# An Eye-Tracking Study on Text Comprehension While Listening to Music: Preliminary Results
## 5 Conclusions  
The findings of this study showed that visual measures, such as fixation duration, fixations count, TTFF and FFD, remained stable across the experimental conditions. This finding aligns with prior research that has highlighted the stability of early-stage visual processing in predictable environments [13; 22]. The familiarity with background noise may have enabled the participants to maintain their focus, even when faced with non-preferred or noisy conditions [40]. Furthermore, text comprehension was significantly impaired in the non-preferred music condition, in accordance with the cognitive load theory proposed by [PERSON] et al. [35]. This theory posits that stimuli perceived as negative and aversive result in increased cognitive demands. In contrast, comprehension scores remained stable in the preferred music, cafe noise, and silence conditions, indicating that predictable or familiar auditory environments can reduce the disruptive effects of noise [34]. For example, participant SF1 used to listen to pop music while reading, a genre that was familiar to her and did not hinder the reading process, as reflected in her high performance on the comprehension test. On the contrary, metal music, which she chose to listen to in the non-preferred music condition, was a genre she was not familiar with and did not listen to while reading in the past. As a result, her performance was low under this condition. These findings are in accordance with prior studies which have demonstrated that preferred music and silence foster conditions conducive to learning [1]. Moreover, the participants of this study indicated that the non-preferred music condition was perceived as significantly more challenging and fatiguing, thereby confirming the negative impact of distracting noise on task engagement [8]. In contrast, the participants reported improved understanding, confidence, and immersion when exposed to preferred music and silence, which is in accordance with the positive effects of familiar auditory environments on emotional and cognitive states [28]. Although cafe noise was found to be distracting, it was observed to have a reduced negative impact, which is likely attributable to its consistent and predictable characteristics [39]. These findings highlight the significance of aligning the study environments with individual preferences. It can be concluded that preferred music and silence represent optimal auditory environments for reading, promoting both cognitive engagement and emotional well-being. In contrast, the presence of non-preferred music was found to significantly increase cognitive load and fatigue, underscoring the necessity to avoid aversive auditory stimuli during study sessions. The ability of participants to adapt to cafe noise indicates that consistent background sounds may be tolerable, particularly for those who are used to studying in public spaces. This study contributes to the existing literature on the subject in a number of ways. Firstly, the reading conditions of preferred music, cafe noise, and silence selected in this study are commonly used by students, thus the findings offer insight into how reading habits affect reading performance. Moreover, while previous studies have focused on a single type of music or noise background, contrasting it only with reading sessions conducted in silence [41; 42], this study presents four reading conditions, each of which is compared with the silent reading condition. Additionally, this study specifically examined the role of personal music preferences in reading, distinguishing between preferred and non-preferred music conditions, while previous research has primarily focused on factors such as the nature of the reading tasks, the type of music played, and the personality of the individuals involved [5; 7; 8].