THE EFFECTS OF ROCK AND CLASSICAL MUSIC ON HEART RATE, BLOOD PRESSURE, AND BODY TEMPERATURE
The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether or not listening to music of various genres (classical and rock) affects the heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature of a person's body. The data was used to compare the effects of classical and rock music to each other. We hypothesized that rock music would increase all the measured body functions. During the experiment, subjects sat blindfolded in silence for two minutes to stabilize their body functions. After two minutes, we measured their heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature. Then, the subjects listened to classical music for two minutes, after which we took their body function readings again. We repeated the process for each subject with rock music and used two-sample t tests to determine the significance of the data. A statistical analysis proved that there was a significant difference in body temperature and systolic blood pressure changes between classical and rock music, yet no significant difference in the heart rate and diastolic blood pressure changes between the two genres. Our hypothesis was not supported because rock music did not increase body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. We concluded that neither classical nor rock music alone has a significant effect on heart rate or body temperature, but classical music increases body temperature more than rock music. We also found that classical music decreases systolic blood pressure while rock music increases it, and both classical music and rock music increase diastolic blood pressure at nearly equal rates.
Research Done By:
Lauren Sackey
Cousino High School
Michelle Zellers
Sterling Heights High School
Warren Consolidated Schools