科学美国人60秒：背景音乐可能会扼杀创造力

燕山大学 刘立军 编写

【TRANSCRIPT】

This is Scientific American - 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

Let's play a word game. What word can be put in front of the words stick, maker, and point to make three new compound words? Again...that's stick, maker, and point.

(five-second silence)

Ready for the answer? "Match. So that would then combine to make the words matchstick, matchmaker, and matchpoint." Emma Threadgold, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Central Lancashire in England. And the point of tasks like these, she says, is to measure creativity. (And if you didn't get it right away, don't worry, neither did I.)

Maybe you had music playing as you thought about the words. And, of course, many people do listen to music while they work. So Threadgold and her colleagues recently used such word puzzles to investigate whether listening to music affects creativity.

They asked volunteers to solve 19 puzzles, while listening to either a foreign-language tune (Spanish version of "King of Wishful Thinking," by Go West); an instrumental version of the same song (instrumental of "King of Wishful Thinking"); a familiar English-language song (Pharrell's "Happy"); or silence.

The results? In every case, volunteers listening to music solved fewer puzzles than their counterparts in total quiet. Suggesting that background music does not really aid this kind of creative task. Maybe because these puzzles require some sort of mental speech rehearsal - like trying out different word combos using your inner voice.

"And therefore they're more susceptible to changing state sounds such as music, in comparison to steady state sounds such as library noise."

And in fact, the researchers tested library noise too, (library noise) like the sounds of typing and rustling papers. And none of those noises impaired volunteers' performance at all, compared to the silent control group. The results are in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology.

Still, if you do insist on listening to music while working, you might try something a little more low-key than Lady Gaga, says Threadgold's colleague John Marsh:

"So if you have a sound with a lot of changing state information in it, changes in pitch or in timbre, that's more disruptive than a sound with fewer of those changes. So if you compared a modern pop song with some classical music you would expect less disruption from that classical music."

Even better, though, would be the sound of silence. (Simon and Garfunkel's "Sound of Silence" clip briefly then stops) As in, actual silence.

Thanks for listening for Scientific American - 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

【VOCABULARY】

1. combos n. (informal, especially North American English) a number of different things combined together, especially different types of food 混合物；（尤指食物的）杂烩，组合餐。例如：I'll have the steak and chicken combo platter. 我要牛排和鸡组合餐。

2. susceptible adj.（名词前不常用）susceptible (to sb. / sth.) very likely to be influenced, harmed or affected by sb./ sth. 易受影响（或伤害等）；敏感；过敏。例如：

l He's highly susceptible to flattery. 他爱听恭维话。

l Some of these plants are more susceptible to frost damage than others. 这些植物中有一些较其他的易受霜冻危害。

l Salt intake may lead to raised blood pressure in susceptible adults. 盐的摄入可能导致易病的成年人血压升高。

3. timbre n. 音色；音质

【QUESTIONS】

Listen to the news and choose the best answer to each question you hear.

Q1. What's the point of playing the word game?

(A) To measure creativity.

(B) To measure vocabulary.  

(C) To measure grammar.   

(D) To measure intelligence.

Q2. Why did Threadgold and her colleagues use such word puzzles?

(A) To investigate whether listening to music affects efficiency.

(B) To investigate whether listening to music affects creativity.

(C) To investigate how many people listening to music while working.

(D) To investigate how many people listening to music while sleeping.

Q3. What do the reseachers find about the word puzzle tests?

(A) Volunteers listening to music solved more puzzles than their counterparts in total quiet.

(B) Volunteers listening to a foreign-language tune solved fewer puzzles than those listening to an instrumental version of the same song.

(C) Background music does not really aid this kind of creative task.

(D) Background music does aid this kind of creative task.

Q4. What does the passage suggest if you prefer listening to music while working?

(A) Try some folk music.

(B) Try some rock music.

(C) Try a modern pop song.

(D) Try some classical music.

【KEY】

Q1. A。细节题。命题出处：And the point of tasks like these, she says, is to measure creativity. 

Q2. B。细节题。命题出处：So Threadgold and her colleagues recently used such word puzzles to investigate whether listening to music affects creativity.

Q3. C。细节题。命题出处：The results? In every case, volunteers listening to music solved fewer puzzles than their counterparts in total quiet. Suggesting that background music does not really aid this kind of creative task. 

Q4. D。推断题。命题出处：So if you compared a modern pop song with some classical music you'd expect less disruption from that classical music.