Year: 2023 | Month: November | Volume: 10 | Issue: 11 | Pages: 416-426
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20231149
A Study of the Effect of Phonological Loop Suppression on TMT-B Test Performance
Penelope Papagiannopoulou1, Dimitrios Athanasopoulos1, Polixeni Agapaki1, Carolina Klonaridou1, Georgios Vagiakis1, Stavros Stergiatos1, Panagiota Afendouli2, Georgios Pilafas3, Penelope Louka4
1Psychology Student, University of Derby (UK) at Mediterranean College Campus, Athens, Greece
2Accredited Lecturer in Psychology, University of Derby (UK) at Mediterranean College Campus, Athens, Greece
3Programme Leader ‘BSc (Hons) Applied Psychology, University of Derby (UK) at Mediterranean College Campus, Athens, Greece
4Head of School of Psychology, Mediterranean College, Athens, Greece
Corresponding Author: Penelope Papagiannopoulou
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to examine the impact of vocal music on cognitive performance using the Trail Making Test (TMT)-B. A sample of 90 participants was randomly assigned into two groups: one group listened to vocal music while completing the TMT-B, while the other group performed the task without any music. The TMT-B was specifically chosen as it incorporates the central executive, particularly the phonological loop, enabling more targeted findings. Our hypothesis posited that participants exposed to vocal music would exhibit lower performance on the TMT-B test due to the distraction caused and the suppression of the phonological loop. Statistical analysis was conducted using the Mann-Whitney U Test. Results revealed a significant difference in completion time between the two groups (with a large effect size d=0,95), with the group with vocal music taking longer to complete the test compared to the group without music. This suggests that vocal music interference has a negative impact on TMT-B performance.
Keywords: Working memory • Phonological loop Suppression • Processing speed • Cognition • Trail Making Test
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