The Effects of Music and Verbal Suggestion on Heart Rate and Self-Reports

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Abstract
The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the effects of music and verbal stimuli on arousal of heart rate and self-reports of 80 graduate and undergraduate students. Subjects were all placed in one of four groups: (a) Bach's “Air on a G String,” (b) suggestions of relaxation, (c) Bach's “Air on a G String” plus verbal suggestions of relaxation, and (d) silence. Arousal was induced by the use of mental multiplication problems and recorded by two dependent measures, heart rate and self-reports assessed by movement of fingers of the left hand that were associated with states of arousal. Treatments were presented in five identical 2-minute temporal conditions which were preceded by 1 minute of arousal. Results revealed that no significant differences in heart rate were found among the four groups es treatment variables. Although no treatment condition was shown to be any more effective than another, there was a significant difference between treatment and arousal conditions on heart rate and self-reports. Analysis of the self-report data indicated that perception of arousal was significantly different between the music and music/verbal groups, and between the music and silence groups. There were no significant interaction effects on self-report between groups and arousal. However, for heart rate a significant interaction did occur between the four groups and the arousal/treatment condition.

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