As We Get Older, It’s Harder For Us To Multi-task

If you’re having a difficult time remembering people’s names you can blame the cause on something other than your memory. You can blame it on music.

Although we’ve read numerous times that music can enhance the learning experience (especially Baroque music), researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology are finding these benefits depend on the age of the person listening.

In their experiment, scientists assembled a group of young and old adults and asked them to remember names. In one instance music was playing in the background and in another there was nothing but silence. Volunteers were exposed to music that did not contain lyrics and varied from popular tunes to lesser known songs.

Ultimately, all participants reported that music served as a distraction to the learning process yet the college-aged adults could remember names no matter what environment they were placed in. However, adults remembered 10 percent fewer names when music was playing in the background.

Why?

Well, as we get older it may be harder for us to focus and  weed out distracting noises.

The study, however, is more about names and music. It provides insight into how we retain knowledge as we get older, namely we need silence and as little distraction as possible.

Sarah Reaves, the Georgia Tech psychology graduate student who led the study offers some advice to older adults:

“They should be mindful of their surroundings. Maybe employees should turn off music during learning activities or hold them in a quiet room,” she said. “Similarly, older adults who struggle to concentrate while meeting with co-workers at a coffee shop, for example, should schedule meetings in quieter locations. When people get lost while driving, it’s probably best to turn off the radio.”

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