when I study I imagine a musical score, either something that I've heard or something that I make up. If I get deep into what I'm studying I may eventually discontinue the imagined peice. I find that imagining music actually works better than listening to it.

[MrFun]

All this noise and talking in this thread is DISRUPTING MY STUDIES RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!


SHUT UP!!!!!!

[st_swithin]

What are you studying that requires Apolyton?

Noisy at Ground Zero, isn't it?

[MrFun]

I'm not studyng --

rather, taking a break and messing with you guys.

[NeOmega]

Originally posted by geeslaka

but studying was required, so math would not have worked.

Please explain how repeating a solution method multiple times is different from reading/writing something multiple times.

When working out math problems, you already know the path to the answer, it is just a matter of getting there.

When dealing with history, you must read the history, before you can answer questions about what you just read.

[st_swithin]

...as long as someone asks the right questions to jog your memory.

[Dis]

Metallica helped me ace all my schools

[Jack_www]

Re: Why do some people insist silence is required for studying/learning?

Originally posted by Vesayen
I dont have to deal with this anymore, but I always found it so frustrating that teachers/parents insist that you need silence to study or learn...

With the exception of math(pure calculations, not abstract math) I personally find it HARD to study if it is silent, I need some kind of backround noise or I cant concentrate on what im working on.

Right now I'm doing some java coding and I wouldnt be able to get anything done without fox news in the backround.


I try to think WHY this is and I am unsure exactly but I have an idea.

When I am working, if it is COMPLETLEY silent, I tend to day dream or think of other things, and thus cant concentrate on the work.

With the t.v. or radio or SOME kind of backround noise I am slightly concentrating on that, but also on my work, and thus I dont daydream and put my entire concentration on something else.

For most people they need silence to do their work. I can do my homework with or with out backround noise. But if it is really something hard it is always better for me to work it out in silence. You are just one of the few people that the opposite is true.

[Drogue]

Originally posted by Vesayen
I hope that was sarcasm, as your friend obviously tested no one and made up the "right" results.

Why? From all I've seen, and my own experiences, Jack_www is right, some people need noise in order to study well, but most people need silence. I can do simple things while listening to music, but I find it distracts me iof I'm doing anything that requires careful thought or that I don't enjoy (and so am easily distracted). From all the studies I have seen, and the opinions of most people I know, this is true for the vast majority, with only a minority needing background noise to study hard.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

It depends on the work. If I'm writing, I like to have music playing. If it's "real work", such as auditing a complex pension scheme, I need silence.

Everyone has their own preference.

[chequita guevara]

Here's the interesting thing. The state in which you learn something is the state in which you best remember it, because your brain s making associations with everything that it is taking in. So if you study for a test listening to Mozart, you wanna take the test listening to Mozart.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

I think it differs between right-brain and left-brain activity. Or did I just make that up?

[Pekka]

I listen music when I study. If it's silence, my mind starts wandering after few hours easily, and before that if the subject is boring. I imagine the music too, like Dr Strangelove. I like little distraction, but not too much. I like to get just a bit distracted. It takes me more time to study, but that way I am way more relaxed and make it more fun thing to do. And that doesn't mean I'm blasting with my stereos, taht means I listen certain types of music in moderate volume, maybe have tv open but nothing interesting on it and muted, so every now and then I can turn my head and check it out. This way I can study a long time without getting frustrated. And when I look at the tv, I think of the things I just read, so I am concentrating to what I'm doing.

I can study with complete silence as well. I think I get same results with both, but with little music and distraction, it's very much relaxed kind of studying and the way I like it. Sometimes I turn the music off when it's very difficult to understand especially in mathematics, but sometimes I don't.. it depends. But I usually don't have to push myself to limits to understand, I need to push myself to make the time and read, and with little distraction that goes better. My point is, with personal experience, it is not absolutely needed for me. I can go both ways. One takes shorter time, one takes more time but is more fun.

ALSO, I'd like to point out different kind of memory techniques which I like to use. For example association. When in exams, I do remember what song I was listening while studying this particular thing. That helps me to get me back there, first the music starts, then the relaxed feeling I had and then it's a matter of seconds that I remember the whole area of it. Or I remember that I didn't get it when I read it the first time. It really helps me, believe it or not. First the music, then the situation and the general relaxed feeling, and then few words, that I start playing around with and then it starts revealing itself. This is for bigger structured parts of information I need to learn and remember. Placebo or not, works for me.

[ixnay]

I find I'm able to focus more if I have music in the background. Especially when I'm programming.

[st_swithin]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Here's the interesting thing. The state in which you learn something is the state in which you best remember it, because your brain is making associations with everything that it is taking in. So if you study for a test listening to Mozart, you wanna take the test listening to Mozart.

I wonder if it works for being drunk or high as well. That would certainly explain some of my test scores.