A study from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers suggests that music is important for young drivers while driving. This is contrary to previous studies that tell music will distract young drivers.
Professor Warren Brodsky, the BGU Music Science Lab director in the Department of the Arts, said that young drivers between ages 18 and 29 believe that music in the car is more than entertainment, EurekAlert! reported. For them, it sets the autosphere whether they are driving alone or not.
Young drivers are so used to constant stimulation and absorbing greater amounts of information throughout the day that they do not question the type of music they listen to. Simultaneously, driving might cause aggressive behavior or could cause them to miscalculate risky situations, said Brodsky.
Doug Seserman, chief executive officer, American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev said that BGU provides a great insight into human behavior. The study explains how music is an essential and universal language that humans can appreciate, although this study's concerns are undoubtedly worth considering, Seserman explains.
What Previous Studies Say
In an article written in 2015 in Psychological Science, research claims that music in the car can cause teen drivers to tune out while driving. The previous study by psychological scientists Warren Brodsky and Zack Slor of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, which found evidence that music teens listen to may have a hazardous influence on their driving.
The researchers said that the music itself could interfere in the young driver's ability to concentrate while driving more than fiddling the volume or skipping a song. They said that teen drivers underestimate in-car distraction from activities that are widely accepted but are unsafe practices.
Their study involved 85 novice drivers from ages 17 to 18; they observed that teens who played their own music tend to play it in much louder volumes than safe-driving music. The researchers also rated their moods and said that those who listen to their song choice tend to have significantly higher moods than those who did not listen to any music while driving and those who listened to driving-safe music that the researchers chose.
This group also showed more driving errors than those other groups, like speeding, aggression, and weaving.
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Music is a Must For Young Drivers
Brodsky's recent study on the same subject matter suggests that music is a must for young drivers. They surveyed 140 young adults to explore how drivers engage with music while driving.
Most of them, about 80%, claimed that it was almost difficult or near impossible to concentrate while driving without music playing in the background. The responders also said that they usually stay in their car until the song is finished playing.
"These young drivers believe that more stimulus actually helps their driving abilities," Brodsky said. "This could become more of an issue in the future when it becomes critical to disengage from music and assume control in an autonomous vehicle."
Their full findings were published in APA's journal Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain.
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