Tingting Yin: Sound as a Tool for Focus: Why There Is No One Size-Fits-All Soundtrack for Productivity

This poster presents a within-participant study testing whether different auditory environments (workflow music, classical music, office noise, and silence) shape vigilance performance, mood, arousal, and physiological responses. Fifty-four participants completed the Sustained Attention to Response Task while subjective pleasantness/arousal and heart rate/skin conductance were measured.

Silence was associated with the fastest overall responses, while workflow music showed progressive slowing over time. Classical music was rated as more pleasant, and workflow music increased subjective arousal relative to silence, but these effects were not reflected in heart rate or skin conductance. Overall, the findings suggest that sounds can influence different aspects of vigilance and experience, but there is no universal "focus music" benefit for productivity.</p>