Self-Reported Distractions of Middle School Students in Listening to Music and Prose.

One hundred eighteen middle school students from three different settings listened individually to a music excerpt and a prose excerpt that were each 3.5 minutes long. As they listened, they clicked a computer touchpad whenever they were distracted either by thoughts or external events, then refocused on the holistic listening task. After listening to each selection, they rated it on enjoyment and familiarity. Students self-reported significantly more distractions during the music (1.60 per minute) than the prose excerpt (1.11 per minute), but they rated the music significantly higher on enjoyment. Fewer distractions were reported at the beginning and ending of the excerpts, and there was a significant relationship between number of distractions across the two different types of listening. It was thought that the computerized tracking of distractions functioned to maintain attentiveness in this sustained listening task.